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I am going to order some plants for my new 29g after I get the light fixture. I will have 2.24 wpg compact fluorescent lighting. I don't really know how many of each I should order to make my plant look good. I am going to have a piece of Swahala DW in the tank...similar to the one in the picture (sorry bout the cut off...photobucket ticks me off). It will be a little smaller and most likely a different shape...but it should be similar.


I have small natural gravel. The tank dimensions are 30 inches Long, 12 inches Wide, and 18 3/4 inches Tall.

Here is the list I have in mind. I have also put the number I want to order...don't know if they are right though. Please tell me if that is enough, too much, or if I should add or take off anything. I want it pretty heavily planted if possible and I know it will take a few months for the plants to grow out where they look good.

Bacopa Caroliniana-2 bunches
Crypt Wendtii-2 (doesn't specify if red or green though)
Crypt Retrospiralis-2 or 3
Crypt Belansae-2
Crypt Becketti-2
Java Fern-2 for the DW
Christmas Moss-quantity of 2 (want enough to put on 2 pieces of med-large DW.
Mayaca sp.-1 bunch (see picture below)
Ludwigia Repens-2 bunches
Echinodorous Tennellus-6
Dwarf Sag-10
Rotala Indica-already have

Do I have too many crypts? I have no idea if I have enough of each...too much...or what.

Picture of Mayaca sp.:


Please help me make my tank beautiful! :%)[/font][/font]

*Kristin*

Kristin,

A guts feeling tells me that you selected too many plants .

So, IMHO:

-scratch the dwarf sags entirely, get only 6 tennellus. I started off with 2 pots of tennellus that I broke into 8 small plants. By now, 10 months later, they have supplied me with all the tennellus in the 20G, 29G, and in the 125G, I would guess easily 100 plants have been created over that time.

-I don’t know how Retrospiralis grows under lower light, but in my 125G the leaves are by now maybe 30 inches long. Nevertheless, I like that plant a lot and I would say you should give it a shot as it might not reach that size under 2.25wpg.

-Mayaca – eh, don’t like it at all

-I would either take out the Bacopa or the Repens (or both). Too much variety of tall background plants, given that you already have the Indica and the Retrospiralis.

-I would also say either Wendtii or Becketti for the midground.

-I would scratch the Belansae.

And that’s it from here

Hope it helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I wanted the tennellus and the dwarf sag, only because the dwarf sag in my 10g is doing great, and the tennellus in my 55g is not. I have some weird algae type stuff going on in my 55 though that nobody seems to be able to identify. I will only get the tennellus and hope that it will do good.

I thought that I had too many crypts. I want to plant a few in front of the DW...but will go with the Wendtii because I already have some and like the look of them.
I think I will try the retrospiralis...only because I love how they look. Hopefully in lower light they won't get too tall.

I think I will scratch the bacopa and go with ludwigia. I have never had it before so it will be something different. I also wanted color, so it, along with some rotala indica, will fulfill that for me. And the wendtiis...if they are red.

How many "quanitities" of the moss do you think I should order? They don't have the amount of each quantity so i am not sure. I want enough to cover two pieces of DW.

Thanks Ingo, for all your expertise.

*Kristin*

Kristin,

I started with only one batch (but size may vary by vendor) for my 29G and a rather big piece of driftwood. In my 29G Thread I have a picture of it just after I attached it to the wood (almost at the bottom of the linked page).

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 11-Jan-2006 14:42

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If you have Siamese algae eaters go with more moss than you think you need, they keep it pruned really short and you will need to add more. If you have another tank with no SAE in residence that could be your 'moss farm', this way you will have a steady supply of moss for your other tank.



Last edited by luvmykrib at 11-Jan-2006 14:50

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