How do I rescape this tank?

[OliveFish05]

Hi! Beautiful tank! If you are wanting red plants, I recommend red Ludwigia and red swords. Red plants typically prefer higher lighting. What kind of light do you have? It looks very blue! I have this on my tanks, and the red plants are THRIVING! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QZKG2R8/?tag=ff0d01-20

Maybe a couple of taller plants? If you are in the US I highly recommend Your Fish Stuff!

 

[ember04]

you can grow red plants with out co2 you just need to does a fertiliser that contains iron
that what helps red plants grow

 

[ember04]

if you want red plants I would agree with @OliveFish05 that ludwigia are good, I've had a great experience with Ludwigia repens, it's a mix of red and green with brown in there two really fast-growing and dense. also dwarf red aquarium lilies in my experience are quite easy and always look cool

 

[ember04]

Oh, another question. If I want to cover the ground, what carpeting plant should I use? Monte Carlo? Hair grass? Maybe java moss?

oh side note full cargets can be really hard to achieve with out co2 jave moss on a rock can make a nice carpet effect though

 

[Red15]

Thanks! I'd get some ludwigia then! Probably some java Moss too! But I'd ask this, would Monte Carlo or hairgrass still be hard to grow if I dose co2 tablets 2 times a week? Cause I think carpets are the only solution that might make my tank look a bit tidy

 

[ember04]

Ummm well it’s a yes and a no, they may grow in the tank but not create a full carpet. If you plant either there not going to be as hard as something like baby tears and they may not die but they won’t spread fast enough to form a full carpet. Unless you buy loads and creat a carpet from tissue culture plant I think that the full carpet effect you want would be very hard. Also those thick dense carpets you see online need co2 they just won’t become that dense would out it

 

[Red15]

Well, my bad. But thanks!

 

[ember04]

Yeah sorry about that I’ve tried carpet before with no co2 hoping for the best results and it’s not ended well

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I would try to get a large chunk of driftwood, and maybe some more dragon stone. Taller plants, such as Amazon swords, would look great in the back.

It’s a good start!!

 

[reptilenotfish]

View attachment 153046

Hi guys! So I'm thinking about rescaping this 42 gallon tank of mine that as you can see has turned into a mess in the 6 months I've owned it. And I have zero idea what I should do!
It's 2.5 feet in length, 1.5 feet in both height and depth and a low tech tank.
What I have in mind right now is to cover the white sand with aqua soil and make a carpet. Also, I would add some co2 tablets in regular basis.
In there, I have densa, coin plant, Amazon sword, hornwort and corymbosa compact. I also have 4 dragon rocks that are not right in size (sounds weird but it is my first tank and I wasn't really sure what I was buying when I visited the store for the first time) I'm thinking of getting some new plants too.
Please suggest me what I should do with it.

dwarf sagittaria is a fast grower, and carpets well for low tech. Frogbit is a great floater if you want a grown in look. As far as composition, an island in the back corner could utilize the stone, with driftwood branching across the tank. If your in the US, Dustin's fishtanks has cheap plants and NEherp has fairly priced wood.

 

[Red15]

Thank you everyone for helping me out but I'm still torn between the island sort and the dutch sort. For creating the island I'm thinking of getting java fern, trident fern and anubias. For Dutch style, I'm considering micra, cryptocoryne, sagittaria, styrogen repens, tripartita, star grass, trident fern, rotala pink and green, some ludwigia sp. red. Maybe some red tiger lotus and reinecki mini when I start dosing liquid fertilizer. I think I'd try out some rotala hra too although as a total experiment with no expectations.
I'd ask you this if you wanted to go low tech dutch style, what plants would you recommend to give the bushy, tidy look?