Winging A Planted Tank

[baker360360]

Some updates
Empty tank cleaned. Both layers of sub gone in, some hard scape in too. Now created a natural uneven bed. And planted. Treated water is in now. Just waiting for water to warm for fish. Once clear I will upload some pics and maybe a vid.

 

[Alasse]

 I use a liquid CO2 daily, definitely not a waste of money. It helps keep a nice steady CO2 level in the tanks, this in turn keeps the plants happy and the algae at bay. Stop using it and i end up with algae from fluctuating CO2 levels, and less plant growth

 

[baker360360]

Is this Lilaeopsis brasiliensis?

Should I trim it to promote growth? I want it to spread thick along the front of my tank

 

[Byron]

Is this Lilaeopsis brasiliensis?

Should I trim it to promote growth? I want it to spread thick along the front of my tank

 
I think this is more likely Sagittaria subulata.  The leaves seem wider, thicker and longer than Lilaeopsis brasiliensis.  A third very similar plant is Helanthium tenellum (formerly Echinodorus tenellus so it may still be seen under this name).  Conditions in the aquarium can affect the appearance of these three plants quite a bit, often making them difficult to distinguish at least from still photos.  I have all three, and for me L. brasiliensis is distinctively narrow leaf and much shorter than what would appear in your photos.
 
Of course, if these are newly acquired, they may be emersed cultivated plants.  All three species are marsh or bog plants, growing either emersed or submersed or both depending upon their habitat.  Emersed leaves will obviously be much stronger than submersed, as they have different structures.  Nurseries prefer emersed cultivation where it is possible because it is much faster and thus less expensive.
 
H. tenellum is quite rapid at spreading, once it establishes (up to a few months, depending).  S. subulata I find very slow.  L. brasiliensis is so slow it is almost static, but it does go through spurts of runners every so often.  This latter is known to be slow spreading, even in high tech conditions.
 
Byron.

 

[baker360360]

Is this Lilaeopsis brasiliensis?
Should I trim it to promote growth? I want it to spread thick along the front of my tank

 
I think this is more likely Sagittaria subulata.  The leaves seem wider, thicker and longer than Lilaeopsis brasiliensis.  A third very similar plant is Helanthium tenellum (formerly Echinodorus tenellus so it may still be seen under this name).  Conditions in the aquarium can affect the appearance of these three plants quite a bit, often making them difficult to distinguish at least from still photos.  I have all three, and for me L. brasiliensis is distinctively narrow leaf and much shorter than what would appear in your photos.
 
Of course, if these are newly acquired, they may be emersed cultivated plants.  All three species are marsh or bog plants, growing either emersed or submersed or both depending upon their habitat.  Emersed leaves will obviously be much stronger than submersed, as they have different structures.  Nurseries prefer emersed cultivation where it is possible because it is much faster and thus less expensive.
 
H. tenellum is quite rapid at spreading, once it establishes (up to a few months, depending).  S. subulata I find very slow.  L. brasiliensis is so slow it is almost static, but it does go through spurts of runners every so often.  This latter is known to be slow spreading, even in high tech conditions.
 
Byron.

Thanks for the reply
I will google those plants and try to see if I can match them.

Also any tips on trimming? Should I or not?

 

[baker360360]

update.... this was taken around set up day...around 50 plants (including individual stems), this didn't last long, I didn't like the look and the wood was a bit suspect, think it may have not been suitable for the fish tank.

 

[baker360360]

I removed the wood and bought 3 large pieces of bog wood, rescaped and replanted.

in between waiting for new wood to come I got some amazing growth

the scape was a bit random as I knew I was going to rescape once the new hardscape arrived

 

[baker360360]

my lights were obviously doing a good job, but I wasn't happy with the penetration to  lower level of the tank. I decided to buy a small 165w dimmerble led unit two controls  to add to my existing lights, I now have just over 4 wpg using a variety of hues,
28watt t5s -
1xday light 1 x marine white14000k
3 watt leds -
dimmer 1-  
8xcoolwhite 12000k 6x neutral white 7500k 6x warm white 3500k 2xred 660nm 2xgreen 520nm 4xblue 460nm
dimmer 2-
7x royal blue 450nm 20x blue 460nm

next I was ready to rescape I gave the tank a good trim first to make things abit easier for my self,

 

[baker360360]

I built up a school of neon tetra to about 88 even tho it looks like 20 in there, I have 6 sakuru shrimp. doubled my zebra nerites to 8. unknown amount of mts 
I have planted
cabomba
amazon swords
brazil penny wort
polysperma
saggittaria subulate
wisteria
anabias nana sp
Hc baby dwarf tears
elodia (red)
red tiger lotus
1 unknown species
please correct me if any of these are wrong so I can edit.