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Yeah, I have no plant mojo to speak of.....
I'm fixing up my 20long. Vital stats:

* canopy with 20W bulb
>looking to axe it in favor of a better, but still cheap light fixture
* plain white gravel
>looking to ditch it and replace with a 20lb bag of eco complete with some river stones mixed into it)
* fish: 6 neon tetras
>looking to add 4 more neons, 8 marbled hatchets, and 4 apistogramma agazzii)
*plants: 2 pots of dwarf hairgrass, spread out over the tank in small clumps, some of which are turning brown and not looking too good. 2 Amazon swords which also don't look too good
> looking to add almost anything. I want some banana plants for the foreground to provide shade and cover for the hatchets. I'm also interested in anuabis, four-leave clover, and green hedge.

How do you suggest I fix up the tank? Do you know any good canopy brands? Aquascaping tips?

Your problem lies in the plants you're choosing - Hairgrass and Amazon Swords are both higher-light plants, and I cannot get them to grow at all if the lighting is under 1.5 WPG.

Since you have a 20 gallon tank with a 20 watt bulb, that gives you 1 WPG. Only very low-light plants are able to thrive under that level of lighting.

You will have more success if (A) you invest in more powerful lighting, or (B), you buy only low-light plants such as Anubias, Java Ferns, Java Moss, and maybe some Cryptocorynes.



Last edited by Cory Addict at 02-Oct-2005 00:44

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

*scratches head* 20 long is like 30 inches long, right? Wouldn't it have a bigger bulb that 20w? I don't have the normal fluourescent bulb hood for my 20 long, so I'm not sure on that one.

In any case... go with lower light plants. Amazon swords will get too tall for that tank if I'm right, anyway.

Java fern, crypt, anubias... all good choices. I'm wishing I had gone all anubias varieties in my 20 long... the ones I have look so nice in there. And besides... very nice, low tech plants.

The problem with the twenty long is that it's such a short tank that stem plants would have to be trimmed constantly. *shrugs* I prefer non-stem plants... I seem to have a brown thumb with stems, anyway.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

The thred has been brought back from the dead....
I wound up tossing all of the hairgrass as well as a couple of swords. I actually have 1 sword who is flourishing (it's in the middle of the tank, so it might be snagging some natural light from a nearby window) and another which is really green, but short. I bought some java fern, but I can't fit them all on the driftwood. The (new)gravel I have has large pebbles with eco-complete underneath. The pebbles are 1-2 mm. Can I attach the java fern onto the pebbles?
Anubias and crypts, do they all have to be rooted on something? Or can they go right into the gravel?

Crypts definitely grow in the gravel. Anubias and java fern are a little trickier but will grow without something to attach to. You can't bury them so you'll have to find a way to weigh them down until they tangle their roots in the gravel. If you bury the rizome they won't grow well and may die.

ok, I don't have alot of DR to attach stuff to and I already have one type of plant that needs and anchor, so I think I'll get crypts.

What species do best? I like wenditti(sp). Are all of them really good lowlight plants or highlight plants that merely survive in lowlight?
What about wisterria?

Last edited by djtj at 27-Nov-2005 16:20

"What species do best? I like wenditti(sp). Are all of them really good lowlight plants or highlight plants that merely survive in lowlight? What about wisterria?"

Alot of species of crypts would like your tank setup.
Wendtii - there are quite a few varieties in there..

C. Wendtii green, red, bronze, and mi-oya for example !
C. Balansae is nice and has a val like appearance a good background plant.

Re swords and light. I have just under 1.5 wpg.. My regular swords are not growing but I haven't stuck any fert into the gravel. It can't be not enough light as my Echinodorus Ozelot Red has grown 4 inches and needs more light then the regular swords.

Wisteria should be ok in your tank.
Enjoy !


The Amazon Nut...

My experience with this sword is funny.

I started out with 6. 4 died rather quickly. However, 1 of them is really doing well. It has about 7 good healthy leaves. The overall plant is about 5" tall. The other one is also a healthy green color. However, it is only 2" tall and has 4 small leaves. I think that the swords need to get used to a lower WPG like fish get used to a different ph. Also, if you put them in the center of your tank, they'll get more light from the fixture as well as some additional natural light.