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29g, flourite and gravel mix, no C02, low light (which may eventually be upgraded but let's stick with 'low' for now).

I currently have Amazon swords doing well, but this is a tank I've never been really happy with. I'd like to try for a heavily planted look, or as heavy as possible with low light. Are there any shrubby, full-looking type plants that would work?

And of course any other ideas would be appreciated

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Have you tried full grown java fern, not the little ones but get a nice big one, well a few, and bunch them all up on some driftwood (if you dont want the wood look you can use rocks but it'll take a bit longer for them to root...obviously ). Lace java especailly should look nice, cant' remember seeing it in the shops in our area though now that I think about it.

Water wisteria is generally a 2wpg type plant, but if it were established you might have some success with it...

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You could try a nana petite flower...best shrubby affect for a small planted tank, IMO. Other options include java fern (try for var. Tropica or Windelov if you can), java moss (which actually looks quite awesome once established on a piece of DW), or other anubias species other than the aforementioned.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 06-Jan-2005 10:58

My crypt wendtii is sort of a tall-bushy plant... really fills in the back corner of my ten gallon, top to bottom. Plus, it's just a really NICE plant. And easy... just stick it in and leave it the heck alone.

I like how the plant to the right fills in the top and the crypt fills in the bottom, where the long stems of the other plant are. The crypt has also gotten quite a bit bigger since this picture.


This is just after reaquascaping middle of last year... I need to update pictures! [/font]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

The easiest way to create that densely planted look is to use something with a lot of small leaves. The large number of leaves kind of tricks the eye. While cypts can become very full and lush they'll never give tht densely planted look, wrong shape , leaves too big.

An easy plant to create a dense look is Hygro Polysperma, it grows fast and will need weekly trimming, so even a small bunch can become a jungle pretty quickly. By putting the top cuttings in front of the older stems you can quickly get a layered thick look.

Brazilian Pennywort is another great choice it's an easy fast grower with big round bright green leaves. The leaves start right at the bottom of the stem and come out small and round and gradually get bigger. Again because of this it's easy to propagate and even a small amount if properly used can create a thick dense look.

Rotal Rotundifolia is a pretty stem plant with very small leaves , thick layered bunches can again create a dense look.

I think I understand the look you are aiming for and it can be done very very easily with the right choice of plant and some clever sculpting.

I have been playing around with my 5 gal. I have a particular look I want with a very specific planting plan, but as yet haven't been able to find the plants I'm looking for. In the meantime I've just planted it with trimmings from the big tanks Hygro and Pennywort. One side looks very dense and full with what is in fact just a handful of cuttings. I'm in work now (bad boy) but I'll post a pic later to give you an idea, I think it's the kind of look you are aiming for.

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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.

As promised . The tank needs a trim but i think you get the idea.

bensaf attached this image:

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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.

Actually you get a better idea from the top.

bensaf attached this image:

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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.

Wow ben that's as nice from the top as it is from the front .

*prints out bens tank to show to her hygro which insists on not growing* .

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Babel,



Actually last night I threw out a 2 gallon bucket full of the stuff from the big tank ! It grows so fast it need trimming every couple of days, it had been trimmed so much that it had grown into all shorts of funny branchy shapes and become a tangled mess. Watching a 5" angelfish trying unsuccessfully to force his way through it meant it was time to sort it out. Uprooted the whole lot and trimmed off the nicer top parts and chucked the rest. Replanted the tops and it now looks much more healthier and nicer. Fish confused as they now have access to the left side of the tank , they all seem to be ther have a look around

I've heard prople say it's good for low light, but I found it needs a bit above low -11/2 to 2 wpg seems to do the trick. The other thing is once it has enough light it really eats up nutrients. It's always the first to show signs of deficiency (and the first to recover)other then that it's pretty easy .

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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.