I'm thinking of starting over with my tank. I've managed to get some o fmy algae under control, but I think I don't have enough plant mass to really keep things as healthy as they can be. I had envisioned dense foilage in my tank, but instead I have stringy plants with open spaces, or a bunch of tall growers instead of bushy spreading plants. Not to mention I wasted alot of area with riccia. I don't think riccia in large quantities is a good choice. I want to replant with things that will get bushy, and really fill up the plant areas of my tank, since I have a large section reserved for just sand.
The attached thumbnail shows what I have going right now, and after another algae removing trim, my plant mass is minimal.
In my image there is a black line that follows the curve in front of the riccia on the left side. That signifies a wall that is stuffed with moss, so it will grow out the front. Not growing gangbusters like I had envisioned, but it's growing. The wall is rasied a couple of inches in front and slopes upward to the back another inch or so.
So I guess I'm looking for suggestions for some plants that will grow dense and bushy. I just want strong growing plants mass, nothing fancy. I'd like to keep the riccia area, but I need something dense and fast growing in the other areas that already contain HM. I actually thought HM would grow dense, but it does not. Long and stringy, vertically across the bottom of the tank more or less. At one time the whole right side was packed with large b. Jponica. Just the look I wanted, but I planted it too close toegether (thinking I was going to get that dense look) and it all rotted away. That was a huge mess.
Any suggestions are appreciated!
Also, How bad will I mess my enviroment up when I rip everythnig out and put new stuff in - as far as chemistry and ammonia cycle goes?
The attached thumbnail shows what I have going right now, and after another algae removing trim, my plant mass is minimal.
In my image there is a black line that follows the curve in front of the riccia on the left side. That signifies a wall that is stuffed with moss, so it will grow out the front. Not growing gangbusters like I had envisioned, but it's growing. The wall is rasied a couple of inches in front and slopes upward to the back another inch or so.
So I guess I'm looking for suggestions for some plants that will grow dense and bushy. I just want strong growing plants mass, nothing fancy. I'd like to keep the riccia area, but I need something dense and fast growing in the other areas that already contain HM. I actually thought HM would grow dense, but it does not. Long and stringy, vertically across the bottom of the tank more or less. At one time the whole right side was packed with large b. Jponica. Just the look I wanted, but I planted it too close toegether (thinking I was going to get that dense look) and it all rotted away. That was a huge mess.
Any suggestions are appreciated!
Also, How bad will I mess my enviroment up when I rip everythnig out and put new stuff in - as far as chemistry and ammonia cycle goes?