About 3 months ago, a friend and fishkeeper called me to tell me of an abandoned fancy goldfish in his lobby. I've been taking in stray 'life' for years. First was a bearded dragon in college that was left behind by an associate. She stayed with me for about 5 years before passing on. Next was an orchid left behind in an empty office at my workplace. That one has been with me now for almost a decade and still produces beautiful flowers every year. It also started a bit of a horticulture hobby. Now, with the introduction of Jude, I had started thinking of translating some of my plant experience from emersed to immersed options.
With Jude, we started simple. Just a 10 gallon tank with a few random plants scattered in. All gravel. Low tech. Some river rocks I had collected on a trip along the central California coast. 6 different types of plants were scattered inside. Nicely arranged and placed in one by one. A decent sized crypt. A small annubias, some java fern, some java moss, some Christmas moss, and my favorite new addition, a tiger lotus lily. Over time, I started investigating how the plants grow. Proper nutrition, lighting, and things of that nature. The plants are doing well inside, growing slowly and expanding with some fresh new Java pups now scattered into the substrate.
Then my friend decided he was going to move apartments and needed someone to take his old 24 gallon Lifegard which was being used at the time for a marine setup. I thought about it and then accepted which started a massive research project on how to deal with a proper planted setup. Hundreds of hours poured into YouTube landing me on a variety of amazing channels. MD Fish Tanks was what came up first which spoke to me from a low-tech highly-DIY style. I was never prepared to invest hundreds of dollars into a fish tank and the content was well thought out, relatable, and crafty.
Then I landed on Green Aqua. A premium store with incredible setups and all kinds of aquascaping tutorials. This got me hooked as well as conflicted. DIY or High-Tech? What to do with this new piece of glass I had acquired? Since then I've discovered MJ Aquascapes, Juris Jutjajivis, The All Knowing George Farmer, Tank Tested, The Green Machine, Steve Scapes, PlantedTank, and Tropictank. I've found resources on Iwagumi, Dutch Style, Brazilian Styles, Jungle, Diaroama...The list goes on. I got to this forum based on the reasearch into ferts. Basically someone at Green Aqua was talking about the science of DIY salts methods and I had to check it out. That landed me here and the rest is history.
Anyway, when it came to planning out what to do next, the choices were impossible. I'm a bit of an artist and I couldn't resist trying to create a tank with perspective, depth, creativity, and creative uses of livestock/pplants. What I did know was that I wanted to compose something. A blend of DIY and high-tech. So I've spent an incredible amount of time mapping out my soil choice, coming up with a base substrate mix from pumice and lava rock, nutrition, CO2 options, and plant types. I'm researching DIY CO2 at the moment and have compiled an incredible amount of yeast based feedback and become somewhat obsessed with a dual-bottle setup of sugar and gelatin mixed with champagne yeast to reduce flocculation and maximize attenuation. Basically limit the clumping and make as dry a "wine" as possible to hopefully use up all the sugars without the yeast quickly dying by alcohol poisoning.
I've prepared a beautiful piece of driftwood that I had from years ago. Boiled and boiled and boiled it to get the tannins out. And collected some great pieces of slate to build my first little aquascape. I'm using ADA Amazonia v2 and have built terraces in the tank out of mesh bags and my homemade pumice substrate. And also mapped an awesome list of plants which you can see below in the table. Heavily planted is the goal and caring for the livestock. Still working on what will go in the tank, but I expect the first 30 days to be all about the plants regardless. Originally I had planned to put Jude in there with a new home, but I'm concerned now about him digging up all that hard work. Anyway, just wanted to introduce and tell a little of my story.
Will see how this all progresses and give some updates in time. Happy to be here.
p.s. if anyone has any feedback on my plant selection, please feel free to let me know.
With Jude, we started simple. Just a 10 gallon tank with a few random plants scattered in. All gravel. Low tech. Some river rocks I had collected on a trip along the central California coast. 6 different types of plants were scattered inside. Nicely arranged and placed in one by one. A decent sized crypt. A small annubias, some java fern, some java moss, some Christmas moss, and my favorite new addition, a tiger lotus lily. Over time, I started investigating how the plants grow. Proper nutrition, lighting, and things of that nature. The plants are doing well inside, growing slowly and expanding with some fresh new Java pups now scattered into the substrate.
