New to planted tanks and need help

mrramsey · 11-01-2012, 11:40 PM

Hi All -
I am laying out my tank and want to plant a decent amount of low light low tech plants. I want to to java ferns and and anubias attached to the rocks and wood and possibly some plants in the sand - I will be using root tabs.

I am working with a 55g tank 48"x12" footprint. Here is a pic of the proposed layout.

This spans about 30" -the mopani root is about 22" and the driftwood piece will be vertical and is about 12".

Here is a rough sketch from my whiteboard

This prompts the question - How many plants should I buy? Is there some rule of thumb for this?
I don't want to get too few or is it just normal to get a few small plants and let them expand on their own?

ddrfreak_tung · 11-02-2012, 12:15 AM

normally its best to plant heavily from the start, at least from what i've read. Depending on your scape, it's tough to put a number on how much of what you'll need since they all come in different sized, stems, ect. with the two listed plants, you wont need any root tabs. For the sand, may i suggest moss on rocks. They'll feed from the water column and they're super hardy and grows extremely fast once acclimated.

11-01-2012, 11:40 PM	#1
mrramsey Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Ohio Posts: 24	New to planted tanks and need help Hi All - I am laying out my tank and want to plant a decent amount of low light low tech plants. I want to to java ferns and and anubias attached to the rocks and wood and possibly some plants in the sand - I will be using root tabs. I am working with a 55g tank 48"x12" footprint. Here is a pic of the proposed layout. This spans about 30" -the mopani root is about 22" and the driftwood piece will be vertical and is about 12". Here is a rough sketch from my whiteboard This prompts the question - How many plants should I buy? Is there some rule of thumb for this? I don't want to get too few or is it just normal to get a few small plants and let them expand on their own? __________________ Mike My Blog / Tank Remodel Project

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11-02-2012, 12:15 AM	#2
ddrfreak_tung Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: las vegas Posts: 352	normally its best to plant heavily from the start, at least from what i've read. Depending on your scape, it's tough to put a number on how much of what you'll need since they all come in different sized, stems, ect. with the two listed plants, you wont need any root tabs. For the sand, may i suggest moss on rocks. They'll feed from the water column and they're super hardy and grows extremely fast once acclimated.