Hey all, my girlfriend got the OK to set up her 39 gallon and asked for my advice on what plants to get for her tank. It's going to be a low-tech tank, no CO2 (not yet anyways), 65 Watts of PC lighting, a beaslbob substrate setup (I was going to do mineralized topsoil but she doesn't want to wait three weeks or so before setting up her tank). I was thinking of sphagnum peat moss, pool filter sand, and Eco-Complete. There's probably going to be a bubbler, and the tank will host a few schools of tetras.

I was thinking of a curtain wall in back composed of wisteria or anachris, with some crypts and amazon swords dispersed throughout, with some anubias nana or java fern in the foreground. My questions are these: Are there any mosses or red-leafed plants that will do alright in ~2 WPG? I was thinking of java moss, but would that much light be too much? And does java moss grow anchored in substrate, or just on driftwood and whatnot?

Also, if you guys want to suggest alternative plant arrangements, I'm all ears. Thanks!

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Ahem.....

AquaBid.com - Item # liveplantsr1311190432 - Mother Crypt - Ends: Wed Jul 20 2011 - 02:33:52 PM CDT

That is all,lol

On the red plants,crypt wendtii has a bronze variety,which I have in my tank.Ozelot swords have speckled leaves and rotala colorata,I was told will grow good in lower lighting.Java fern will anchor to the substrate,but dont bury the rhizome.You can tie it off to a rock,and then let it spread from there.

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I've got some giant hygro and dwarf hygro that just grow like weeds. It's great because you can take clippings and fill out the tank! It starts off as a small plant, but soon the tank is nice and full. I've herd the hygro' difformis is a good one too.

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Well if you can get hold of some sunset hygro that would give her some light pinks. There is also some rotala species and ludiwigia that will have some red in them. You can also add a red rubin or ozelot sword that would add a different color to the mix.
Instead of java moss how about looking into xmas moss, tiawan moss, flame moss. It forms a thicker mat and don't go as crazy as java does. They can also handle medium light better.

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Thanks everyone! Got her about 6 wisteria plants and an amazon sword, I'll look into the XMas moss, ludwiga and red rubin. Sorry Bev - got impatient and bought some PetsMart plants for her last night. She's super stoked about having a planted tank Plus I said I would give her about 20 RCS when my second generation starts growing up.

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I like the Sunset Hygro also for it's pale green leaves. It is a super fast grower in my tanks. Grows an easy 2-3" per week.

Sounds good to me although I would add some vals. Tall plants in back. short left and right. amazon sword (single) near center.

use play sand not pool sand and look for pc select if you have time.

IMHO forget the bubbler at least at first to let things settle down.

add one tetra a week after setup then don't add food for a week. then add at least 4 more and start feeding a flake or two per day.

I'm thinking your g/f is gonna be happy.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Nah its fine,lol.I have sunset hygro too,and I really like the look of it.When it gets closer to the light,it turns a really pretty pink.

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bob - already set the tank up last night. My gf is still a rudimentary fishkeeper so I kept it simple. She wanted an UGF so I just did 2 bags of Eco-Complete over the UGF, and she's got a big plastic rock decoration in the back. Good heater, good thermometer. Got 2" of Eco over the UGF and planted the wisteria and sword, wisteria in the back and sides, sword in the front slightly off-center. Also dosed with flake food, told her to wait a few days then add a bottle of Tetra SafeStart I bought her and some more flake food, then wait a few more days before starting to add fish. I'm going to let her borrow my 3G as a QT (it's currently empty).

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that could work too.

(just don't feed the fish for a week after adding them.)


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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Yeah, they should have some pickings from the leftovers of the cycle fuel for a little, and they can get on Weight Watchers after that.

She's thinking 2 schools of 10, either tetras or rasboras, and some RCS from me. Tropical community for sure.

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Thats going to be nice!Dont forget pics of course.

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