55 gallon planted tank setup suggestions?

My current 55 gallon is rather bare, it has some rock and two large pieces of driftwood with a very open middle and top section otherwise. I find it very hard to scape due to its dimensions and depth. I am currently using a black sand for substrate and a nicrew light. I have some low light plants like Java fern, Java moss and one plant that I’ve forgotten the name of. It is housing 15 harlequin rasboras, 7 Pygmy corydoras and 2 thick lip gourami (soon to be 7 total). I’ve been looking at a lot of planted tanks and recently got a stingray light so I’m looking to create a really heavily planted tank with soil and co2 as I have never done more then low lighting. Can you guys send me photos of your 55 gallons as inspiration along with your lighting, soil etc? I also have a 75 gallon too which is the picture on the right.

 

Here’s my 55, I have pretty basic what could be called medium lighting at best. The soils is Miracle Gro capped with pool filter sand. This tank has lots of botanicals so the water is always dark.
This tank doesn’t have Co2. Don’t mind the detritus in the left, it’s just decaying Indian almond leaves.

 

It really isn't necessary to have soil and CO2 to have a heavily planted tank. This one is bigger than 55 gallons but a similar depth I think (it measures 160 x 60 x 60 cm). Substrate is mostly river sand, though I did add a little aqua soil when the tank was first set up over two years ago, I don't believe it was actually necessary and it contributed to a lot of algae in the early stages that I have not experienced in my other purely sand substrate tanks. The lights are just two x 50W 5000K (6,000 lumens each) floodlights from a home store. All easy plants, no CO2.

 

It really isn't necessary to have soil and CO2 to have a heavily planted tank. This one is bigger than 55 gallons but a similar depth I think (it measures 160 x 60 x 60 cm). Substrate is mostly river sand, though I did add a little aqua soil when the tank was first set up over two years ago, I don't believe it was actually necessary and it contributed to a lot of algae in the early stages that I have not experienced in my other purely sand substrate tanks. The lights are just two x 50W 5000K (6,000 lumens each) floodlights from a home store. All easy plants, no CO2.
View attachment 876084

That’s really cool! What plants did you use?

Here’s my 55, I have pretty basic what could be called medium lighting at best. The soils is Miracle Gro capped with pool filter sand. This tank has lots of botanicals so the water is always dark.
This tank doesn’t have Co2. Don’t mind the detritus in the left, it’s just decaying Indian almond leaves.
View attachment 876079View attachment 876080View attachment 876082View attachment 876083

I really like that driftwood, it adds nice height. Is it a spider wood?

 

My wife’s 55. Fluval Aquasky 2.0 48” light, Seachem Flourite capped with river pebble, no CO2.




My 75…river pebble only. Fluval Aquasky 2.0 48” light. I included this since it’s a 4’ long tank…just deeper than a 55.

 

That’s really cool! What plants did you use?

Limnophila sessiliflora
Cabomba sp.
Echinodorus sp. (big green one and E. "ozelot" in the LH corner, jus realized the photo cuts off the LH end so that one is not seen in the shot)
Pearlweed
Heteranthera zosteriflola (foreground)
Vallisneria (background)
Hygrophila polysperma
Red tiger lotus
Java moss
Water lettuce

I have tried some other plants in there but these are ones that have lasted and done well.

 

My wife’s 55. Fluval Aquasky 2.0 48” light, Seachem Flourite capped with river pebble, no CO2.

View attachment 876087

My 75…river pebble only. Fluval Aquasky 2.0 48” light. I included this since it’s a 4’ long tank…just deeper than a 55.

View attachment 876088

Both the tanks look quite nice! The 75 is much easier to plant considering the dimensions.

Limnophila sessiliflora
Cabomba sp.
Echinodorus sp. (big green one and E. "ozelot" in the LH corner, jus realized the photo cuts off the LH end so that one is not seen in the shot)
Pearlweed
Heteranthera zosteriflola (foreground)
Vallisneria (background)
Hygrophila polysperma
Red tiger lotus
Java moss
Water lettuce

I have tried some other plants in there but these are ones that have lasted and done well.

How did you set the lights up for your tank?

 

So this is another of my tanks, not quite so densely planted as it has a lot of wood and leaf litter. It is about 63 gallons (120 x 40 x 50cm). Plants are Cabomba, Echinodorus, 1 java fern, Vallisneria and water lettuce, 1 very small tiger lotus. Substrate river sand, lighting 4 x 10W floodlights 6500K (not sure how many lumens but lower light than the other tank I posted). Sorry the photo is bad with reflections.



