56 gal. Central American cichlid tank plant recommendations

[jackdaniel]

I know you're not "supposed" to keep live plants with cichlids, but I want some green in my tank. I've heard Swords are great, as well as some Java Moss on the driftwood. I've got some large rocks and driftwood. Small gravel as a substrate, and 1 x 6700K plant light and 1 x Full Spectrum light.

What would you do?

 

[---XR---]

I personally love the look of micro sword as grass in cichlid tanks.

a pic of my old jag pair with some-

 

[jackdaniel]

SWEET! Nice tank!

Since it's a 56 gal. column 30x18x24 in., I'm trying to go with some tall swords for the background (just a few), and maube some micro swords for the foreground I guess. I want to keep a rather minimal tank with nice hardy plants.

Anything else you can recommend besides swords?

 

[---XR---]

SWEET! Nice tank!

Since it's a 56 gal. column 30x18x24 in., I'm trying to go with some tall swords for the background (just a few), and maube some micro swords for the foreground I guess. I want to keep a rather minimal tank with nice hardy plants.

Anything else you can recommend besides swords?

Anubias nana or barteri , i have a couple nana's rooted on driftwood and they grow like wild fire under correct lighting.

 

[jackdaniel]

I only have 36 watts total output. What can I grow with that? Besides algae...

 

[bitteraspects]

anubias and java moss/ java fern work well in low light applications. as well as some swords. and theyre on the cheapers side, so when your fish tear them up, theyre easy to replace.

 

[jackdaniel]

nice setup! We have very similar taste.

What kind of fish are those?

Are anubias and java fern from Asia? What kind of pump is that? Aquaclear? And the filter attachment?

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[bitteraspects]

thats one of my jaguar fry tanks. usually not a good idea to have plants with jags, but theyre young so theyre ok.

the filters are 2 ac110 hob with custom piping. and 1 ac70 powerhead with quickfilter attachment. the custom plumbing makes all the difference IMHO.

 

[jackdaniel]

Jags will have to be next!

Do you find the circulation to be balanced with the needs of the fish and the plants? I have a tall 56 gal. that I put the ac20 in and it's quite powerful, probably too much so. I turned it down to about 1/4 power since the plants need CO2 and the fish 02, but no current.

Pics of the setup: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190795

Also, do you add any fertilizers to your tank for the micro swords?

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[ctenopoma]

try mosses I noticed if my cichlids notice a plant just pop up out of no where they will pull it up and rip it to shreds , if you just get plants that stay small and grow slowly like moss they won't notice.