My first planted aquarium -- should I fix anything?

[TinaPax-Peeks]

It's me again.  This time, I am seeking gentle critics and suggestions for my 20g aquarium. The future occupants will likely be a Betta, some neon tetras, Cory cats, snails... something along those lines.

About a week ago, I added the first aquarium plants:

Water lily (Nymphaea lotus 'green')

Water onion (Zephyranthes grandiflora)

Aponogeton ulvaceus (2) 

Rotala Vietnam H'ra (Rotala rotundifolia)

Anubias congensis 

Rosette sword (Echinodorus parviflorus)

Java fern (Microsorum pteropus)

African water fern (Boibitis heudelotii difformis)

Of the 5 bulb plants, one is growing strong. The others don't appear to be alive, yet.

Yesterday , I added a collection that I ordered from an Etsy shop. 

Hornwort (floating plant)

-Moneywort

-Bronze Cabomba Pulcherrima

-Rotala H'ra

-Pearlweed

-Brazilian Pennywort

I have pothos and purple waffle plant as filter plants. I bought two metal soap dishes with suction cups to put them in. The one under the HOB outflow really works to slow the current.  I still want a peace lily in the HOB. That is coming. Should I leave the filter cartridge in or remove it when the lily goes in?

 

This is my first planted aquarium so I have probably made multiple mistakes. I want to get your feedback.

(If the pictures are upsidedown, sorry, I don't know why not how to fix it. Hopefully, they come out correct side up once posted.)

[Fish Folk]

Sounds very nice. I appreciate the live plants. Bear in mind that emersed plants may out draw nutrients from immersed plants. You will probably need to use liquid fertilizer (e.g. Easy Green, or Flourish). Don’t bury the Bolbitis rhizome. Algae will arrive eventually.

Betta splendens are highly variable in temperament. Sometimes they are perfect tank mates for Neons and Corydoras. Other times they’re assassins. Consider the Betta imbellis if you want a generally more peaceful species.

If Neons are not healthy from your sources, consider _Black Neons_ as an alternative, hardier schooling fish. Whatever you decide, get a group of 12x or more. They do better in numbers.

I right-sided your tank photos…

My Aponogeton plants grow very large, and could really overwhelm a 20 gal. tank volume.

[Rube_Goldfish]

That looks great! I wouldn't worry about any plant at the one week mark, really; they're likely still adjusting to their new home. If a second or third week go by and the bulbs haven't done anything, pull them out; if they feel squishy, they're likely duds and probably too far gone. If they feel firm, flip them 180 degrees and replace them back on the substrate. Sometimes they're just upside-down and won't grow until righted. Ideally about a third of the bulb will be gently in the substrate.

Lastly, don't blame yourself if you find planting the more delicate plants difficult. I had coarse gravel in my first tank, which I think you've got there in yours. I shredded a lot of Bacopa caroliniana stems trying to replant in that stuff and thought it was my technique!

[TinaPax-Peeks]

On 6/15/2024 at 12:05 PM, Rube_Goldfish said:

That looks great! 

Lastly, don't blame yourself if you find planting the more delicate plants difficult. I had coarse gravel in my first tank, which I think you've got there in yours. I shredded a lot of Bacopa caroliniana stems trying to replant in that stuff and thought it was my technique!

Thanks, I appreciate that!

I will heed your advice on the bulbs. 

As for the gravel, I am regretting my choice to use the blue coarse gravel. There is more black quartz gravel. The blue was supposed to accent but it didn't work as invisioned.  I feel like I need more black quartz and either remove the blue or use it another way.  

Would it be a disaster if I siphoned out some of the water (to a bucket so I can add it back), carefully removed the plants, fixed the gravel, replanted, and put the water back in? I am so close to completing the nitrogen cycle so I don't want to set that back. But, I would rather fix an issue now before I add fish.

Am I making sense?

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 6/15/2024 at 5:20 PM, TinaPax-Peeks said:

Thanks, I appreciate that!

I will heed your advice on the bulbs. 

As for the gravel, I am regretting my choice to use the blue coarse gravel. There is more black quartz gravel. The blue was supposed to accent but it didn't work as invisioned.  I feel like I need more black quartz and either remove the blue or use it another way.  

Would it be a disaster if I siphoned out some of the water (to a bucket so I can add it back), carefully removed the plants, fixed the gravel, replanted, and put the water back in? I am so close to completing the nitrogen cycle so I don't want to set that back. But, I would rather fix an issue now before I add fish.

Am I making sense?

That's kind of tough to say. Generally, you'd want to leave plants alone, as they'll start adapting to their conditions, and if you move them you might cause physical damage in addition to maybe causing them to start "reprogramming" themselves for their new conditions.

On the other hand, a) it's only been a week; and b) they're not changing tanks, they're just leaving for a small while and then going right back. Combine that with the fact that the genus I'd be most hesitant about moving, Cryptocoryne, is one you don't have on your list, I'd say you'd be fine to move them.

Moving the plants and removing some of the hardscape should have no appreciable affect on cycling your tank/filter. If you've got aquasoil under the gravel (and it doesn't sound like you do), then uprooting the plants may kick up some excess nutrients, but that wouldn't affect the beneficial bacteria, though it may lead to some algae and some general 'messiness'.