Obviously if you do want to go the high tech route there are a lot more plant options you can try. But a lot more complications too! Tall plants like valisneria, and stem plants like Cabomba grow very quickly and are undemanding and can soon help to cover the background. Having some wood piece that branch and extend into higher levels of the tank can help too.

 

So this is another of my tanks, not quite so densely planted as it has a lot of wood and leaf litter. It is about 63 gallons (120 x 40 x 50cm). Plants are Cabomba, Echinodorus, 1 java fern, Vallisneria and water lettuce, 1 very small tiger lotus. Substrate river sand, lighting 4 x 10W floodlights 6500K (not sure how many lumens but lower light than the other tank I posted). Sorry the photo is bad with reflections.
View attachment 876090

Obviously if you do want to go the high tech route there are a lot more plant options you can try. But a lot more complications too! Tall plants like valisneria, and stem plants like Cabomba grow very quickly and are undemanding and can soon help to cover the background. Having some wood piece that branch and extend into higher levels of the tank can help too.

How did you create that effect with the wood pieces?

 

That’s really cool! What plants did you use?

I really like that driftwood, it adds nice height. Is it a spider wood?

Yeah it’s all spider wood.

 

How did you create that effect with the wood pieces?

I just collected wood from my local river and played about with the arrangement until I was happy with it. There is a long, quite thick horizontal piece that runs nearly the length of the tank the back and forms a bank so that the substrate is higher behind the log than in front, especially at the LH end, the log and substrate slope down towards the RH end. Somewhere I have a earlier photo that might show this better, I will see if I can find it.

In this contest thread is an earlier shot when the Echinodorus plants were still tiny you can see more of the wood. Not sure where I put the original photo, but it is here:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...22-aquarium-of-the-month.525879/#post-5184621

 

I just collected wood from my local river and played about with the arrangement until I was happy with it. There is a long, quite thick horizontal piece that runs nearly the length of the tank the back and forms a bank so that the substrate is higher behind the log than in front, especially at the LH end, the log and substrate slope down towards the RH end. Somewhere I have a earlier photo that might show this better, I will see if I can find it.

In this contest thread is an earlier shot when the Echinodorus plants were still tiny you can see more of the wood. Not sure where I put the original photo, but it is here:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...22-aquarium-of-the-month.525879/#post-5184621

That tank looks really nice. So I think to make my scapes better they need to have some height in both the actual sand, which I would do using either rocks or driftwood as support and then raising the sand, and then in the plants.

 

That tank looks really nice. So I think to make my scapes better they need to have some height in both the actual sand, which I would do using either rocks or driftwood as support and then raising the sand, and then in the plants.

Yes, and use wood with some height to it too, and plant with plenty of plants to begin with, including some quick growing species. Some species seem to do well for some people and not so well for others so its worth trying a variety of plants initially and see which do best.

 

I just collected wood from my local river and played about with the arrangement until I was happy with it. There is a long, quite thick horizontal piece that runs nearly the length of the tank the back and forms a bank so that the substrate is higher behind the log than in front, especially at the LH end, the log and substrate slope down towards the RH end. Somewhere I have a earlier photo that might show this better, I will see if I can find it.

In this contest thread is an earlier shot when the Echinodorus plants were still tiny you can see more of the wood. Not sure where I put the original photo, but it is here:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...22-aquarium-of-the-month.525879/#post-5184621

You mentioned that you used wood from your local river, would stones I find be usable? Do you know how I should go about using local things? I am especially worried about using local things because my fish are from acidic areas but my area is very hard water.

 

You mentioned that you used wood from your local river, would stones I find be usable? Do you know how I should go about using local things? I am especially worried about using local things because my fish are from acidic areas but my area is very hard water.

Hmm that could be an issue, you would have to do the vinegar test on the stones first, if they don't fizz they should be OK, if it is a limestone area maybe not. Our river has very soft water and I have used rocks and wood from there with no effects on pH or hardness. Also I know the river is very clean, so I don't worry about trying to sterilize anything.

 

Hmm that could be an issue, you would have to do the vinegar test on the stones first, if they don't fizz they should be OK, if it is a limestone area maybe not. Our river has very soft water and I have used rocks and wood from there with no effects on pH or hardness. Also I know the river is very clean, so I don't worry about trying to sterilize anything.

I grabbed a few rocks from the stream and they seem to be a sandstone. They didn’t react to vinegar or the nitrate 1 bottle. I might just leave them in water for a few days and see if the ph changes. Unfortunately I don’t really have the funds to shell out hundreds of dollars on rocks lol.

 

If they are sandstone they should be fine, good idea to keep the in bucket to test them later though, just to be sure. I quite agree aquarium shops charge far too much for rocks and wood!