if all goes to plan, I am asking for some input..

[JMLenke]

ok if all goes to plan, I will have a 55g to redo in the near future. With that I need a bit of input if possible from the more experienced growers.

The idea I had for the 55 involving a ton of driftwood isnt going to pan out due to my impatience and a lack of funds to buy a ton of thin branchy driftwood so after looking at my different tanks I had a different idea.

Via you guys I have gotten a ton of different crypts that have been planted or are floating in ALL of my tanks, I would like to try to consolidate them and had an idea that I may well be able to almost fully scape a 55 just using Crypts.

The plan is to use the soil substrate and schultzs as a cap (testing mostly) but I dont know if that would be a good idea with the slower growing plants. Would i be better served by planting the crypts and starting out with a ton of stems etc and slowly pruning/removing the stems??

[SCMurphy]

I've done it without the stems, just crypts and anubius. Start out at half the light intensity (i.e. use two bulbs instead of 4) for 8 hours a day, ramp it up after everything gets established. Try not to go more than 3 wpg as this kind of tank doesn't need that much light. CO2 injsction is still a good idea.