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http://www.thereeftank.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3792&password=60a5e724d88aa0227991a6a6ae7dde22&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

and heres my stock list

1-unknown something that stays small with pointy leaves and not to dense

2-hygrophila polysperma

3-himianthus callitrichoides "cuba"

4-Echinodorus 'Ozelot' (Green)

5-Vallisneria spiralis "Tiger"

6-unknown

7-Hygrophila corymbosa ''Siamensis''

8-Ludwigia arcuata

9-Eleocharis acicularis

10-unknown

11-Anubias barteri var. nana

12-Microsorum pteropus

13-Heteranthera zosterifolia

14-unknown

15-unknown something with color

this is a discus setup, two florecent lights each will be between 30-50 watts, not planning on co2, temp between 80-85, maybe a DIY filter for better filtration such as this http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_fbf.php, black substrate

questions
-do u need a certain substrate for plants?
-how often should i do water changes?
-do i still need to vacuum exposed gravel?

Last edited by resle at 05-Dec-2004 21:38

Hi,
It would have made things easier if you had listed
key to the plants on the same place as the layout.

questions
1. -do u need a certain substrate for plants?
Yes, and no. You can do fine with regular aquarium
gravel, but will have to add fertilizers. A beter
substrate would be something like 100% flourite,
or Laterite.
Check out these two sites:
http://home.infinet.net/teban/substrat.htm
http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html
Plan on an average of 3 inches of substrate for a well
planted tank.

2.-how often should i do water changes?
You should do weekly water changes of between 10% and
20% to higher, depending upon the size and quantity of
fish.

3.-do i still need to vacuum exposed gravel?
Yes, plan on vacuuming the exposed gravel areas, and
"wave" your hand over the planted areas to swirl up
any loose detritus so the syphon and, or the filters
can suck them up.

Frank


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

c'mon boys and girls dont be shy i really want your opinion on the placement of my plants just one more post is all im asking

Resle,

It looks like it will work. You may want to move the Ozelot sword toward the background and use the a. nana on the foreground hardscape. If you want anubias on 11, I think you will want a "taller" variety unless it is going higher on the wood. If you are looking for light green that stays low try c. wendtii "green".

I just did a 125 planted tank for discus. I used a CaribSea product called EcoComplete. I had tried it other planted tanks with medium to difficult plants and found that it worked well. At least it worked as well as the tank with fluorite.

Lamps will give you medium light so be sure to check light requirements on your selections. No apparent problems with echinodorus, crypt or anubias selections.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I have to agree with what has been said so far, but, IMO, I would say you might need a bit more in the lighting area.

As for the setup, It might work, but I think in the end when the plants really start growing out, you will find that you have stacked them to much from front to back. In other words, you may end up with 3 different kinds of plant all merdged and mingling together. Now don't get me wrong, this can look terrific, but I am just fore warning you of the outcome, in case it is not what you are wanting to have. With several of the plants you listed in rows of three and then some substrate, you will find that three will over take the open substrate and be up against the glas before you know it. IMO a 55 gal does not make a great plant tank. It is just not deep enough front to back, to have more than one or two plants in front of each other. I usually suggest at least a 75 gal for a nice planted tank that has a design to it.

HTH....

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