37 gallon Tall Rescape

[Coleallensmom]

I thought I'd start a build thread for my 37 gal rescape. (Thanks to everyone who has put up with all of my questions the last two+ months!) From the very begining, I've wanted to go full planted and now everything is finally falling into place...Plants have been purchased and are supposed to arrive sometime this week!

What I have:
37 gallon Tall tank. Demensions= 30"x12.5"x22.5"
Aquaclear 50
Aquatech 15 (I run this filter next to the AC to keep ready for my QT)
Nova Extreme dual 24W T5HO fixture= 1x 12K Bulb and 1x Flora bulb
Pea gravel type substrate
Flourish

I'm planning on using Flourish and root tabs for ferts, no CO2. I still need to pick up some dry ferts. Any suggestions?
I found some driftwood a few weeks ago and have had that soaking to work on releasing tannins...Progress has definitely been made; the biggest piece is no longer floating. Plants ordered are:

Echniodorus Tenellus (Chain Sword)
Valisnera Asiatica
Bacopa Australis
Crypt Retropiralis
Crypt Crispatula

In the last 2 weeks or so I've added two java fern to the tank. I also have plans to get some java moss. Previously, the tank has Top Fin ribbon and sword pants from my LFS in it. However, I recently pulled up all of the ribbons since they are not truly aquatic. The tank looks lonely with just the swords, so I am looking forward to getting started!

Tank before I took out the ribbons; still has the original T8 fixture at the moment:

Tall plants in the back are of course fake. Planning on taking out the fake driftwood on the left side of the tank to replace with the real wood. However, I'm going to try and incorporate the bridge as that was a gift from the hubby...I'm going to see if I can get some java moss to grow on it. Working on my proposed tank layout while I wait on the plants to arrive- Any ideas just how big the sword plants will get? I'm thinking I'm going to have to move them closer to the back of the tank while rescaping. In just two months with only .5W per/gal and Tetra Florapride, it's grown considerably and is much healthier looking then when I bought it.

Sword plant after planting:

Sword plant this morning:

 

[BigJim]

Looks good.

 

[fort384]

It is coming along! I have bought ferts through rexgrigg.com. He sells them at a very reasonable price.

Now, you just gotta get rid of the plastic plants in the back and put some mayaca or rotala rotundafolia back there . I think you could grow either one with your new light, even without CO2, though the rota r would be a little easier...

It is starting to come together though! Tall planted tanks are difficult, but with the right setup, can look really great.

Good work!

 

[Jason7894561230]

I can spot a plant in there thats not fully aqautic, the plant that has white going down its leaves is not a fully aqautic
But other than that it looks really nice!

 

[fort384]

I can spot a plant in there thats not fully aqautic, the plant that has white going down its leaves is not a fully aqautic
But other than that it looks really nice!

She removed these from the tank already she said. These are the "ribbon plants" she talked about. Check out the last pic.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Oh sorry i didnt see that, thats goods your doing everything great

 

[Coleallensmom]

It is coming along! I have bought ferts through rexgrigg.com. He sells them at a very reasonable price.

Now, you just gotta get rid of the plastic plants in the back and put some mayaca or rotala rotundafolia back there . I think you could grow either one with your new light, even without CO2, though the rota r would be a little easier...

It is starting to come together though! Tall planted tanks are difficult, but with the right setup, can look really great.

Good work!

Thank you...you've been super helpful answering all of my questions! The plastic plants definitely need to go..I'm tired of looking at them!

I had to look up the mayaca and rotala rotundafolia...both are beautiful plants. Do you think I'd have enough light to keep them alive? The closest pet store that has a good live selection of plants is That Pet Place, so I searched and their website says they carry the Mayaca. The only Rotala they carry are rotala indica, wallichii, and macranda.I actually like the Rotala Indica..maybe I'll make a trip over there this week to see if they have some in stock..

 

[fort384]

I think you could get by with the rotala rotundafolia...

wallichii and macranda are both out without CO2 and more light. Macranda would look great in there maybe down the road if you decide to up the lighting more and add CO2.

Mayaca might be doable, although it requires a bit more light than rotundafolia.

