Low-Tech 10g Planted Build

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Thanks. I did this with the sand the best I could, but I tried it with the rocks, and it just looked to forced to me.

Good and ya that will happen. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of the same rock in different sizes but the same type so it's a little easier for me, but the assorted rock stream look is also a nice way to go.

 

[Aquarium1]

Thanks , I can't wait til I get the money for some plants lol.

 

[Aquarium1]

That's my plan. Sorry about my really bad drawing/writing/copying skills lol. I had to make everything darker just for the scanner to notice it. Feel free to tell me what you think about it and what needs to be changed.

Bump. Just wanted a few more opinions .
Revisions, additions? Anything.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Bump. Just wanted a few more opinions .
Revisions, additions? Anything.

You want to have the size of leaves and size of plant in mind as well. Try to find a good focus point, which you could choice the beginning of your stream in the front and then work your way out and back with leaf and plant size either big to small or small to big.

Try to stay away from mix n matching a vairtity of plants across the whole aquarium, might lose a little depth.

Honestly though, you can't get your real liking until you test it out. I've drawn out plans like you have and put all the plants in and it looked all wrong, all about trial and error Just try to get as many different kind of plants you can, that fit your setup tech wise, and start popping them in there. If you don't like them you can always move them or pitch them.

 

[Aquarium1]

yeah, thanks. I was planning on going small to big (so that I can see the small ones lol. Marselia is typically used as a foreground/groundcover that is why its in the front. I hope to let it spread out and fill spaces unused by other plants. I'm not sure on the exact size of the crypts but I knew that in this tank they'd be more middleground plants, same with the java fern. And then rotala and ludwigia (kind of hard to see in that drawing) almost as a backdrop for everything, since they grow the tallest, I would think. and if certain things won't work I'll move them around, or even sell them if I have to.

 

[Aquarium1]

Ammonia- .5-1.0
Nitrite- 0

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

yeah, thanks. I was planning on going small to big (so that I can see the small ones lol. Marselia is typically used as a foreground/groundcover that is why its in the front. I hope to let it spread out and fill spaces unused by other plants. I'm not sure on the exact size of the crypts but I knew that in this tank they'd be more middleground plants, same with the java fern. And then rotala and ludwigia (kind of hard to see in that drawing) almost as a backdrop for everything, since they grow the tallest, I would think. and if certain things won't work I'll move them around, or even sell them if I have to.

Yeah small to big is most common for your reason, i've tried big to small before but it takes a lot more hardscape work so it wasn't really worth the time lol.

Yeah when you get your background/tall plants you want to try to stay with smaller leaved ones so they look like they are a lot farther back then they actually are, rotala and ludwigia would work perfectly.

I would try to find to find a smaller leaved mid-ground plants though. In my experience my java ferns and C. Wenditti crypts got large and wide leaved so in some cases I had to move those towards the back but infront of my background plants.

This site is very handy, you can plug in your information about your tank and it will pull up all the plants that will work.
Plant Finder - Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants

 

[Aquarium1]

Ok so I went out in the swamps lol and I only found 2 pieces of DW that might become nano trees lol. There was quite a bit of good dw but not much that could be suitable for a tree.

So, think I could use them? I know one is too big but I don't think it would be too hard to cut it, its about 18" or so. I might have to look again to see if I looked over any good ones.

 

[taylorodw]

I think you could use them both, together. The trees I have seen were made by cutting and attaching multiple pieces.

 

[Aquarium1]

Hmm didn't think about that. How can I be sure that these won't rot very quickly?

 

[Crepe]

You put them in and forget about it until it happens. I don't think there's a real way. The more acidic your water the slower it rots I think.

 

[Aquarium1]

well I'll have to boil em first. you don't think rotting wood would hurt the tank/inhabitants do you?

 

[Crepe]

No I don't think so. It will rot too slow to not be counteracted by pwcs.

 

[Aquarium1]

ok, thanks.

 

[Greg]

But definitely boil!
Looks like a cool design! I love nano trees.

 

[Aquarium1]

yeah, thanks . It definitely won't look as good as that one nano tree lol, but hey a boy can dream, can't he?

 

[krap101]

One thing you might want to pay attention to, is that most dw that I've seen doesn't have bark (meaning that the softwood and bark has already been removed). I'm not entirely sure, but the wood you found looks a little new, and you might find yourself with problems. If the wood is still "alive" it might have some chemicals that are toxic to fish (first thing that comes to mind is pine sap). Usually people use woods that have been dried or aged. This is all speculation, but makes sense in my head

 

[Aquarium1]

I'm pretty sure it is dead, but yeah it has bark. I found it on the forest floor lol.

 

[Aquarium1]

Ammonia 1-2 ppm
Nitrite 0-.25 it's a blue but a little darker than 0.

 

[Crepe]

I would take sand paper and take the bark off. It's the stuff that tends to go first.