When is too many plants?
 

Hi,

I am failry new at this hobby and I am getting a bigger interest for
plants... for some reason they last longer than the fish I put in. :)

Anyway, I have a 33gal tank, I believe it is cycled now, the tests show
the tanks is stabilized.

I've been putting live plants in the tank.
I have Cabombas, Anubia, ludwigia, Echinodorus red special, Hygrophila
and some others I can't remember the name.

So far I have seven live plants... I do want to fill the tank with
plants, I am just wondering at what point they're too many?

I don't have alot of fish, couple neons, two dwarf gouramis a pleco and
a guppy.

I also have a lamp, I believe it's a aquaglo lamp, not sure right now.

The lfs around here have different plants I just wish there would be
more color to them, they're pretty much all green with some being
reddish.

It's up tp you really. You could stuff them until there is no room for
fish!! It really depends on how much time you are willing to spend on
fertilizing, pruning, etc. I don't think there could technically be
too many plants.

Thats good news really.
my wife is starting to go nuts with me bringing new plants everyday. :)

Thanks

" wrote in
oups.com:

Hi,

I am failry new at this hobby and I am getting a bigger interest for
plants... for some reason they last longer than the fish I put in. :)

Anyway, I have a 33gal tank, I believe it is cycled now, the tests show
the tanks is stabilized.

I've been putting live plants in the tank.
I have Cabombas, Anubia, ludwigia, Echinodorus red special, Hygrophila
and some others I can't remember the name.

So far I have seven live plants... I do want to fill the tank with
plants, I am just wondering at what point they're too many?

I don't have alot of fish, couple neons, two dwarf gouramis a pleco and
a guppy.

I also have a lamp, I believe it's a aquaglo lamp, not sure right now.

The lfs around here have different plants I just wish there would be
more color to them, they're pretty much all green with some being
reddish.


Yeah as others have said you can never have too many until you acutally run
out of room :P. The limits you might want are just for visual
presentation. Some plants look better in large bunches, so if you're
making small bunches to be able to pack more plants in you're losing some
visual eyecandy.

You could hit a soft limit if you don't change your tank upkeep. A few
plants might be fine with the fish and excess food providing fertilizer
now, but if you keep adding plants some changes in how you fertilize might
be needed.

Try a mix of plants. Short forground plants, lily type plants etc. Some
will do better than others depending on your lighting etc. Reds are more
difficult to find and grow in general. I've got a tiger lily to satisfy my
red craving (always a deep red) in my 90 gal but that sucker grows into a
monster (about 1/4 of my tank taken up)

Have fun,
Pete

I am getting to the stage of having too many plants. Actually, the
situation is that my floating plants are doing so well that most of my
tank is in darkness. I like the look but I have to do something to
save my Amazon Sword and my Java Fern very soon before they die off

Won't a dense forest eat up swiming space for fish?

When does a Co2 pump comes into play then?

Sorry to ask these newbie questions, but that is just it I am a newbie?

Anyway I am on my way to the lfs to get more plants... my wife gonna
hate me tonight. :)

puneet wrote:
Won't a dense forest eat up swiming space for fish?

Fish swim through the forest, and it's glorious to see! My betta
carefully wriggles into the densest thicket of plants he can find
between breaths.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

The babies survive better because they can hiding.

In article ,
says...
puneet wrote:
Won't a dense forest eat up swiming space for fish?

Fish swim through the forest, and it's glorious to see! My betta
carefully wriggles into the densest thicket of plants he can find
between breaths.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

SNIP
So far I have seven live plants... I do want to fill the tank with
plants, I am just wondering at what point they're too many?


SNIP

I figure I have too many when my angels have trouble getting from one end of
the tank to the other. Thats when I do a MAJOR thinning and drop the
trimmins off at the nearest LFS.
..
Bob

On 14 Apr 2005 13:07:37 -0700, "
wrote:

Hi,

I am failry new at this hobby and I am getting a bigger interest for
plants... for some reason they last longer than the fish I put in. :)

Anyway, I have a 33gal tank, I believe it is cycled now, the tests show
the tanks is stabilized.