Then my friend decided he was going to move apartments and needed someone to take his old 24 gallon Lifegard which was being used at the time for a marine setup. I thought about it and then accepted which started a massive research project on how to deal with a proper planted setup. Hundreds of hours poured into YouTube landing me on a variety of amazing channels. MD Fish Tanks was what came up first which spoke to me from a low-tech highly-DIY style. I was never prepared to invest hundreds of dollars into a fish tank and the content was well thought out, relatable, and crafty.
Then I landed on Green Aqua. A premium store with incredible setups and all kinds of aquascaping tutorials. This got me hooked as well as conflicted. DIY or High-Tech? What to do with this new piece of glass I had acquired? Since then I've discovered MJ Aquascapes, Juris Jutjajivis, The All Knowing George Farmer, Tank Tested, The Green Machine, Steve Scapes, PlantedTank, and Tropictank. I've found resources on Iwagumi, Dutch Style, Brazilian Styles, Jungle, Diaroama...The list goes on. I got to this forum based on the reasearch into ferts. Basically someone at Green Aqua was talking about the science of DIY salts methods and I had to check it out. That landed me here and the rest is history.
Anyway, when it came to planning out what to do next, the choices were impossible. I'm a bit of an artist and I couldn't resist trying to create a tank with perspective, depth, creativity, and creative uses of livestock/pplants. What I did know was that I wanted to compose something. A blend of DIY and high-tech. So I've spent an incredible amount of time mapping out my soil choice, coming up with a base substrate mix from pumice and lava rock, nutrition, CO2 options, and plant types. I'm researching DIY CO2 at the moment and have compiled an incredible amount of yeast based feedback and become somewhat obsessed with a dual-bottle setup of sugar and gelatin mixed with champagne yeast to reduce flocculation and maximize attenuation. Basically limit the clumping and make as dry a "wine" as possible to hopefully use up all the sugars without the yeast quickly dying by alcohol poisoning.
I've prepared a beautiful piece of driftwood that I had from years ago. Boiled and boiled and boiled it to get the tannins out. And collected some great pieces of slate to build my first little aquascape. I'm using ADA Amazonia v2 and have built terraces in the tank out of mesh bags and my homemade pumice substrate. And also mapped an awesome list of plants which you can see below in the table. Heavily planted is the goal and caring for the livestock. Still working on what will go in the tank, but I expect the first 30 days to be all about the plants regardless. Originally I had planned to put Jude in there with a new home, but I'm concerned now about him digging up all that hard work. Anyway, just wanted to introduce and tell a little of my story.
Will see how this all progresses and give some updates in time. Happy to be here.
p.s. if anyone has any feedback on my plant selection, please feel free to let me know.
| Latin Name | Common Name | Difficulty | Category | Type | Height | Color | Lighting | CO2 | Growth Rate | Quantity | Unit | Price | Source | Technique Tips | Notes | Tank Rating | Desireability |
| Micranthemum Tweediei | Monte Carlo | Medium | Foreground | Carpeting | 3-5 cm | Bright Green | Good Light; Light Shadow | Medium | Medium | 2 | Cups | When planting bury quite deep but not entirely in the substrate. You can actually separate each piece of Monte Carlo and plant them one by one to spread the carpet over a whole tank. Can be used as an epiphyte as well as substrate. Will need liquid fertilizers if you do that. | ** | ** | |||
| Staurogyne Repens | Easy | Foreground | Stem | 3-10 cm | Bright Green | Low | Low | Medium | 2 | Cups | Promote side growth by trimming the plant regularly. | Revisit the quantity | * | * | |||
| Eleocharis acicularis 'mini' | Dwarf Hairgrass | Easy | Foreground | Carpeting | 3-5 cm | Bright Green | Medium | Medium | Medium | 2 | Cups | Will not always carpet without CO2 | Consider the dwarf and the tall for perspective. Tall front leading to back short? | ** | ** | ||
