[blue1delta]

I have kept fish for several years, but I had given up on keeping plants early on. Now I have taken up bonsai as a hobby and winter is slow for bonsai so to satisfy the urges to do something involved in growing I decided to get plants again. I had been running blue actinic lights in my aquarium because I liked the way they looked. I have switched to some floramax T8's. I got some eco complete substrate. I got a couple of amazon swords, some variety of annubis, I have some moss that is not doing well and some fern that I thought was java, but now I'm not sure. I am anxious to set up a co2 system and see what I can do. The driftwood is some I found locally. The fish consist of a Jack Dempsey, Convict Cichlid, Green Terror, Albino African, and an albino cory. I also have 5 snails. So far I haven't had much problem with algae. I have some new growth, but very slow.
I am excited to join this online community to learn from other's experiences:icon_smil and share my own.
Unidentified fern is pictured with the jack dempsey. It is growing new plants on the leaves, but doesn't look quite right for Java.
Comments and suggestions appreciated!

 

[GMYukonon24s]

Welcome to the forum. Nice setup!

 

[spifff]

welcome i'm just learning about plants myself. cichlids are another story though i've been raising them for years. your tank looks nice, but just a warning one day you may wake up to find it rearanged to the fishes liking especially with the green terror in there! either way good luck and i'll follow along.
Dave

 

[blue1delta]

welcome i'm just learning about plants myself. cichlids are another story though i've been raising them for years. your tank looks nice, but just a warning one day you may wake up to find it rearanged to the fishes liking especially with the green terror in there! either way good luck and i'll follow along.
Dave

yeah, that is what turned me off of keeping plants years ago. I have taken a large section of mesh and cut holes for the plant roots then covered the mesh with rocks and substrate. It seems to be working well. The fish sometimes uncover the mesh, but are not able to uproot the plants because of the mesh.:fish:

 

[blue1delta]

I'm adding a lot of new plants this week thanks to some forum members for hooking me up!

Today I received some needle leaf java, trident java, and some kind of moss that was attached as a bonus. I'm expecting some dwarf sag and crypts in the next couple of days.

 

[CPDzeke]

I am in about the same situation as you, but I consider myself more experienced because I have always had plants. Welcome!

 

[blue1delta]

Planted a ton of dwarf sag today! excited to see it looking so green in my tankroud:

 

[amajoh]

Welcome! I'm new, too. Yours looks great so far. I'll be eager to hear how your dwarf sag is doing. I've been wanting some, but haven't yet taken the leap.

 

[blue1delta]

new pic of the dwarf sag. covered the open areas of the substrate hoping to have a carpet soon!

 

[blue1delta]

updated pictures

here are new pics

 

[blue1delta]

more pics of the fauna

 

[GMYukonon24s]

Looking good! Keep it going!

 

[blue1delta]

Thanks! Everything is growing which is good, but it seems very slow.

Anyone have thoughts on the hardscape? Once the plants are rooted really well I plan on removing the gray rock in the center in front of the sword. I also have three small pieces of driftwood that are still floating and the large piece you see in the top left corner. I kind of like it up there and I've attached some needle leaf on it. I'm thinking of tying it up there to keep it from sinking.

 

[cmathews95]

im really curious about how your plants will do with cichlids. have you had any trouble so far

 

[blue1delta]

I have had trouble with them moving and uprooting. I have just been moving things and trying to position wood and rocks to keep them from damaging them. The fish are the reason I have the aquarium so I don't mind accommodating them. The crypts are the biggest problem. They do fine with the swords, dwarf sag, and ferns.

 

[blue1delta]

updated pictures

added some chinesis. Sorry iPhone is the only camera I have...

Everything is growing!

I'll try to get pics of the individual plants because you can't see the crypts in this photo. Should have lace java and african fern arriving tomorrow!

 

[blue1delta]

Update

Added wisteria and Limnophila aromatica

Changed filter to Eheim 2217 and changed lighting to coralife 48" T5 HO