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Hi

I have a planted tank and am looking at options to hide the heaters/filter inlets as the current planting has been destroyed by the fish.

I have tried various stem plants but all have been uprooted/smashed/eaten. other plants in the tank are vallis which is doing well but I don't want any more of it if there is an alternative. anubias (decimated) java fern (decimated) and amazon sword (eaten but surviving).

Tank inhabitants as follows

8 x Cherry Barb
5 x Odessa Barb
5 x Filament Barb
2 x Juvenile Bala Shark (to be rehomed)
2 x Hoplo cat
2 x pearl guarami
1 x Pictus Cat
5 x bristlenose
1 x Candy stripe pleco
2 x candy loach
1 x yellow tailed loach
2 x Sulewesi snail
4-6 x nerite snail

please advise what tall plants might be an option or advise on what is eating the plants from my stocking. tank is 350ltr.

Thanks

Hi,
In looking the various fish listed on the internet, my vote would be the 5 Filament Barbs and the Odessa Barbs also enjoy greens with their meals. The larger catfish such as the Bristlenose and Plecos, love to rest on plants just above the gravel and feel the water circulating around them.

How big is this tank? The Filament Barbs grow to 7 inches when mature. The fact that the Anubis and even Java Fern has fallen to the onslaught speaks to some determined fish.

I would purchase some mature broad leaf plants such as the Amazon Swords, and Crypts. I would also provide more greens for the fish such as blanched peas, zucchini, etc.
Blanch the vegies before feeding, and with the peas, "pop" the meat out of the pea skin, and feed the meat of the pea to the fish. You can also use fast growing stem plants to help keep the fish from feasting on the more expensive ones in the tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Hi

Sorry ive only just come back to this thread as I had forgotten about posting it.

The tank is 140x40x55cm (approx. 310L)

lighting is 2x54w t5 tubes on approx. 10 hours per day.

no CO2.

The bala sharks have now gone and unfortunately the pictus has died but all other fish are as before.

The java fern is now showing strong signs of recovery but the rest of the planting is pretty much a write off bar the indestructible Vallis.

looking now for some smaller but robust individual foreground plants and some tall plants to cover the heaters and filter inlets.

any more advice welcomed.

Thanks

Hi,
Don't worry about forgetting many folks post here and then "X out" and can't remember where they were or how to get back.

I did some math and found your tank was an 81G or 308l tank. I'm not sure which was the width and which the height. It seems you have a 140cm (length) 55cm width (front to back) and a 40cm height (depth of water column).

You say you have two T-5, 54 watt bulbs. Doing the math, that works our to 1.3 watts per gallon (wpg). You did not mention the "K" rating of the bulbs. I'll assume that they are (Should be) "Daylight or Sunlight" bulbs and thus are around 6700K bulbs. Along with other ways plants are categorized they are also categorized as "Low, Medium, or High" light demand plants. Low light is between .5 and 1.5 watts per gallon. Medium light demand plants are between 1.5 and 3 watts per gallon and high light demand plants are 3 watts+ per gallon.

Low light plants are generally plants that grow in streams bordered by trees. The tree thick leaf canopy provides shade all day long. It is dim and dark in those areas. With a WPG of 1.33, these are the kind of plants you would want to purchase for your tank. If you increase the number of bulbs by purchasing a larger light assembly, then you would have a wider variety of plants that could be successful in your tank.

Take a look at the "Indestructable Vals" and see what water chemistry those plants prefer. Generally speaking they prefer a water with a pH of 6-8. They also like water with some calcium in it, and, they are considered low light plants. I would plant them along the sides (starting about half way back on each side, and then across the back. I'd use one row along the sides and two or three rows thick across the back of the tank.

Anubis, and the Java plants are low light plants. However, they should be "planted" by attaching them to pieces of driftwood or even rock. Tie the plant to the driftwood with some black cotton thread. Just "tight" enough to hold the plant rhizome (thick body that the leaves come out of the top of and the roots out of the bottom) to the wood or stone. The plant will grow over the thread and in time the thread will rot (won't hurt the plants, water, or fish) away, leaving the plant firmly attached.

Many of the "crypts" are also low light plants. Some are "short" and can be used in the foreground and toward the middle of the tank.

Most low light plants are not "fast growers" and should grow, although slowly, without CO2.

Your fish, and feeding them, should provide enough nutrients for your plants so you should not need to add anything to the water for them. You should, however, keep an eye on your Nitrate reading. With a couple of plants in the tank you should strive to keep it between 0 and 5. If you have "lots" ( a technical term) then strive to hold the Nitrate reading between a 5 and 10. Control the Nitrate reading by the amount of food fed, and by weekly water changes combined with vacuuming the gravel. Mentally divide the non planted sections of the tank into quarters. Then with each, weekly, water change, vacuum a different quarter. That way, within a month the entire, non planted tank will be cleaned. When cleaning the gravel push the syphon through the gravel down to the glass bottom. That way you clean it top to bottom.

Hope this helps...
Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--