 

[Faile]

The closest pet store that has a good live selection of plants is That Pet Place, so I searched and their website says they carry the Mayaca. The only Rotala they carry are rotala indica, wallichii, and macranda.

The plant that they have listed as Rotala indica is actually Rotala rotundifolia. This is a very common mistake.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Thanks...What is the difference between the two?

 

[fort384]

Indica requires a bit more light. The leaves are a little bigger and more pointed, and they tend to be more red in the right conditions. The rotala r has smaller leaves and will grow in a medium light tank quite well. You can get some reddish colors out of it but it will probably stay pretty green with your setup. To get the reds, it takes some high light, co2, and an N deficiency.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Ok, thanks...I'll keep that in mind. I received confirmation this morning that my plants are being shipped today and by two day shipping, so I should have them Friday- Saturday at the latest. Hopefully I'll be able to run out one night this week to look at the Rotala at the store. Starting to get excited!

 

[Faile]

Rotala indica is a much more compact plant with bright green round leaves that are close to the stem which is a nice red color. It's also much harder to grow. If I remember correctly it used to be known as Ammania sp "Bonsai".

 

[Coleallensmom]

I made it in to TPP tonight and bought two bunches of the rotala. They also had java moss which I've been wanting, so I bought a ball of that as well. Grabbed a pack of root tabs as per the plan and at the last minute also decided to get a bag of Flourite (dark), which I'll be mixing in with my pea gravel tomorrow before planting.

I think I'm all set..!!

 

[fort384]

Looks like some healthy Rotala R. Did they give you trimmings are do you have some roots? Either will work, but if there are roots it will establish itself in your tank a lot quicker. Also, are you planning on weighting the stems, or planting individually?

I recommend not using the standard metal plant bands that a lot of pet stores will send home with your plants. They tend to damage the stems and cause a lot of rot, die off, etc. Especially in your tank, I would think you want to get a wall going... it is a major pain in the butt to plant each stem individually, and some will float up on you a bit... but once the plants are established they will send out extensive roots and they won't float up anymore.

Root tabs is a great idea. I think they will be well worth it.

Flourite is good stuff... beware that adding it to an established tank is going to be a little messy... get ready for some muddy water for a day or two. It will clear up, but it is going to look like death as you add it.

Just my two cents... I think you are on your way to becoming a FW planted addict (that's a good thing). Before you know it, you are going to be pricing CO2 systems .

 

[Coleallensmom]

Well....that shouldn't suprise me, I guess. I love gardening. My neighbor is always teasing me because every year I seem to add more garden beds outside. About time I had an "indoor garden", right?

They rotala does seem VERY nice and healthy...I'm so glad I was able to find some. Thanks for the tip! (Now hopefully it grows!) One bunch I think was in their holding tank longer and has quite a few roots already started. The other bunch is a newer trimming and has some very small roots present, but nothing very impressive. They did come with metal bands, but I took them off last night after I got them home. Wasn't sure what the right procedure was, but I didn't want to leave the metal in my tank. I think they gave me enough that I am going to put the two bunches together and then seperate them into at least three groups so that each group has at least a few with some good roots.

My other plants arrived this evening..right before we were heading out the door for dinner, so I wasn't able to pull them out of the package until we got home a bit ago. All of them look fair (especially the bacopa) with exception for the Crypt Retropiralis. They are pretty melted but do have some roots present for me to plant, so hopefully they will be ok. Any last minute tips?

 

[Faile]

If you have a hard time getting the stems to stay in the substrate, try planting them at a 45 degree angle. This way the weight of the substrate will help hold them in place, instead of just being able to pull out straight up.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Will keep that in mind, thanks! Is it a good idea to run some carbon in my AquaClear filter the next few days to help with the mess from the flourite and adding driftwood? The filter came with some but I never used it.

 

[Faile]

Just filter floss or something similar to help trap the fine particles. What makes the mess is the fine dust. Activated Carbon is for filtering out medications and dissolved organics, not dust and other larger particles.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Ok, Thanks. The tank is quite cloudy this morning. I wasn't sure if there was anything I could do to clear it up faster. I've been just running two foam inserts and a Biomax insert.