Here it is! My freshly planted 20L gallon tank! Currently there are 5 active Zebra Danios with more to be added soon. The plants are 2 Java Ferns, 2 Anubias Nana, and a bunch of planted and floating Anacharis.

My camera is a Nikon P80 (which I ADORE) and I used the close-up setting with just the tank as a light source.

Please tell me what you think everyone!

So I just read that people that have planted tanks usually don't use carbon filters because these can pull out nutrients that low lighted tanks need. Anyone familiar with this?

Should I be fertilizing even though I DON'T want to use any Co2 kits? If so what wouldn't harm my anacharis?

Looks nice.

You don't want those anubia's rhizomes (the "stem" looking part which the roots and leaves grow out from) buried in the substrate. They need water flowing around them to feed and will rot underground.

More Anachris. Actually, more of all plants ;-)

Dosing really depends on how much lighting you have. I wouldn't dose at all in a low tech, low light planted tank. If you have more light you have to start thinking about co2 and ferts.

Carbon will absorb some of the fertilizers, but if you aren't using any, no problem there. But there's no real reason to run carbon in a planted tank, and it gets expensive to keep replacing every 4-6 weeks.

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29 Gallon Planted
1 Angelfish; 2 German Blue Rams; 11 Rasbora Boraptensis; 3 Khuli Loaches, 1 BN Pleco

20 Gallon Planted
2 German Blue Rams; 5 Corydoras Paleatus; 4 Otocinclus Catfish; Amano Shrimp

5.5 Gallon
Betta, Some plants.

Thanks obscbyclouds! I was a little worried to buy so many plants at once, afraid they would all die, since this is my first go round with live plants. The anubias are just lightly planted in the substrate; I can see their rhizomes when I look down onto the tank. So the rhizome should be raised up so to speak? If that's the case then I'll have to attach them to the driftwood and rocks.

Thanks for the advice!

Yes, the anubias rhizome should be completely above ground. It's okay to have the root nodes in the substrate, however I think they look better when tied to rocks or driftwood, as the roots end up holding on. Also helps give your wood a very nice natural look.

The more plants the merrier, and healthier for fish!

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29 Gallon Planted
1 Angelfish; 2 German Blue Rams; 11 Rasbora Boraptensis; 3 Khuli Loaches, 1 BN Pleco

20 Gallon Planted
2 German Blue Rams; 5 Corydoras Paleatus; 4 Otocinclus Catfish; Amano Shrimp

5.5 Gallon
Betta, Some plants.

Ok I will attach my anubias to the closest wood or rock. Thanks so much! I wish shipping wouldn't get so expensive with buying these plants!

Any suggestions on a low, almost ground cover plant that would do well with such low lighting?

Hey, I have a planted aquarium as well, with low light and c02 injection. 15 Watts over 10 gallons to be exact, with a homemade c02 injector. I've found that buying plants on ebay is fairly inexpensive. I bought 2 anubias nana for $3.50 USD shipped. They should also, like others have mentioned, be attatched to a rock or piece of driftwood. They look gorgeous when they attatch themeselves to driftwood. Check out ebay for plants, they have all sorts from thailand wholesalers. Good luck.

*EDIT* oh, and as far as ground cover, I use flame moss rocks (also purchased on ebay) which thrive in almost any light condition, they've really taken off and now I could have enough clippings to cover 3 or 4 more rocks. You can also buy flame moss in 4x4" pads which you could completely cover your substrate with.

Thanks for the info zepprocker45! I'll look into that! I have seen photos of flame moss and it's really beautiful! Wasn't sure if it was as hardy to low light conditions as java moss.

Sweet looking tank!

In a low tech, low light tank you are still adding minerals with each water change, so I would remove your carbon filter. If you start to see yellowing or leaves turning clear, then you might want to add some root tabs or liquid minerals (Flourish).

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--->Pictures of my 75g Amazon tank<----

Dmaaaaax, I am actually fighting with yellowing/dying leaves on both of my anubias :(
I posted a thread this weekend concerning it. Next week I should be receiving a shipment of Flourish ferts to start dosing.

Thanks!

One thing I noticed with your anubias. It looks like they were growing above the water originally (emmersed). Some of the leaves look manicured/cut and the stems are longer than typically seen. If this is the case, it is normal for these leave to die and new leaves made for underwater (immersed) will start to bloom.

If you do not see new leaves however, then consider it a lack of nutrient and/or having your rhizomes buried too deep. When you pulled them out of the gravel inspect them for a rotting smell.

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--->Pictures of my 75g Amazon tank<----

Oh wow I didn't even think of that! That very well mabe be part of the problem. I know my Anacharis isn't looking too to great, but those are nutrient hogs so they need some ferts.

As far as the rhizomes go, I have since tied the anubias to driftwood and out of the gravel to keep them from being buried. Can they take some water movement? One of them is under the spillway of my HOB filter. It's not getting "pounded" just a slight current moving it to and fro.

I thought they looked rather tall for anubias nana

Good photo and a trained eye. I see that ocassionally with anubias, swords, and a few of the "lawn" type of plants. The best way to promote fast growth in the water is to cut off all the leaves except 3-4...epecially the ones you see going bad. No need to try and save them.

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--->Pictures of my 75g Amazon tank<----

Well one plant is down to just the rhizome! All the leaves deteriorated! I'll trim off the other plant as well...those leaves aren't far behind in dying.

Sad, sad news...I found one of my danios stuck and dead in my filter intake

Apparently I didn't cut my prefilter sponge properly and it left an opening in the back...He probably got sucked in because the rest of the intake was covered.

I changed 50% of the water last night because the ammonia levels were at .25 and I noticed the fish were swimming a little differently, heads kind of like "bobbing." They all seeming fine after that.

With the plants that I have in there...how quickly do they start to take in the ammonia? I know I don't have it heavily planted like a "silent cycle" but they've gotta take in some of that right? My floating anacharis is growing new roots and a few new shoots too.

No healthy fish would get stuck in a filter intake, regardless of how the sponge was cut. You need to do as much water changes as possible to get the Ammonia down to 0. Any ammonia really is poisonous to fish.

You need a LOT of plants to expect them to take care of ammonia for you without cycling first. Put as many plants like anacharis, vals and hornwort that you can. I mean load the entire tank with it. And keep up with water changes (it may take 20% a day or more) or you will loose more fish.

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29 Gallon Planted
1 Angelfish; 2 German Blue Rams; 11 Rasbora Boraptensis; 3 Khuli Loaches, 1 BN Pleco

20 Gallon Planted
2 German Blue Rams; 5 Corydoras Paleatus; 4 Otocinclus Catfish; Amano Shrimp

5.5 Gallon
Betta, Some plants.

Sorry to hear that your fish died. I think obscbyclouds is right though; filters generally don't pull hard enough that a fish would get sucked in. I used to run a filter rated for 40-75 gallon tanks on my 10 gallon tank, and it wouldn't suck up any fish. Maybe it was a coincidence that your danio got sucked in at that spot?
Still sorry to hear about your loss though.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will place an order for more anacharis as soon as I can. With adding more to the tank, how soon can I start to see the ammonia go down? And then, when can I start to add fish slowly? I've had the tank up with fish for about four weeks now. I'm not seeing the cycling process a clear cut as I've read about, so it's hard for me to judge!

I'm not familiar with these types of filters, so I assumed that with the sponge not filling the space around it, it created a "suction" and therefore sucked my little fish in.