I am looking for suggestions on a theme for my aquarium. Currently, there are no plants in my tank and what I was looking for was some sort of combination of plants/rocks that are very bright and lively. By bright and lively, I mean vivid green and crystal clear =D Any suggestions on what type of plants I should look for?
A planting theme ?
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JustOneMore20
Algae Fighter
You could do a biotope theme, like Asian or South American. What fish do you have?
Its hard to do a theme other then biotope IMO.
Your plant choices will depend on your lighting.
Its hard to do a theme other then biotope IMO.
Your plant choices will depend on your lighting.
Oh, A biotype woule be awesome. Hmm..Maybe something tropical, and untouched. I want to make it as real as possible. Lighting woule not be a problem, because I would get the lighting depending on what I want.
Crap...... I have gravel >.<
Crap...... I have gravel >.<
JustOneMore20
Algae Fighter
This site has a list of Asian and Amazon biotope plants and setups. You have to scroll down some and look for them on the left hand side. It has a list of fish as well and a link to facts on an area in that biotope.
Oo.. when you click U.S. aquarium plant profiles on the left side of the frame, I like that sort of thing. Its so lively. I'm going to try and see what type of plants they consist of.
Hm... On one of the tanks, I see a grassy bed, instead of gravel or whatever you have on your aquarium floor. What kind of plant is that, and how do you clean the bottom of your tank with those plants in the way?
Hm... On one of the tanks, I see a grassy bed, instead of gravel or whatever you have on your aquarium floor. What kind of plant is that, and how do you clean the bottom of your tank with those plants in the way?
fish_4_all
Aquarium Advice Addict
Gravel will grow a lot of plants. I have 12 species all growing in gravel with no problems. The only thing I think gravel needs is to be well seasoned, like 6months old or so in order to break down the fish waste and make a good plant bed.
You don't vacuum if you have a completely covered substrate, just wave the tube over the plants so you don't uproot them.
You don't vacuum if you have a completely covered substrate, just wave the tube over the plants so you don't uproot them.
Lonewolfblue
Aquarium Advice Addict
If it's a grassy bottom, then it's probably dwarf hairgrass. It needs very high light to do well, and is definitely an algae magnet if you aren't careful.
Jchillin
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have a fondness for the SA biotope theme myself. I've done pretty well with it so far and it includes regular pea-sized gravel and low-light. I have dwarf sag and stargrass as my "carpet", grows to insane proportions and needs "mowing" regularily.
Since SA doesn't have a whole lot of plant species, I made sure I had a larger amount of Amazon swords (swords are a requisite for SA biotopes). Your fish should all come from the SA region to make it more authentic.
Since SA doesn't have a whole lot of plant species, I made sure I had a larger amount of Amazon swords (swords are a requisite for SA biotopes). Your fish should all come from the SA region to make it more authentic.
JustOneMore20
Algae Fighter
You can go to tropica.com and go to advanced search. Then where it says continent, use South America...or the continent of your choice and it will give you a list of plants on the right hand side. It only gives scientific names, so you may have to google them, or look on websites that have plants for sale to see the common names. Its a good site though....you can even plug in the height of your tank (in cm) to narrow the search.
fish_4_all
Aquarium Advice Addict
Honestly, I think a theme tank should be a type of plant and not a region. Plants with round leaves only, like pennywort and clover. Colored plants only and no true only greens. Thin leaf plants, crypts only, anubias and broad leafs, something that LOOKS like it should go together. Not in the same tank because it comes from a region. I can only imagine how awesome a tank would look if you managed to incorporate 11 different colored plants and make them flow with a scheme that is asthetic as well as functional.
Jchillin
Aquarium Advice Addict
fish-4-all said:
Looks like a good topic for the aquascaping forum.
The purpose of a themed biotope is to give the fish as many plants and hardscape(s) as would be found in their natural habitats. It is for that reason that many SA biotopes resemble "jungles" because in reality, the fish live in one.
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