Newly planted 5 gallon - Aquarium Advice

Courtney8526 · 03-27-2008, 06:22 PM

I have add plants to my 5 gallon corner tank and I can't get the look right. I've moved them around a couple of times and I'm still not sure about it. I have 1 Java Fern, 2 nana Anubias, 1 anubias coffefelia, 1 anubias that I don't know the type, 1 sword but I forgot the type but not Amazon, & 1 cardinalis. I'm thinking about adding some moss to the piece of wood that's standing up. I'm thinking about moving the coffefelia in front of the java fern, the sword where the coffefelia is and move the cardinalis to the left a little. And I'll be adding a black background soon. What do you think?

**Purrbox** · 03-27-2008, 07:57 PM

Both the Sword and Anubias Coffeefolia will be too large for this aquarium long term. I find that even my Anubias Nana is pushing the size limits of my 5.5 gallon aquarium.

As far as aquascaping goes there are three big things that I notice. The driftwood is getting lost in the plants already. Once they grow in a bit this is only going to get worse. A larger piece of driftwood would give more structure to the scape and stand a better chance of avoiding getting lost. The next thing that I notice is that you really don't have much variety in the leaf shape of your plants and they are almost exclusively rosette plants. Adding some smaller leafed stem plants would go far in adding some variety to the appearance. Rotala Rotundifolia or Didiplis Diandra could be some excellant choices that have the potential to provide you some nice pinks and reds if you have enough light. Finally you've currently got your plants very evenly spaced. Try creating some groupings. This will help give some visual flow and allow your eye to travel through the aquarium instead of just getting stuck in the middle.

Courtney8526 · 03-28-2008, 12:15 PM

Do you know what kind of sword that is? I forgot what kind they told me but they did tell me it'd wouldn't get too big. Isn't anubias slow growing? I wanted to add some different types of plants but I only have low light and the only other low light plants that the lfs showed me, I didn't like too much. I may have to order some that the store doesn't have though. I'll move the plants around a little more and see if I can get anything better. Thanks for the help!

**Purrbox** · 03-28-2008, 09:12 PM

No idea on the sword since almost all of them get too big for my aquariums. Since you're dealing with low light, this may be a non issue since swords generally require at least medium light. You could check out PlantGeek.net's Plant Guide to try to ID it.

Anubias are slow growing especially in low light aquariums, but eventually they do get bigger. It's taken my Anubias Nana 2-3 years to get to it's tank busting size under medium to high light. That's with my taking the occational cutting too.

As far as plant selection goes, if you're in the US, in about another month you'll probably start seeing a lot more plants being offered up in the barter trade section as it gets warm enough for those of us in the northern states to start shipping trimmings again. This would be a good way to get ahold of some plants inexpensively that you won't see in your LFS.

Courtney8526 · 03-31-2008, 06:35 PM

I did some rearranging yesterday and I like the new look much better. What do you think?

Courtney8526 · 04-05-2008, 04:35 PM

Do you think I could add some dwarf clover in there? I only have low light. Some things that I have read say that it can grow in low light it just grows slower, and some things say that it needs higher amounts of light. Does anyone keep dwarf clover in a low light tank?

**Purrbox** · 04-05-2008, 10:03 PM

Dwarf Clover (Marsilea minuta) is more light demanding than the other clovers. You may or may not be able to get it to grow. It's also very difficult to find. You may be better off going with one of the other Clovers.

03-27-2008, 07:57 PM	#2
Purrbox Aquarium Advice Addict Community Moderator Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Iowa USA Posts: 4,923	Both the Sword and Anubias Coffeefolia will be too large for this aquarium long term. I find that even my Anubias Nana is pushing the size limits of my 5.5 gallon aquarium. As far as aquascaping goes there are three big things that I notice. The driftwood is getting lost in the plants already. Once they grow in a bit this is only going to get worse. A larger piece of driftwood would give more structure to the scape and stand a better chance of avoiding getting lost. The next thing that I notice is that you really don't have much variety in the leaf shape of your plants and they are almost exclusively rosette plants. Adding some smaller leafed stem plants would go far in adding some variety to the appearance. Rotala Rotundifolia or Didiplis Diandra could be some excellant choices that have the potential to provide you some nice pinks and reds if you have enough light. Finally you've currently got your plants very evenly spaced. Try creating some groupings. This will help give some visual flow and allow your eye to travel through the aquarium instead of just getting stuck in the middle. __________________ ~Joy 10 Gallon Planted Photo Log - 5.5 Gallon Planted Photo Log - 2.5 Gallon Planted Photo Log - Pico Planted Photo Log

03-28-2008, 09:12 PM	#4
Purrbox Aquarium Advice Addict Community Moderator Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Iowa USA Posts: 4,923	No idea on the sword since almost all of them get too big for my aquariums. Since you're dealing with low light, this may be a non issue since swords generally require at least medium light. You could check out PlantGeek.net's Plant Guide to try to ID it. Anubias are slow growing especially in low light aquariums, but eventually they do get bigger. It's taken my Anubias Nana 2-3 years to get to it's tank busting size under medium to high light. That's with my taking the occational cutting too. As far as plant selection goes, if you're in the US, in about another month you'll probably start seeing a lot more plants being offered up in the barter trade section as it gets warm enough for those of us in the northern states to start shipping trimmings again. This would be a good way to get ahold of some plants inexpensively that you won't see in your LFS. __________________ ~Joy 10 Gallon Planted Photo Log - 5.5 Gallon Planted Photo Log - 2.5 Gallon Planted Photo Log - Pico Planted Photo Log

04-05-2008, 10:03 PM	#7
Purrbox Aquarium Advice Addict Community Moderator Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Iowa USA Posts: 4,923	Dwarf Clover (Marsilea minuta) is more light demanding than the other clovers. You may or may not be able to get it to grow. It's also very difficult to find. You may be better off going with one of the other Clovers. __________________ ~Joy 10 Gallon Planted Photo Log - 5.5 Gallon Planted Photo Log - 2.5 Gallon Planted Photo Log - Pico Planted Photo Log

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03-28-2008, 12:15 PM	#3
Courtney8526 Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: TEXAS Posts: 50	Do you know what kind of sword that is? I forgot what kind they told me but they did tell me it'd wouldn't get too big. Isn't anubias slow growing? I wanted to add some different types of plants but I only have low light and the only other low light plants that the lfs showed me, I didn't like too much. I may have to order some that the store doesn't have though. I'll move the plants around a little more and see if I can get anything better. Thanks for the help!

04-05-2008, 04:35 PM	#6
Courtney8526 Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: TEXAS Posts: 50	Do you think I could add some dwarf clover in there? I only have low light. Some things that I have read say that it can grow in low light it just grows slower, and some things say that it needs higher amounts of light. Does anyone keep dwarf clover in a low light tank?