[APD] RE: 38 Gallon Habitat plan.. need feedback

["Rachel Sandage" <rachelsor at hotmail_com>]

Chris,

I'm not sure I'd call your list "a few" specific plant species - it looks 
like alot of species to me. Also not sure what the numbers mean in reference 
to stem plants like the Rotala and Ludwigia - 2 stems of Rotala (any sp) 
will look kind of sparse, if that's what you mean. If you mean two bunches 
of stems (say, 12 in all), that will look better.

In any case, this seems like alot of plants for a 38 to me. 10 full grown A. 
crispus will take up quite a bit of space, as will the Hygro corymbosa. 10 
E. tennellus & 10 sag. subulata will, when they start to fill in, take up 
the entire foreground, and then some. Same with the micranthemum - it grows 
and spreads fast. The Vals also get big and spread alot.

It's good to plant heavily from the start, but you might want to consider 
growing these plants in succession, rather than as a single aquascape. The 
two Hygros will grow very fast - you might want to start out by planting a 
forground of E. ten & Sag sub. and then adding lots of hygros, replacing it 
with other species as the tank stablilizes. The Anubias may be an algae 
magnet when the tank is getting started, since it grows slowly and has those 
nice broad leaves for algae to settle on. Rotala macranda and Didiplis 
diandra can be fussy; they are also plants I'd put in later, when I'd gotten 
the hang of fertilizing and so on.

In my experience, which is limited compared to Tom Barr or Karen Randall, 
some of the plants you've listed - R. macranda, D. diandra, R. wallichii, 
and possibly the Lobelia and hairgrass - are going to want more light than 
the barely 1.5 watts per gallon you'd be getting from your 2 25 watt tubes. 
I know Tom (and others) have probably gotten those plants to grow well in 
those light levels, but I have had little or no success.

Finally, you don't mention CO2 at all. IME this is going to cause the plants 
not to grow as well, and the algae to grow better.

I don't mean to discourage you. My first planted tank (aside from the crypt 
in my son's Eclipse 6) was a 29 gallon tank with about 1 watt/gallon, and I 
went through a very long & frustrating time before I figured out a 
combination of plants and fertilizer that would work. That tank ended up 
being planted with Anubias, Bolbitis, Crypts, Hygro polysperma, H. 
salicifolia and Rotala indica, fertilized with Flourish, KNO3, and Flourish 
Excel (at water change ONLY), and a nice Hagen Plant-gro CO2 system. Over 
the years I've tried other species and they just don't do well with the 
light/fertilizer I've got.

Hope this is useful,

Rachel


Chris wrote:
I am planning on setting up a 38 gallon planted tank and have considered
setting this tank up with a few specific plants species.  I am basically
looking for some feedback on the compatibility of these species and how
well they are likely to thrive under my current tank conditions.  The tank
will be set up with Eco-Complete as the substrate, 2 Flora Sun 25 Watt
(8500 K) Florescent tubes for the lighting, and an Aquaclear 300 filter for
the filtration.  I am also looking for some comments on the species I have
selected... and if I am on target with the numbers of these plants for my
38 gallon tank size.  As far as the fish are concerned.. I'm planning on
having mainly Angels and well as some Rasboras and maybe a couple small
Gouramis.   I greatly appreciate all feedback... even any criticisms.
:)  Ok... now here are the quantities and species of plants that I am
considering:

2 Rotala Indica
2 Rotala Macrandra
2 Rotala Wallichii
4 Ludwiga Perencis
8 Micranthemum Micranthenoides
5 Eleocharis Acicularis (Hairgrass)
1 Anubias Barteri
10 Sagittaria Subulata
10 Echinodorus Tenellus
6 Vallisneria Americana
2 Hygrophilia Corymbosa
6 Hygrophilia Polysperma
4 Dipiplis Diandra
2 Limnophila Sessiliforma
2 Heteranthera Zosterifolia
1 Lobelia Cardinalis
10 Aponogeton Crispus

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