| Hydrocotyle verticulata | Medium | Foreground | Stem | 3-7 cm | Green | High | Medium | Medium | 1 | Cups | Requires High Light. Can be floating or planted. Also requires acidic soil or it will not grow | Might be too tempermental. Very cool coin shaped like the money tree. | * | * | |||
| Cryptocoryne beckettii | Petchii | Easy | Midground | Roulate | 10-15 cm | Olive with violet underside | Low | Low | Medium | 1 | Cups | ** | ** | ||||
| Rotala rotundifolia | Easy | Background | Stem | 15-30 cm | Green with Pink | Low | Low | Medium | 1 | Cups | Requires higher light to get reds to come out | ** | ** | ||||
| Ludwigia palustrus | Super Red | Easy | Background | Stem | 10-30 cm | Red | Low | Low | Medium | 1 | Cups | Requires CO2 for brightest reds but will stay red without | *** | *** | |||
| Bucephalandra red | Easy | Epiphyte | Rhizomatous | 5-10 cm | Green with Red Stems | Low | Low | Low | 2 | Cups | Wants a cycled tank before planting. | Buy these from reputable sources to ensure they are not coming from natural habitats which are being destroyed. Sources include: tropica, dennerle, aquaflora, aquadip | ** | ** | |||
| Bucephalandra deep purple | Easy | Epiphyte | Rhizomatous | 5-10 cm | Green with purple | Low | Low | Low | 2 | Cups | Wants a cycled tank before planting. | Buy these from reputable sources to ensure they are not coming from natural habitats which are being destroyed. Sources include: tropica, dennerle, aquaflora, aquadip | ** | ** | |||
| Bucephalandra brown blue | Easy | Epiphyte | Rhizomatous | 5-10 cm | Green with blue | Low | Low | Low | 2 | Cups | Wants a cycled tank before planting. | Buy these from reputable sources to ensure they are not coming from natural habitats which are being destroyed. Sources include: tropica, dennerle, aquaflora, aquadip | ** | ** | |||
| Microsorum pteropsis | Java Fern | Easy | Epiphyte | Rhizomatous | 15-30 cm | Green | Low | Low | Low | 0 | Cups | Have some in the aquarium that can be used | ** | ** | |||
| Anubias bateri | Anubias petite | Easy | Epiphyte | Rhizomatous | 3-5 cm | Green | Low | Low | Low | 2 | Cups | Prefers low light to ensure no algae grows. | *** | * | |||
| Alternanthera reneckii | (AR) mini | Medium | Midground | Stem | 5-10 cm | Red | Medium | Medium | Medium | 1 | Cups | Planting should be done meticulously. Be sure to cut the stems first before pushing it deep through the substrate to prevent it from floating away. The stems should be individually planted with a spacing of 1.5 inches from each other to allow light reflection to reach the lowest portion of the leaves. Trimming the bush to 5-10-centimeter-height will give you more amazing results compared to a purple-red carpet spread on the substrate. | Grows well with Downoi Staurogyne Repens Rotala species Pogostemon Erectus Hemianthus Glomeratus Lysimachia Nummularia 'Aurea' HC Cuba as foreground carpet | * | *** | ||
| Ludwigia repens | Easy | Background | Stem | 20-30 cm | Green with Red | Medium | Low | Medium | 1 | Cups | |||||||
| Fissidens fontanus | Weeping moss | Medium | Accent | Moss | 3-5 cm | Green | Medium | Medium | Slow | 1 | Cups | Requires higher light than most mosses to do well. | |||||
| Limnophila sessiflora | Ambulia | Easy | Background | Stem | 15-30 cm | Green | Low | Low | Fast | 1 | Cups | Plant in groups | |||||
| Hygrophila pinnatifida | Easy | Background | Stem | 15-30 cm | Olive to Dark Green | Medium | Medium | Medium | 1 | Cups | Runners need trimming to ensure it does not overun the tank. Can be grown as epiphyte | ||||||
| Hottonia Palustris | Easy | Background | Stem | 10-20 cm | Bright Green | Low | Low | Medium | 1 | Cups | Trimmings can be replanted to continue to fill out. | ||||||
| Pogostemon erectus | Easy | Background | Stem | 15-30 cm | Bright Green | Medium | Medium | Medium | 1 | Cups | Trimmings can easily be replanted. Will require frequent trimming. | Emmersed state has beautiful flowers | |||||
| Anubias Barteri Round | Anubias Gold Coin | Easy | Midground | Epiphyte | Dark Green | Medium | Low | Low | 2 | Cups | Can be grown emmersed too. | ||||||
| Taxiphyllum barbieri | Java Moss | Easy | Accent | Moss | 3-10 cm | Green | Low | Low | Medium | 0 | Cups | Already have some in the tank to use | *** | * |
