Fish and plants recommendations for 2ft

Hi all.
I am in the process of planning a (hopefully) heavily planted tank.
Due to space constraints, I can only fit in 2 foot tank.
This will be my first planted tank.
I need some recommendations on plants that are fairly easy to grow for a beginner, but still look good.
I would also like some guidance on which fish to stock it with. I would like something colourful, but then again not too difficult to keep.
I currently have 2 3ft tanks (not really planted) in which I have Harlequins, Alibno Widow Tetras, a Zebra Danio, a Convict (still in quarantine) and Corys (that just can't stop getting their groove on. LOL).
As you can see I don't have much experience with different types of fish, hence me asking for advice.
I will be starting a thread shortly of my progress as well.
TIA

 

Darryn,

How about going with a heavily planted tank with a Male beta and a few females?

Solex has that setup in his house, looks flipping awesome.

 

would this work?

Everything i've read about bettas say that you should seperate the males and females as they'll fight eachother incessantly?

If this is true then I will be going this route for my office!

 

+1

 

It all depends on where you get the fish and their temperament.

Solex has a spawn that is ready to go now, and he has males and females together. Because they are all brothers and sisters, and been together since birth, I do not see putting a male with 4 or 5 females together to be a problem.

Generally speaking the males will constantly try mate with the females, so if you wanting to mate them, there is a procedure to condition them and introduce the male to the female. But I had 4 females and 1 male together, and because there is so many females, the male kinda gets distracted and doesn't overtire one singe female.
Generally speaking if the tank is small you can't put 2 males together.. then they fight for territory.

But contact SOlex and see what he recommends... you won't regret it. Betta tanks always lok spectacular. The fish also "interact" with the plants in that they swim in them, lie on them, and use them almost like a jungle gym. Very fun to watch them

 

Hmmm this sounds like an awesome idea actually!
Darryn, I've got an Anubias Nana & Rotala rotundifolio (I think) as well as an amazon sword which seems to be growing really well, despite the fact that my setup is far from ideal. (Still getting more light and only using seachem flourish excel)

 

Try this

Seeing that you are having such success with the corys, why not try a tank with some Corydoras hastatus (about 6 of them) and a pair of Apistogramma cacatuoides. Same water parameters required for these fish and the both love heavily planted tanks, and it would look great.
As for plants, try out plants that do not have a very high light requirement to start off with. I am sure one of the plant gurus will be able to come up with a list.

 

The beauty of a small planted tank is that you don't need to buy as much light as you would need for a large tank. Just make sure the light you buy is High Output. Like T5's or LED lighting...

Nice, easy to grow plants like Rotalas, Java Ferns, Hemmianthus Micranthemoides, Crypts and Anubius will do well...

 

What do you want to focus on? More on plants or fish?

20-30 Galaxy Microrasboras or 10-15 Rummy's could look awesome if planted heavily

Slagter, where have you seen T5/LED lighting for a 2 ft? Looking for a plug and play solution. Not particularly keen on wiring from scratch

 

Hiya, I am actually setting up my 2 ft today, putting in my 11 tiger barbs-they look pretty kewl as far as colour goes and mine are in breeding mode at th mo so have bright red noses Also doing a heavily planted setup- Putting in Some Hygrophila polysperma which grows really well and really fast-doesnt seem to worry about lighting conditions-grows regardless..have some other plants too but not too sure of names.

I also really recommend Zoom's idea of a group of female fighters with a male-would look stunning

 

Thanks for all the ideas. I see that I have some decision to make ....
How easy are the Corydoras Hastatus to obtain? I must admit, I do have a fondness for Corys. I have also been toying with the idea of getting some Aspistos, so this is sounding like a good idea? Would that be about the limit in terms of livestock for this size tank?
TIA

 

Hey Darryn,

Cory's are indeed lovely little fish, and are generally considered good community fish! Keep them in 6 or more numbers, as they like to interact with each other.

Apistos also make LOVELY feature fish! Due to the tank only being a 2ft... I would recommend only 1 pair of APistos... so do your homework which type you want. I know Dolphin can help you with MANY different types.

If you wanted to go the APisto route, I would personally put in a pair of sunburts cacoutoides (spelling?), a school of 6 Cory's, and then 20-30 Neons to give it some difference. (You could go with Rummynose tetras too... but I can't get them to last longer in my tank than 24hrs.)

 

HUH?
Only 24 Hours.Where do you buy?

 

I've bought from 3 LPS, and every time I put them in the tank,I find them all belly-up the next day. Apparently they don't like being bagged... but I'm not a big fan of them anyway.