29 gallon planted nano

[nanofish]

I recently bought a 29 gallon tank and it's ben sitting in my room empty for a week. Time to shake off my mood and get down to planning this thing so I have something good happening.

My goal is to do some sort of Southeast Asian lagoon. Well that's the look I'm hoping to get. I know almost next to nothing about plants, but I want to try. I figure picking my plants will help me decide on my substrate and lighting. I'd love suggestions on good plants. Right now I'm thinking maybe water sprite, different crypts, and maybe Aponogeton. No idea if those would work.

For fish I'm thinking little guys. I have tons of options though (can list them if anyone wants). Inverts would be possible too, but again, don't know much about them. Not quite certain how many shoals of nano fish I should be aiming for.

Filter, I'm thinking I'd like either a mini canister (if they exist in the right size, all I've seen are for smaller) or a sponge filter.

lol Lots for me to figure out yet but I'm ready to get started, so if anyone has thoughts then fire away.

 

[jlk]

Good luck with your new tank!! Its sounds like your off to great start & doing your research. Dont hesitate to ask questions if you need some help!

 

[nanofish]

lol Trust me I'll be full of questions. Right now I'm trying to make a list of plants that will grow well in low light. The plan is to allow the watersprite to float, so I'm not sure how much light will reach below that.

My jumbled and not fully researched plant list looks like this right now:

Crypt Aponogetifolia - Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia
Crypt Balansae - Cryptocoryne balansae
Crypt Becketii - Cryptcoryne becketii
Crypt Lutea - Cryptocoryne lutea
Micro Crypt - Cryptocoryne petchii
Pygmy Crypt - Cryptocoryne pygmaea
Crypt retrospiralis - Cryptocoryne retrospiralis
Crypt spiralis - Cryptocoryne spiralis
Crypt Walkeri - Cryptocoryne walkeri
Crypt Wendtii - Cryptocoryne wendtii
Crypt Willisi - Cryptocoryne willisi
Crypt pontederiifolia
Crypt undulata
Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus
Java Moss - Taxiphyllum barbieri
Watersprite - Ceratopteris thalictroides
Rotala Indica
Rotala Rotundifolia
Rotala sp. Green
Aponogeton crispus

 

[jlk]

Looks good to me but i am by no means a plant expert! Heres a list from 'the planted tank forum (great site, btw) of other ideas for low-light plants.

Excellent List of Low Light Plants

 

[nanofish]

That's where I got most of the list.

I was using the Plant Finder Encyclopedia at Aquatic Plant Central as well to help make sure everything was Asian. No idea why I'm insisting on one region, guess it's just more fun.

 

[nanofish]

I'm thinking (well hoping) that a 20W Life-Glo T8 bulb should do the trick for me. I was told it should. For substrate I'm thinking maybe eco-complete? For the filter I'm looking at a Finnex 360.

The fish (and snail) I'm trying to chose from are:
glowlight danio
goldring danio
chili rasbora
Hengel's rasbora
Burmese neon green rasbora
Sundadanio axelrodi 'blue'
Yunnanilus cruciatus
Daisy's ricefish
horned nerite
Betta rutilans

lol Just having a tough time deciding.