My First Planted 29

[garloki72]

Well my story goes a little like this, i wanted to set up a planted tank now for about a year and a half but never had enough time or money to do so. About a year ago I upgraded my tank from a 29 Gallon to a 55 Gallon in hopes of making it a planted tank and i was almost there, I just bought the light fixture which is a T5NO to avoid putting in CO2. The reason i didnt end up putting it up was the fact that when it was allmost topped off with water, i checked the basement and there was a small bump in the ceiling exactly where the tank was, long story short, I couldnt finish setting it up because my dad thought that one day it might cave in and didnt want to take any chances.
So now im back with my old 29 gallons of water so I decided, Hey why not plant this one? Since i already had all the main equipment i only ended up having to buy the flourite, fish, and plants.
Heres the tank all set up about to finish cycling. I just put the flourite and planted some of the plants i got last night. I do not know some of the plants i got but i do know one was a amazon sword and another a anubus of some kind but not reallly sure, the other plants the man at my lfs said they should do good in the kind of light i have so i decided to give them a chance.
Heres a picture of the tank last night:

Here it is this morning, a little more clear:

[garloki72]

The tank is more clearer now and everything seems good with the plants but I do need some help determining some of the plants I got. Here are some pictures:

As it sits tonight:

Left side:

Center:

Right Side:

Here are the plants that I need help ID'ing
Plant 1:

Plant 2:


Please excuse the algea on the plants! It came with the plants.

[garloki72]

Can anyone help me?

[Lil' Swimz$]

Definitely remove the background. Try to move the wood from the center to a third, so maybe a third from the left, or maybe 2/3 from the left.

[garloki72]

Originally Posted by Lil' Swimz$

Definitely remove the background. Try to move the wood from the center to a third, so maybe a third from the left, or maybe 2/3 from the left.

Yeah i was thinking the backround looked kind of silly. Im deff going to try to move the wood to were you suggested! Thanks for the input!

[mommabear1007]

plant one looks like a sword. plant 2 looks like bacopa carolinia.

[garloki72]

Originally Posted by mommabear1007

plant one looks like a sword. plant 2 looks like bacopa carolinia.

Thanks for the input!!

Also Im thinking about what im going to stock this tank with. The main fish i want to get is a pair of German Blue Rams or a pair of Apistos. With those i want some small tetras and some cories or ottos. Heres what I think:
2 German Blue Rams or Apistos
6-10 Neons
5 Cories or Ottos
Possibly another school of tetras?
Please feel free to help me out here on my stocking list!

[garloki72]

Update Time! I got 6 Neons and 2 Ottos and its their second day on the tank and they are active and doing great.

Here are some pictures of the Neons:



The only decent shot I got of the ottos since they wouldnt stay still!


This is what I think my stock list is going to be:
8 Neons
10 Ember Tetras
1 Pair of GBRs
3 Ottos

Does this sound good? I currently have a Penguin Biowheel 170 and will do 10% WC every week.

FTS:

[mommabear1007]

Seems like you should have plenty of room for those fish. I don't see any algae in your tank - do you have enough to feed the otos? Are you going to fertilize? I'm not entirely familiar with the filter and probably not the best person to ask about stocking but I thought I'd reply anyway :-)

[garloki72]

Originally Posted by mommabear1007

Seems like you should have plenty of room for those fish. I don't see any algae in your tank - do you have enough to feed the otos? Are you going to fertilize? I'm not entirely familiar with the filter and probably not the best person to ask about stocking but I thought I'd reply anyway :-)

Thanks any help is super greatly appreciated! I feed the otos zuchini overnight everyother day so I think theyre okay. As far as ferts go im dosing Seachem Flourish Excel if thats even considered a fert? But the filter is fairly old so I dont blame you! Marineland doesnt even make the 170 anymore.

[garloki72]

Update!
The original 7 Neons did great and were really showing good color so I went ahead and got 3 more Neons and got 8 Ember Tetras. I got the Ember Tetras and other Neons earlier today and were alreay eating along with the Neons, so thats good. I also added a black backround and I think it looks better than before, tank is doing good so far.

The Ember and Neon Tetras eating some frozen bbaby brine shrimp:


FTS:


Current stocking as of 8/11:
10- Neon Tetras
8- Ember Tetras
2- Otos
Final Stocking Idea:
10 Neons
12 Ember Tetras
2 Otos
2 German Blue Rams

Any comments/suggestions/advice is always appreciated!

[Williak]

Looks great!

May want to add some more plants to help fill out the scape. Black background looks much better!

[pejerrey]

Originally Posted by williak

looks great!

May want to add some more plants to help fill out the scape. Black background looks much better!

+1

[Obakemono]

You going to do CO2 in the future? Looking good though, but the tank screams "Moar plants!"

[garloki72]

Thanks Guys!
And yeah I deffinalty plan on getting some Wendtii, Anarchis, and Water sprite.
Anyone know of some foreground plants that will do good with what I have?

And as far as CO2, Im thinking about doing a simple DIY with yeast and sugar only after I gotten all the livestock in and have acclimated well.