I've been putting live plants in the tank.
I have Cabombas, Anubia, ludwigia, Echinodorus red special, Hygrophila
and some others I can't remember the name.

So far I have seven live plants... I do want to fill the tank with
plants, I am just wondering at what point they're too many?

I don't have alot of fish, couple neons, two dwarf gouramis a pleco and
a guppy.

I also have a lamp, I believe it's a aquaglo lamp, not sure right now.

The lfs around here have different plants I just wish there would be
more color to them, they're pretty much all green with some being
reddish.

One thing to consider, plants grow up and multiply out. Rather than
make choices based on how the plants fit into your tank now, get some
information about how they will look a year or 2 from now.

Some Anubias become giants. I have had to split one as it reached to
the top of a 10 gallon tank looking like a tree. I have crypts that
ane low to the gravel in a 75 gallon tank, but are now 75% to the top
of a 29 gallon tank. Others grow outward sending shoots.

As a newbie, I wanted my tank to look nice and filled it with lots of
plants only to discover this growth problem and had to do a lot of
prunning. Some plants don't do well in a tank, so they take care of
their own survival.

I enjoy my plants almost as much as the fish, but as you add fish some
of your plants may suffer. I have 8 Siamese Algae Eaters in the 75
gallon tank and one of the plant species has lace for leaves. The
same species in a 10 gallon with no SAEs the leaves are beautiful and
whole.

dick

Thanks for the tip...
That is the thing, when to stop? :)

I have now 9 plants in my 33Gal tank, and obviously there are still
some empty spaces that could be used for more plants. :)
But I have to stop and leave the tank alone.

It does look alot better with the live plants. I still have a couple
fake plants that as the real ones grow I will replace them for good.

I like the cabomba, it is a nice plant and I hope it will spread
quickly.
But my favourite plant right now has to be Echinodorus 'Red Special'
It is a gorgeous plant, I need to take a pic of it and make it
available to you guys, I really want you to see it.

It is beatifull, the shape of the leafs, the reddish colour of it,
beautifull... The only complaint is that it takes alot of space that
could be used for more plants. :)

You tell me when to stop! I currently have a 125g setup, with the
following:

~50 small Vallisneria spp.
~40 large (upto 36") Egeria densa (aka Anacharis)
3 Water Millfoil

I currently have only 3 Brown bullhead catfish in there, each about 3" long.

Obviously, I fertilize and dose with CO2 via a Carbo-plus unit, running
at 80% capacity during the day, and 30% at night.

The Anacharis all propagated from the 10 plants I bought from my LFS in
January of this year, each about 7" long. The Vals, started from just 5
plants in October.

The Millfoil was 'ressurected' from roots that remained from last summer.

I could foul a Mercury 90HP in my tank... ;)

RAS

wrote:
Thanks for the tip...
That is the thing, when to stop? :)

I have now 9 plants in my 33Gal tank, and obviously there are still
some empty spaces that could be used for more plants. :)
But I have to stop and leave the tank alone.

It does look alot better with the live plants. I still have a couple
fake plants that as the real ones grow I will replace them for good.

I like the cabomba, it is a nice plant and I hope it will spread
quickly.
But my favourite plant right now has to be Echinodorus 'Red Special'
It is a gorgeous plant, I need to take a pic of it and make it
available to you guys, I really want you to see it.

It is beatifull, the shape of the leafs, the reddish colour of it,
beautifull... The only complaint is that it takes alot of space that
could be used for more plants. :)



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I finally put up some pics of my tank and my favourite plant.

http://photos.yahoo.com/hammer=ADjoe=20

Check it out. :)

CO2 is not a must for a majority of the aquarium plants. However, with
the right amount of light, fertilizers and substrate they can make the
plants grow insanely healthy. In a way, if done correctly, it can help
the plants fight off algae (you'll come to know this word very soon ...
a note of things to come for you.)
Mind my asking how many watts of lights are what kind of substrate are
you using for your tank?