Low Light Elephant Nose Planted Tank, Play Sand

[sawickib]

I have a 55 gallon im cycling wanna know some good low light plants that EN like any suggestions? And do EN like driftwood?

 

[Oscarcichlid4]

I know EN appreciate driftwood to hide in, but make sure the tannins don't stain the water too much. I don't know a lot about plants, sorry Also, after a quick internet check, 55g seems a bit small for a 9" EN so I hope this is a grow out tank?

 

[Malex530]

Java fern and Anubias are good. they can be tied on driftwood. Various crypytocorines as well. Sorry for any misspellings! They love all sorts of rock structures and wood. Make sure you have a clear area as they do like poking the sand around.

 

[sawickib]

I know EN appreciate driftwood to hide in, but make sure the tannins don't stain the water too much. I don't know a lot about plants, sorry Also, after a quick internet check, 55g seems a bit small for a 9" EN so I hope this is a grow out tank?

I will be upgrading the tank later on, do you happen to know how fast they grow? And I also have a 75 gallon for my bichirs but I dont think it would be humane to downgrade them, actually it wouldn't happen i have a ghost knife to, so yea I will be getting bigger esp. since im getting a school of EN. Dedicating the tank to them.

 

[Oscarcichlid4]

They grow very slowly, about an inch every 4 months. Beware, they are very sensitive to noise. And light. And temperature. And water parameters. And they are very hard to acclimate to feeding. Simply put, they are not an easy fish to keep. I don't know if you know this already, but just in case: they need lots of sand (as mentioned above), they will need a school of 6 or more, otherwise the alpha will make the rest miserable. Don't mean to rain on your parade, though, just saying these are difficult and even the most advanced aquarists have plenty of trouble. On the bright side, they are very cool, awesome fish which, given the right home, can be fascinating to watch I hope you enjoy them.

 

[sawickib]

They grow very slowly, about an inch every 4 months. Beware, they are very sensitive to noise. And light. And temperature. And water parameters. And they are very hard to acclimate to feeding. Simply put, they are not an easy fish to keep. I don't know if you know this already, but just in case: they need lots of sand (as mentioned above), they will need a school of 6 or more, otherwise the alpha will make the rest miserable. Don't mean to rain on your parade, though, just saying these are difficult and even the most advanced aquarists have plenty of trouble. On the bright side, they are very cool, awesome fish which, given the right home, can be fascinating to watch I hope you enjoy them.

Very aware of this thank you putting my heart and soul into these babies <3

 

[fluttermoth]

I've always wanted an elephant nose set up!

If I was doing one, I'd use a lot of bogwood with Java fern/anubias on top, leaving most of the substrate free.

 

[sawickib]

I ordered mopani driftwood would this work fine? And should I boil and soak them so I have less tannis? Or can I just use carbon?

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, mopani will be fine. Never boil wood; it cooks the fibres and causes the wood to break down quicker and is completely unnecessary.
 
Soaking in hot water (change it for fresh hot water daily) is great, if you do want to reduce the tannins, although I suspect the ENs natural habitats will have darkly tannin stained water; you don't want the water to get too acidic though.
 
You could use carbon (or Purigen), yes. I don't think it will matter all that much, tbh.

 

[sawickib]

Yes, mopani will be fine. Never boil wood; it cooks the fibres and causes the wood to break down quicker and is completely unnecessary.
 
Soaking in hot water (change it for fresh hot water daily) is great, if you do want to reduce the tannins, although I suspect the ENs natural habitats will have darkly tannin stained water; you don't want the water to get too acidic though.
 
You could use carbon (or Purigen), yes. I don't think it will matter all that much, tbh.

So don't need to soak it? Will doing water changes keep the acid from getting to high?

 

[fluttermoth]

You don't need to soak it, no.
 
I doubt if you'd notice a lot of acidifying from the tannins tbh. Mopani doesn't normally produce as much tannin as bogwood and yes, your normal water changes should be enough to prevent that.
 
As EN are a sensitive fish, you'll need to be doing a lot of water changes and a lot of testing, so I don't think it'll cause you any major problems.

 

[sawickib]

Ok thanks for all the info flutter!