[Tony s]

On 6/15/2024 at 5:20 PM, TinaPax-Peeks said:

Would it be a disaster if I siphoned out some of the water (to a bucket so I can add it back), carefully removed the plants, fixed the gravel, replanted, and put the water back in?

It actually could be. Your bacteria live on the surfaces of your tank. Not in the water. If you remove a lot of your substrate, you will be removing bacteria. If you keep the sides of your tank wet and the filter running, bacteria will survive there. As well as on the plants. 
 

but, now is the time to fix it to your liking. It’s either going to be okay, or if you don’t like it now, it could gnaw at you for a long time. You could end up kicking yourself for not doing it now. Fish can wait until you’re satisfied.

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 6/15/2024 at 11:24 PM, Tony s said:

It actually could be. Your bacteria live on the surfaces of your tank. Not in the water. If you remove a lot of your substrate, you will be removing bacteria. If you keep the sides of your tank wet and the filter running, bacteria will survive there. As well as on the plants. 
 

but, now is the time to fix it to your liking. It’s either going to be okay, or if you don’t like it now, it could gnaw at you for a long time. You could end up kicking yourself for not doing it now. Fish can wait until you’re satisfied.

Yes, you're right that removing a lot of substrate might slow down cycling since that gravel will hold beneficial bacteria. I guess I was thinking 'it won't be that bad since the filter would still be doing most of the heavy lifting.

@TinaPax-Peeks, you could still remove the gravel from its location in the tank without slowing down cycling by collecting it all into a mesh bag or tied off cheesecloth or pantyhose. That way it would still be harboring bacteria but would be easily removed once you're ready for that.

But I definitely agree with @Tony s that now is the best time to change what you don't like.

[TinaPax-Peeks]

On 6/16/2024 at 11:27 AM, Rube_Goldfish said:

Yes, you're right that removing a lot of substrate might slow down cycling since that gravel will hold beneficial bacteria. I guess I was thinking 'it won't be that bad since the filter would still be doing most of the heavy lifting.

@TinaPax-Peeks, you could still remove the gravel from its location in the tank without slowing down cycling by collecting it all into a mesh bag or tied off cheesecloth or pantyhose. That way it would still be harboring bacteria but would be easily removed once you're ready for that.

But I definitely agree with @Tony s that now is the best time to change what you don't like.

I think I will keep the blue gravel in the tank but move it around to a different arrangement. I agree with both of you about not losing the BB already deposited on the gravel.  I definitely feel if I don't fix the plant arrangement now, it will just bug the 💩 out of me. 

For planted aquarium (not doing dirted), is there a recommended depth of gravel?

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 6/16/2024 at 11:34 AM, TinaPax-Peeks said:

For planted aquarium (not doing dirted), is there a recommended depth of gravel?

I like to slope my substrates -- mostly inert sand and gravel -- to an average depth of about 2.5 to 3 inches, I guess, but I'm just eyeballing it. It might be an inch or so at the front and four or so in the back. It'll depend on tank size and what size plants (and plant roots) you've got.

Hopefully some of our resident expert growers can chime in.

[TinaPax-Peeks]

I fixed it. Hubby likes it better and so do I.

(I still can't stop it from flipping my picture, sorry.)

The issues I wanted to address:

1) the hornwort (and cabomba?) looked terrible the way I had attempted to plant them. I decided to use them as floating plants. I wove them through the soap dishes so they are submerged but contained somewhat.

2) I had planted an anubias because the container it came in said to do so. I since learned better so I have attached it to the ship.

3) checked the bulbs that had not shown growth. One had growth but three were dead. 

4) I moved the black quartz gravel to the areas I wanted to plant and used the very coarse blue gravel under and around the ship and where I wasn't going to plant. Several of the front plants were already rooted in enough that I left them alone with their mix of black and blue gravels.

5) added the fert tabs that came with the second batch of plants. 

I think it has a neater appearance now. I don't like cottage garden style in my yard and I don't like Amazon jungle in my aquarium it seems. 🙂  Of course, as the filter plants develop their roots, I probably will need to embrace the Amazon. 😂 

 

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 6/16/2024 at 5:59 PM, TinaPax-Peeks said:

I fixed it. Hubby likes it better and so do I.

(I still can't stop it from flipping my picture, sorry.)

The issues I wanted to address:

1) the hornwort (and cabomba?) looked terrible the way I had attempted to plant them. I decided to use them as floating plants. I wove them through the soap dishes so they are submerged but contained somewhat.

2) I had planted an anubias because the container it came in said to do so. I since learned better so I have attached it to the ship.

3) checked the bulbs that had not shown growth. One had growth but three were dead. 

4) I moved the black quartz gravel to the areas I wanted to plant and used the very coarse blue gravel under and around the ship and where I wasn't going to plant. Several of the front plants were already rooted in enough that I left them alone with their mix of black and blue gravels.

5) added the fert tabs that came with the second batch of plants. 

I think it has a neater appearance now. I don't like cottage garden style in my yard and I don't like Amazon jungle in my aquarium it seems. 🙂  Of course, as the filter plants develop their roots, I probably will need to embrace the Amazon. 😂 

 

That all looks and sounds great! I'm excited to see how it all grows in!