[APD] A not-very planted tank

["AZ Burns" <aerburns at hotmail_com>]

Hello all,

I am helping a youth organization I work with set up a 75 gallon tank in 
their office. It will be a fish tank, not a planted tank, but I would like 
to add some plants. I will be doing 50% water changes and aquarium 
maintenance bi-weekly, and keeping the fish load fairly low since I won't be 
there to watch the tank daily. Inhabitants will likely be Rosy Barbs, Pearl 
Gouramis, Corydoras, and Ancistrus. The tank currently has a single 48" T-8 
bulb for lighting.

I was thinking lots of floating plants like water sprite or hornwort, to 
compete with algae for nutrients. And then very shade tollerant plants like 
anubias and java fern underneath. The anubias and java fern would probably 
be fairly sparsely planted, more as accent to the driftwood and stones. I 
planned to have the anubias potted with leonardite/flourite, and then bury 
the pot in a mound of gravel matching the tank decor.

Will a setup like this work? Am I asking for algae problems?

Is the lighting sufficent for a floating plant cover and to get enough light 
down to the plants below, or would more lighting be advisable?

Would you recomend any nutrient dosing?

Thank you,
AZ

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