Newbies Tank And A Couple Of Fish
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Here are some pics of my 260 l bowfront tank and occupants – S American theme.
Hopefully photos will improve as I get more experience LOL
That’s so much better than I could do, it pains me immensely
Thanks for the kind comments everyone.
I’ve only just put a layer of dark substrate over the previously very pale gravel Bluedave, and am enjoying the vastly improved effect. Later perhaps I will add some more foreground plants, though I do enjoyed being able to see the juxtaposition of hard and soft and don’t want to cover everything with soft planting. Can you suggest any S. American plants for the foreground please? – preferably not Echinodorus as there seems to be a surfeit of those already LOL
duncthere are lots of different ech. species though – Ech. Tennelus would look good and creates a bit of a carpet. Others that give the carpet effect are Glossostigma or hemianthus although these two need high light levels and CO2 with a good fert regime to thrive (not South american either!). Lilaeopsis brasiliensis gives a nice ‘grassy’ effect as does eleocharis parvula – both South american.
If your not looking for a carpet effect (and to be honest I think the tank would look better without it) then what about Sagitaria subulata – that make a good forground plant and is South american – there are a couple of varieties though so make sure you get the dwarf version.
Other plants that look good in the fore ground are anubias barteri var. nana and nymphaea lotus – the lotus needs careful pruning though to keep it small and bushy. They are bot hafrican though, so no good if you’ve got your heart set on south american.
oooh – just had one idea – it’s an Ech species though – Ech. Quadricostatus – looks brilliant as a foreground plant in bigger tanks – I had a tank with just that in the foreground – was very good and easy to care for:
well, hopefully that gives you some ideas. I think Ech. quadricostatus, if you don’t want Ech. species then Sagitaria will give you a similar effect but hey it’s your tank if you like the front bare then leave it like that – it’s a great looking tank!
LOL Looks great. Thanks very much for all the suggestions, I’ll look them up and have a think, but certainly the Ech. tennelus, quadricostatus and the Saggitaria subulata appeal
” border=”0″ alt=”smile.gif” /><br />A largeish clump somewhere in the foreground would look good. May need to look at what’s available mail order as the lfs haven’t much in the way of different plants.<br />I’ve just ordered new neon tubes to replace one or both of my current Aquaglo. I find these rather dull and unnatural, so, after reading an article in a French mag I’m trying the JBL Natur, which is a fuller spectrum. <br />I had tried a CO2 set up just before I came out here (5 and a half years ago), but found it very difficult to regulate and indeed get to work properly. It was the type that made it’s own gas rather than having a gas cylinder and I have since read that it probably wasn’t productive enough for the size of tank anyway. Wouldn’t mind having another go sometime as the pH is quite high for S America (c7.2), but my kH is low – around 40ppm, so would have to be cautious. Tapwater is pH7, kH 60ppm and GH 100ppm, nitrate <10. Oh dear waffling again and on the wrong forum - I'll take this over to water quality and equipment when I get my ideas sorted LOL</p>
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