Scaping advice

[Cruise Control]

Hi guys, I'm very uncertain to what I want to do with my tank! Part of me wants to get it heavily planted but another part wants it planted but simple. I'm at a loss. So with my current setup, what plants would you recommend for the background and midground? I really want Glossos for the foreground. I've currently got Glosso, Mini Riccia, Hairgrass and a couple of unknown plants. Any ideas?

 

[Slappy*McFish]

I would start off with several bunches of water sprite and get the algae under control first. I think Heteranthera zosterifolia and Alternanthera reineckii would look great as middle and background plants on the left side. A few crypt wendtii and undulata around the driftwood, and leave the right side open with the substrate covered with glosso or riccia.

 

[Blinky]

That sounds nice
Water sprite will grow like mad - I started out with a teeny little bunch and now I've got so much I don't know what to do with it. It eats up nutrients, so you'll need to fertilize well to make sure your slower growing plants get enough to eat

 

[happychem]

What sized tank? How much light? Are you adding CO2? Are you willing to? What are your water params? How many tanks are you running and how much time are you willing to put into it on a weekly basis?

Definitely algae needs to be gotten under control, but that'll come with the plants.

I really like heavily planted, but they do require quite a bit of time weekly for the first few months. I was putting in 3+ hours a week on my 33g until things got settled and I got a routine working. Now it's down to about 1 hour weekly with the occasional 3-4 hour overhaul when I decide to rescape or something.

Yeah, let us know the answers to the above questions and we can better advise you.

 

[Cruise Control]

Slappy, that sounds like a great plan! I personally like a part of my tank to be nothing but a lawn of Glosso!

Happychem, my water params are below. I don't have any other testers as yet. I do add DIY C02 at the moment. I'm planning on pressurized in about a month or so. I don't really like a very heavily planted tank. I like my tank with lots of plants but looks clean and simple (I hope I'm making sense!)

Ammonia: 0
pH: 6.8
KH: 3° KH

I think I need to get more plants this weekend to get over my algae problem. I'm dosing 5ml of PMDD everyday.

I'm currently spending about 3 hours a week on the tank (usually on weekends)

 

[happychem]

Well, how about stretching the Riccia across the right half of the tank with a little hairgrass in the background (or interspersed) to make a low, bright green carpet on that side, fill out the glosso to the front and over to the left and let those swords and the stems fill in your back left.

You may find your battle with algae a little more successful if you got your CO2 levels up to about 25ppm, you're around 15ppm right now. Daily PMDD dose of 5mL may be excessive as well, but I'm not sure how fast your tank is consuming it.

 

[beviking]

I like Slappys idea too. Just having more plants may help control the algae, as long as they're growing well. The CO2 would definitely help.