# Foreground Planting



## bolram (May 17, 2011)

So I'm not entirely happy with my foreground planting of my tank and need a play around.

Can people suggest some carpeting plants, nice foreground plants and also the best moss that they would personally choose.

Aim for plants with low lighting requirements (i'm looking at upgrading my lighting unit this year as im not happy with the output wattage to it full potential)

Again this is just to get some different personal choices so I can make a final decision


*c/p*


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

Also any advice on lighting unit. I was either going for the 4x39wt t5 lighting unit or the 6x39wt lighting unit. Based on an 87gal tank (330ltr)


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## Fishtail76 (Oct 17, 2013)

I've been researching low light foreground plants and what I've come up with is marsilea quadrifolia, marsilea hirsuta, cryptocoryne parva and anubias nana petite. You will probably have a difficult time getting the carpet look with low lighting but these are some of the shorter plants for low light.


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

one reason i'm looking at upgrading the lighting as soon as possible


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Are you set on flourescents? Lot of good LEDS out there ,but you need to be selective,they are not all equal.
I'm all in on LEDs and presurised co2 and still question whether I have enough to grow carpeting plants? The biggest factor for this equation is distance from light to substrate.When I borrowed JRs par meter I learned a ton.What is/would seem to be HIGH light at the surface is not after having to travel more than 18" IMO.PAR drops off so fast it is unreal!
IMO you will get higher PAR and save over time with LEDS, but no harm in t5HO.


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

Any recommendations on LED units to buy or look at then??? I'm looking at all possibilities


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

If I went for the 6x39wt fixture would this cause to much light for the fish? Seeing as it is double the lighting i'm using currently?

Just looking at all possibilities for both fish welfare and to fit budget


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## Fishtail76 (Oct 17, 2013)

I'm still using T8's but the led's that I see recommended most are the Finnex FugeRay Planted+ or Finnex Ray2. I believe the Ray 2 is higher output but not sure.


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

I'd have to actually import from the US as it appears I can't find anything suitable here in the UK for freshwater tanks anyway.

But would this sort of thing provide a higher rate of light per gallon?

Aquarium Fish Tank Pet Food Water Animal Light Filter Pump Life LED Fixture 36" | eBay


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## Fishtail76 (Oct 17, 2013)

Maybe someone else will chime in, I just don't know much about led's. The light you linked seems really, really expensive, ouch.


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

you find that expensive??? There was me thinking it was pretty cheap lol (we are very expensive in the UK for aquaria products)


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Beamworks are pretty decent lights.This is a UK selection;
Beamswork LED: Lighting & Hoods | eBay


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

so you'd recommend this for LED:
Aquarium LED 12"--36" Beamswork Light Freshwater Tropical Fish Cichlid Hi Lumen | eBay

my other choice was t5: T5 OVERTANK AQUARIUM LIGHT UNIT FISH TANK LIGHTING 6 TUBE LAMP SET ULTRA BRIGHT | eBay

In terms of plant growth for a 90gal which would create the more optimised condition?


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

or http://http://www.aquariumgardens.c...anted-aquarium-led-light-unit-6500k-720-p.asp

I don't know much about LED aquarium lighting at ALL. So wouldn't have a clue at all what the best option is


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

For planted tanks thinking more like ;
24x 3W 6500K white Beamswork EVO 36 aquarium LED light 90-120cm planted aquarium | eBay
or this
Beamswork EVO 24 aquarium LED 6500k Day light 16x 3W planted aquarium 60-80cm | eBay
Just not sure if they are long enough for your tank.
The T5 you linked comes with 3 actinics which won't help your plants alot?
I would look for specific reveiws before ordering any light.


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

I realised the evo one so considering that now as well

Yeah it contains the actinic bulbs but i have spare bulbs that i'd swap them for anyway but the cost of the actual unit is the cheapest I can find so the bulbs would just be swapped over as its still the cheaper way of doing it.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

For foreground plants, providing you get a little more light, I would look for Staurogyne Repens. My fav.

Here it is in my tank:









For LED, I would look for TMC GroBeam Ultima
TMC GroBeam 1500 Ultima Natural Daylight (6500K white)
Top of the line, supposedly.


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

Nice plants.

Currently im leaning towards the bulked up t5 unit of 6 bulbs versus the 3 im using now.

The only LED that seems within budget and also big enough just for the one unit is the beamswork evo36" so im also considering that.

Its just a matter of what would produce the most ideal environment for planting


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## jccaclimber2 (May 6, 2012)

I can speak to T5 bulbs, but an 89 isn't a common size. What are the (inches) external dimensions of your tank (L x H x D)? Does your current light have good reflectors?

Dwarf sag is the standard easy as can be carpeting plant. C. parva is lovely, but grows extremely slowly. If you want a carpet of crypts I would use c. willisii x luciens. It grows much faster and is a bit larger, but still smaller than most other crypts. Anubias barteri variants are a bit faster than the c. parva, but also will take a long time to carpet. Blyxa japonica (more light needed vs. the other two) carpets nicely and grows fast when happy. S. repens which Ben posted a picture of above makes a nice carpet.

Beyond this you could look at baby tears (easy), dwarf baby tears (a pain), glosso (also a pain), or any number of hairgrass species (yep, a pain).

For moss I like peacock moss, but christmas moss makes a decent substitute. For sheer volume java moss works, but I don't like the shape as much. Here is a christmas moss floor I made:


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

Can't remember the measurements. It's an 87 bought from an independent company but they have since stopped doing this size and are now doing a slightly smaller version.

Its all reflected t5 lighting but i'm not 100% happy with the light level once it reaches plants (still bright but in terms of what plants need is most likely insufficient)

The moss cover you got there is pretty decent


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