Plant suggestions?

[DoubleT]

My tank is looking kind of empty, I tried purple cabomba (for the background)it would grow but it would turn an ugly light yellow green and would shed leaves a lot so I gave up on it. Im thinking I might plant dwarf sag as a foreground plant, but I'm still not sure yet.....open to any suggestions

My Tank info:
Lights: aquaticlife T5HO light fixture 2-18w 6000k bulbs
Substrate:Fluval Plant Stratum
Co2: Fluval C02 system (one bubble every 2-3 seconds)
Plants:green crypt wendtii,red crypt wendtii, amazon sword, riccia fluitans, and java moss, and marimo moss ball

[BigCountry]

I've had really good luck with Cabomba Green (Cabomba carolina)

I have dual T5HO lighting and I haven't even added my CO2 yet, and they are growing great. I have doubled the number of stems through trimming so far.

I don't know if they grow differently than the purple cabomba or not.

[DoubleT]

My purple cabomba did great for the first 2 weeks that I had it, had to trim it every couple of days and I was dosing Flourish and Flourish Iron and had root tabs under them. I honestly think they didn't have enough light......

[FriendsNotFood]

By purple cabomba you guys are talking about the dark green one that's slightly purplish on the underside of the leaves, right? Not the red one? The purple variety grows like crazy even without CO2 and in any kind of lighting in my experience. I know the red one is super challenging to keep.

My personal favorite super easy background plants are rotala rotundifolia if you want a stem that turns pinkish at the top and crypt wilisii if you want a tall grassy look that drapes over the surface. Plant heavily and you'll have a nice background in no time.

[DoubleT]

Yes, I was referring to the dark green with purple under the leaves.....for some reason it turns yellow/light green on me and it grows but much slower. I was looking into rotala rotundiflia(indica) for the back it is a very pretty plant but I don't know if it goes with the rest of my plants....

[DoubleT]

Well, got some new plants and did some aquascaping....Im happy with the back left side of the tank but I'm not too crazy about the right side with the crypts, I think i might get rid of them all together. Any ideas for the right side??

[HybridHerp]

As much as I like crypts, I feel like they don't work here cause of how small leafed everything else is.
I'd maybe move the crypts up a bit and get some sort of tall and thin plant behind them I feel like Ludwigia repens might be nice, having a bit of a larger leaf so that it transitions nicely from the stems at the left to the crypts.
just an idea

[Vermino]

why not add a bit more substrate to the right side, give the whole palette a nice flow. Or better yet (if you can keep your plant/wood same position) add more to the left so it has that nice "valley" on the right side. then look to carpet the valley with DHG or baby tears.

personally if it was my setup, flame moss (background) behind the driftwood, java or willow wrapped on the driftwood(which seems you already have), then my "valley" DHG in front-right corner (where your riccia to diffuser is)

love the piece of driftwood - where did you get it?

[Kathyy]

I would find a fine textured stem like Myriophyllum to put behind the crypts and would plant the crypts together, they look messy separated. I would find something to use for continuity such as trimming your nice Riccia stone and making more of them. You could tie your moss to rocks as well and have an intertwining double foreground perhaps, picturing an elongated yin yang design. The crypt on the left is poorly placed, move it away from the side a bit.

You probably would be more satisfied with the tank if you put on a background to hide what is behind the tank and painted the distracting green plumbing to match. Or maybe move tubes to corners and place the spraybar higher so it isn't viewed as part of the scape.

[DoubleT]

Great ideas! I have tried planting the crypts closer together but it is impossible they keep popping out of the substrate, I think Im going trade them for different plants. I am going to put a background on it, just not sure if I want a solid black(I would paint the spray bar and intake to match) or a plant poster....

I got the driftwood from my LFS they get a huge shipment(200+ pieces all sizes) in every couple of weeks.

[HybridHerp]

Do the black
Anything that is not a solid color is dirstracting
Ive seen red as well, which looks interesting