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I would like to know what plants would be best for my 75g tank.Here you have the plants i would like to order.
1)Hygrophila
2)Amazon swordplant
3)Ambulia
4)Banana plant
5)Hairgrass
6)Hornwort
7)Willow moss
8)Cardamine
9)Moneywort
10)Red Ludwigia
11)Water Sprite
12)Micro sagittaria
13)Pennywort
14)Pigmychain sword
I like all the plants that i mentioned above,but i don't think i could have them all
So which ones do you think will be the best choice?
Thanks,
Robby

Last edited by robby1619 at 06-May-2005 05:46

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

hairgrass would look nice imo, imagine a 75g tank with that all along the bottom

just a q, what will be the lighting 4 the tank?

Need to know the lighting.

Cardimine is only tricky one that I see.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Depending on the lighting, a lot of those plants can become a big pain to keep manageable. How much effort do you want to put into keeping things tidy looking? And how heavily planted do you want things to be?

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Back in the saddle!

"Big pain to keep managable"...hmm which plants is that
I don't want it to be really heavy planted.Just some big background plants and smaller plants for forground.


Last edited by robby1619 at 06-May-2005 09:11

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

Once again, it depends on the lighting/ CO2 etc. If you go upwards of 2.4/ 2.5 WPG plus CO2, then hygro (I assume you mean hygro polysperma), ambulia, horwort and watersprite will grow like mad, and you may have to trim and replant them once or twice per week. (By trim and replant, I mean snip off the top halves, pull the bottom halves out of the substrate, and replant the top) The Hygro and ambulia will also put out gangly looking roots all along their stems when growing well.

Now please don't think I'm trying to discourage you from owning them. They're all beautiful looking plants. It's just that when you give them the growing conditions they need, it will take more work to keep them looking neat and looking their best than other plants.

In a 75g with decent lighting you should be able to get away with an amazon sword for the background. If you're looking for other larger type background plants, I suggest you look into anubias species. Some can grow quite large, they have nice large leaves, and don't require lots of lighting or CO2. They're on the expensive side to purchse, but if you have patience they're definetely worth it.

So how much lighting did you plan on getting?

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Back in the saddle!

My lighting is:
30-60HZ 30W x 2
And here is some pics of my tank 75g so as you can see what i need of plants..
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mile_rd_8ball/album?.dir=/6bdf

Last edited by robby1619 at 06-May-2005 11:45

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

First of all, very nice tank you have there

Unfortunetely the lighting you have now only works out to 60W, which on a 75 gallon tank is only .8 watts per gallon. For most of the plants on your list you would need a minimum of 2 watts per gallon. So, unless you upgrade your lighting and think about adding CO2,there isn't much you can work with on that list.

HOWEVER, fear not! As I've said, you can still have a beautiful low light planted tank with what you have. There are many diferent lovely species of anubias plants that would do fine in that set-up. And, having seen your tank, anubias would be a really good fit. It doesn't need to be planted in the substrate - it can be tied on to rocks and driftwood, and will do very well like that. In your case, you may not need a bunch of big background plants, you can just tie a few anubias plants onto the rocks you have, and it will give the impression of a lush background. They come in many different sizes, from quite small at 5-6 inches, to species that can grow to 10-12+ inches.

Look around on a few websites like tropica.com to see what you like.

Good luck!

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Back in the saddle!

Hmmm..co2 and more lighting.
I thought my lighting was more than enough
Well maybe i should go with some fake plants instead of the real ones that needs a lot of oxygen etc..
And buy real plants for the frontground instead.
Thanks for the replies
Robby

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

Nice tank by the way!
May I suggest some Amazon Swordplants in your tank. I have them in my tank and they look great. The good thing about them is that there so easy to look after.

Don't despair Robby. Go for real plants, you will not regret it.

Firstly, I would add reflectors to your fluorescents. It pushes your lights a bit higher. Not enough for plants who need high lights, but a little higher. Then you only have to pick the right plants for your tank, and there are quite nice ones. For instance, anubias (as NowhereMan suggested) or Java fern could be planted on a driftoow and will look great. For background plant you can use Cryptocoryne crispatula var. Balansae which has nice looking leaves and grows quite tall, or low light Vallisneria (which is a bit more bland than, if you ask me). For foreground plant you can use Echinodorus tenellus (actually on your list -- Pygmy chain sword), which is classified as medium light plant, but I have it growing in my low light tank without any problems, just make sure it's not in the shade of a bigger plant. Also a foreground plant, you can use Eleocharis "parvula" instead of the hairgrass (Eleocharis accicularis), which looks almost the same, just a bit more curly than the Hairgrass.

Other plants on your list that I think you can grow are Willow moss and Hornwort, and Amazon sword. All did great in my tank (but watch out of the Hornwort, it uses so much nutrients that if you don't add fertilisers, it might "suffocate" other plants...).

And, have a look at the Tropica link that NowhereMan provided. Click on Advanced Search (top right) and search for low light plants. You'll find more than enough plants to choose from! No CO2 is needed for those plants in that light, but a bit of Flourish Excel will go a long way for them.

Your tank looks really nice. I've been watching it evolving since the day you started posting pictures on the photo both, and it's only getting better. Would be a shame to stop now and not go for live plants. Do it!

Last edited by untitled at 06-May-2005 13:48

Here is what i found from the link NowhereMan linked me.
1)Hygrophilla difformis
2)Microsorium Pteropus
3)Vallisneria Spiralis
4)Hydrocotyle Leucocephala
5)Anubas Barteri (Nana)
6)Cryptocoryne Walkeri
I belive these ones should be ok for my tank and lighting..
And thank you for those kind words untitled.
It's really not easy to redecorate,redecorate...and you are not satisfied..make changes and so on..but thats good some other ones are saying that it looks good,i belive i need a lot more help later on from you guys..
Thanks,
Robby

Last edited by robby1619 at 06-May-2005 14:21

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

I have vallisneria spiralis and anubias barteria under 1wpg and it grows alright. Most crypts should work. I also have Crinum thaianum (common water onion) in one of my low light tanks and it makes a great background plant. I always liked the grass look but could never get any hairgrass to grow so I went with the vals and crinums instead.