TALL plant suggestions please

[virtuous23]

Hello, I want to incorporate some plants in my 75gal tall fresh water tank. I have all natural stone gravel, drift wood & rocks. I love the look of the heavy planted but I'm leaning more so toward light/medium planted.

I have the aquaclear 70 filter & I'm not sure of the type of light (got the setup from craigslist). I do have a timing so they will get enough light. When I had 55g, there were plants in it but I'm not sure what kind bc I had someone maintaining it for my daycare. This is my special tank in my home so I'll be doing all maintenance. Something that I don't have to spend a lot of time "working" on bc I operate a daycare. But something that's still nice for me to relax & enjoy & will fill in some of the higher space, since the tank is tall. Its a community tank.

Thank you so much for your help

 

[Rivercats]

What type of lighting do you have as lighting dictates what plants you can use. Easy low maintainence tall plants are Amazon Swords, Jungle Val, and most stem plants (which will need to be trimmed periodically). Wisteria and Water sprite are also easy and can grow very tall and bushy.

 

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What type of lighting do you have as lighting dictates what plants you can use. Easy low maintainence tall plants are Amazon Swords, Jungle Val, and most stem plants (which will need to be trimmed periodically). Wisteria and Water sprite are also easy and can grow very tall and bushy.

Corkscrew Val is a good varient along with the jungle Val!
Also other varieties of the sword!

 

[Rivercats]

Corkscrew Val is slower growing and in a tall tank such as a 75 gallon will take along time to reach the surface if it even does. In this instance Jungle Val is more suitable and faster growing for what the OP is asking for. Various swords grow various heights and widths so when choosing swords for a tall tank reseach needs to be done to see if a species is suitable to what is desired in the tank. Amazon Swords can reach 24" with an impressive width in tall tanks with adequate lighting.

 

[virtuous23]

What type of lighting do you have as lighting dictates what plants you can use. Easy low maintainence tall plants are Amazon Swords, Jungle Val, and most stem plants (which will need to be trimmed periodically). Wisteria and Water sprite are also easy and can grow very tall and bushy.

The bulb says natural daylight F30T8. If need be, I can replace it.

I like the bamboo I saw in Petco but I've read so many reviews of them that I'm not sure I want to put it in my tank. I would love something that could be the background of the tank (besides the black background)

 

[Rivercats]

Bamboo can only have it's roots in the water and a few inches of the stem. It's not an aquatic plant as it's often sold as. You have pretty low light. Is there a way you could at least add another T8 light to your tank? It would really help alot. As is even swords and jungle val will struggle just to survive. You could add a nice piece of DW and add some Anubia and Java Fern Regular and Wendilov to it. You could make an interesting tank with very low light that way.

 

[virtuous23]

Bamboo can only have it's roots in the water and a few inches of the stem. It's not an aquatic plant as it's often sold as. You have pretty low light. Is there a way you could at least add another T8 light to your tank? It would really help alot. As is even swords and jungle val will struggle just to survive. You could add a nice piece of DW and add some Anubia and Java Fern Regular and Wendilov to it. You could make an interesting tank with very low light that way.

Would it help to just upgrade the bulb itself? If so, what kind would I need to get. Thank you so much

 

[Rivercats]

You'd have to upgrade the fixture to something like a T5HO 2 bulb fixture which would give you a few more options for plants. How tall is the tank?

 

[virtuous23]

You'd have to upgrade the fixture to something like a T5HO 2 bulb fixture which would give you a few more options for plants. How tall is the tank?

The tank is a little over 2ft

 

[aqua_chem]

I think that, considering the height of your tank, you would be better served getting one of the lower end T5HO fixtures (such as an Odyssea) to get a solid low-medium level at the substrate. You'll be hard pressed to get much to grow with a single T8 in a tank that size.

 

[Gonzo1683]

I got my lights for my tall 55 here I didn't wanna spend a lot of money ... They are built a bit cheap but it does what I need it to do .. I'm not heavily planted and I would like to add more just don't really know what to do yet.. I'd like to get rid of my castle but yet I spent too much on it lol to get rid of it

http://www.fishneedit.com/t5ho-ligh.html

 

[PattyCakes81]

You have gotten great advice on plants. But I don't think a Aquaclear 70 on a 75 gal is enough filtration according to what everybody says on here.
I'm still a newbie so let me know if I'm incorrect in saying that.

 

[Rivercats]

Personally on a tank that size I'd run a Fluval 406 or a similar sized canister. Canister filters have so much room and options for media. I run Fluval 406's on my 55g's.

 

[Gonzo1683]

I'm running in my 55 tall a tetra whisper EX70 which I think is from like 55-70gal the bigger the better I was told so I figured this one was good enough

 

[Philly33]

Temple plants will get a good height or a bunch of crypt spiralis.

 

[virtuous23]

The AC70 came with the setup. I was told that I could get another & just run both. I don't have any experience with the canisters- I've heard they are great but a pain to clean lol. I'm learning that this is an expensive hobby to love. And I thought it would be less then my use to be addition to scrapbooking & crafts. So many decisions to make. I'm ready to really just sit back, relax & enjoy my tank.

 

[Rivercats]

I'm running in my 55 tall a tetra whisper EX70 which I think is from like 55-70gal the bigger the better I was told so I figured this one was good enough

They are a decent filter and on the goldie tank 55 I run that wisper along with the Fluval 406. If your tank stays clean you might be okay but for me I wouldn't just run a wisper EX70 as an only filter on either of my 55's. I just don't think they can do the job, but thats just my opinion.

 

[Rivercats]

The AC70 came with the setup. I was told that I could get another & just run both. I don't have any experience with the canisters- I've heard they are great but a pain to clean lol. I'm learning that this is an expensive hobby to love. And I thought it would be less then my use to be addition to scrapbooking & crafts. So many decisions to make. I'm ready to really just sit back, relax & enjoy my tank.

My Fluval 406's are really easy to clean IMO. Disconnect, dump water, clean media or replace depending on what you use in it, rinse sponges, put baskets back in, close unit, reconnect (which it has an easy connecting unit), and turn back on.

 

[Gonzo1683]

Yeah the whisper is working well I kept a close eye on the water parameters and everything seems good .. N still seems good today so fingers cross I won't run into any problems..

 

[virtuous23]

My Fluval 406's are really easy to clean IMO. Disconnect, dump water, clean media or replace depending on what you use in it, rinse sponges, put baskets back in, close unit, reconnect (which it has an easy connecting unit), and turn back on.

The lady at Petco recommended that one as well. I'm look into it this weekend. For now, its working bc it's not even half stocked yet.

Thank you all for your help, I greatly appreciate all of the advice!