6 replies to this topic

[Sean Phillips]

Pretty soon I'm going to be turning my 15 gallon (24"x12"x12") into a planted aquascape tank. Looking on google, I'm seeing all sorts of different designs and stocks, but not one with native fish. So I figured i should change that . Not sure of the exact design I'm going to go with yet but once the local creek warms up a bit in March or April I'll be walking and snorkeling all over it in hopes of finding some inspiration for the design. I already have a few ideas now, one being a small, pristine pool (probably only 30" in diameter) of water that flows down into multiple smaller pools before entering the side of the creek, the initial pool (which is what I'd be replicating) is fed by a very clean culvert in a heavily grown in (on land) section of the creek. I've found Rhinichtys sps., Smallmouth Bass fry, and Darters in it before and it's normally lush with plant growth. The only reason I'm hesitant toward this design is I'm trying to create a natural one and culverts aren't very natural, though I could just change the design a bit so it's like a spring-fed trickle is feeding it instead of a pipe. What do you guys think, would this make a good design or should I search for a more natural one?

Another idea I had was the "plant-line" replicating that of my local lake or quarry. By this I mean where the borderline of the plants and the open-bottom is.

Getting to the actual point if this thread, I'm looking for some ideas for hardy plants to use in this aquascape. The plants' native range should include Southwest PA which is where I'll be collecting my plants from. They should also be hardy enough to not need any additives or fertilizers in the water. Any ideas for plants?

Another thing I'm not sure about is the stock, I want just a few fish since it's a small tank but I'm not sure what smaller natives go very well with plants, I'd be afraid to add a Stoneroller (regarding it's larger size) in any planted tank in fear that it'd eat most things. I'm skeptical about Rhinichthys but I think they'd be fine. What would some good fish be (again, the tank size is a 15 gallon 24"Lx12"Wx12"H)?

My final question is what kind of lighting and substrate should I use for the best plant growth (I'm fine with using dirt if it's the best)?

Thanks for helping me out guys! While I'm not new to plants this will be my first aquascape.

[Sean Phillips]

Are there any hardy species of native mosses I could use?

[strat guy]

I'm not super familiar with native [underwater] plants, there's no such thing as a plant that doesn't need additives or fertilizers. Same thing goes with fish really (why we don't use distilled water). What's in the water is vitally important and the plants will use up everything available until there's an imbalance, which usually leads to algae outbreaks. If you want easy, stick to the weeds, Elodea canadensis or Myriophyllum water milfoil. They both like strong light and clean water, and will grow like mad. Milfoil is tougher because its rooted, Elodea only produces very brittle single roots that don't anchor very well. Elodea has a real good ability to make use of the carbon in calcium carbonate in hard water which means that it will soften water and doesn't need CO2 injection so long as the water is relatively hard. Myriophyllum is found pretty much everywhere, but be careful transporting it because it may be illegal to remove it from waterways due to the fact that it reroots quickly and has become a nuisance plant. It's illegal to transport here in Illinois, where it was found growing at the bottom of Dresden cooling lake- 60' of water- which should be too dark to support plant growth. On the other hand, there are both red and green forms, the red form is really cool looking, and both would look awesome if you go through with the weed line idea. I like that. Would be really cool idea for a really long tank holding grass pickerel.

[Sean Phillips]

Strat Guy, I didn't mean absolutely nothing in the water, I just meant plants that'll do well with a nutrient filled substrate, fish waste, and light. Not sure what kind of stuff is in my water out of the tap but my area has some of the best quality water in the state, pH is 7.6 on a related note if that matters.

[strat guy]

I know that What I meant was is that even hardy plants will eventually run the tank out of its nutrient base and will start to show signs of deficiency. There is no easy plant that you can just stick in and let it go and it will never ask for anything extra. Even if only one nutrient starts to go low, it will become a limiting agent which will cause less of the other nutrients to be drawn = algae outbreak. Especially with "easy" plants. Usually plants are easy because they can draw nutrients out of anywhere, i.e., they're weeds. And they become nutrient hogs in the long run, competing with more desirable plants. Even with a dirt substrate, you'll show better signs of growth with a little extra nutrients added in very small quantities.

 

pH doesn't mean hard water. dH and kH are what matters. You want to know your levels of dissolved minerals. Vals and Elodea want good hardness levels.

 

 

On a similar note, I'm doing the same thing you're doing but with a 5gal. I was just at a new fish store tonight and saw some least killifish in with the feeder guppies. I'll be returning tomorrow to snag those. Can't pass it up for .10 a fish. The plants I'm using are Myriophyllum sp., Ludwigia repens, Sagittaria subulata, and Lobelia cardinalis.  Not native, but I'll make use of some Rotala indica and Echinodorus amazonicus cuttings I have that I want to grow on. I'm going with a soil substrate with no cap, and DIY CO2 injection. I'll have it in my mini orchid greenhouse to keep things humid.

Edited by strat guy, 26 February 2015 - 10:11 PM.

[Sean Phillips]

I don't know, java moss seems pretty invincible, lol. But in seriousness, what nutrients or fertilizers would you recommend adding into the water and how often for good growth?

[gerald]

I have tanks that have been running 20+ years with lush plants (easy ones: Vallisnera, Java+Xmas moss, Bolbitis, Javafern, Dwarf Sagittaria, Cryptocoryne affinis + wendtii, Najas, Limnobium, Ricciocarpus) that have never had ferts added other than what they get from fish food and occasional water changes (very soft tap water, 1-2 dGH and dKH).  A few plants in pots have a little clayey soil from my yard in the bottom, but most are growing in plain old river sand/gravel mix.   I do use a little aragonite or crushed coral in box filters for pH buffering and to provide Ca and Mg, but water in these tanks is still on the soft side. The floaters (Limnobium, Ricciocarpus, Najas) I need to thin out frequently.  Growth of the rooted ones is not super-fast, but enough that I can pull out a bag-full or two each month for our local fish club meetings.   Fish food alone seems to be sufficient in these tanks to keep my rooted plants healthy and growing at a slow-moderate rate.  Without the fast-growing floaters they'd probably grow faster, but having floaters does provide some anti-algae insurance.

 

I have tried native mosses a couple times (Fontinalis or Fissidens I guess?) and never had long-term success with them.  Myriophyllum there are several species, some nuisance exotic weeds and some well-behaved natives; not always easy to ID.