fish tank plants...

Discussion in 'HortForum' started by Creeping Jenny, Apr 19, 2008.

  1. Creeping Jenny

    Creeping Jenny Active Member

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    I know that a lot of pet stores that sell live plants for your fish tank just sell small rooting houseplants. Any ideas on which types are good for this? Poisoning the fish wouldn't be good!
     
  2. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Wellll.... it depends on what kind of fish you have (ie are your fish herbivores and will they chomp on your plants?), how your tank is set up, how big the tank is, and what you want the tank to look like once you're done planting. In any case I'd absolutely encourage you to plant something in there, since it will help to keep your fish healthier by regulating the nitrogen and nitrate levels in the water. I'm assuming you're keeping a freshwater tank. If you've got a salty, then you have to look at corals and true seaweeds.

    I have a friend who keeps minnows in her aquarium in about 8" of water, and the rest of it is devoted to orchids and hot-humid epiphytes. She's got a 100-gallon tank and has turned it into a tiny tropical-humid greenhouse and vivarium.

    I have another friend with a 50-gallon tank who had a number of small schooling tropicals (danos, I think) and some albino frogs, and kept it half-full and planted with water lotus.

    Equally, I kept a 5-gallon tank with tetras, a Beta, and a plecostomus, and had to find things that the pleco wouldn't eat, voracious little critter that she was. I also kept a 20-gallon with schooling tropicals and another Beta and pleco (different species.)

    I tried Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus) which is really lovely if you only keep small schoolers, but the pleco made short work of it. Anubius barteri "Angustufolia" is a slower-growing plant that the pleco didn't eat. Bacopa monnieri actually took over my 20-gallon tank and I had to pull it out to make room for my fish again; the same goes for Hygrophila difformis (tank Wisteria). Java moss (Vesicularia dubyana) which is a floater, is another one that I've had go invasive on me, again in the 20-gallon tank, but the Betas really liked to hide in it, so I used to just pull it in half and either give half away or sell it back to the pet stores. I also had Java Ferns (Microsorium pteropus) which the pleco didn't so much munch on as uproot.

    Also, if you want your plants to be successful, you need to make sure that you've got some fine, low-calcium gravel (about 2 cm thereof) in under your coarse decorative gravel, or the plants won't be able to take root.

    What kind of fish are in your tank?

    If you're looking for a good place to purchase aquarium plants, see if you have a Big Al's Aquarium Superstore in your area. They have an amazing selection, and the plants are guaranteed not to kill your fish.
     
  3. Creeping Jenny

    Creeping Jenny Active Member

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    Wow, nice list Lorax! Thanks! Right now my daughter has a 10 gallon tank with 1 fancy goldfish and 1 feeder fish that we rescued 3 years ago (who is HUGE now....well for a tiny feeder fish!) We had a plecostomus, but just it died 2 weeks ago. Will be replacing it soon though. You know I wondered why my live plants always died. I never had low calcium gravel... just the decorative stuff. Good to know!
     
  4. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Your pleco wasn't eating them? I'm shocked. I used to have to give mine chunks of zuchinni to keep her off the other plants.....

    Did you know that if you get 5 or more feeders, they'll school in the tank? And of course it got big - feeders (aka Comets) are a type of goldfish as well. They can get huge if you take care of them.
     
  5. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    I've kept live plants in aquariums up to 200 gallons for years. About 13 years ago I switched to growing live corals and that is even a bit more complicated. My 55 gallon aquarium now has 520 watts of light on the top!

    Here's the big problem with growing live plants in an aquarium. Nearly ALL of the plants that will survive long term in an aquarium require strong light. That's because they normally live in streams of less than a meter in depth and have the sun over head much of the day. Plain old incandescent bulbs just won't keep them alive and growing because the light spectrum is not correct nor strong enough. So if you really want to grow live plants you need to buy a strong light. And the least expensive one available is known as a "compact light" of around 130 watts with 2 bulbs.

    The bulbs are closer to florescent than incandescent in design but much stronger with a better light balance. You will need "daylight" bulbs with a 5500 to 5700 Kelvin color temperature. And you will need a minimum, and I mean minimum, of 130 watts of compact lighting to keep them alive for any length of time. Many serious plant growers prefer even more light and I've seen healthy aquariums with over 1000 watts of light! But the light bill is tough! You can buy these hoods on eBay for around $60 for a 10 gallon tank. But be prepared, the lights will be bright! So make sure and buy one with a fan in the hood to evacuate the heat. Lorax' list is a good one but I've tried all of these and eventually lost all before I went to bring lights.

    As for land plants sold as aquatic plants, it happens all the time! I've even seen aroid species sold as aquarium plants and there are only a very few aquatic aroids. Plants that are not aquatic are frequently sold as aquarium plants because the sellers figure that you'll blame yourself once they die. Don't buy a single plant from a department store!! None will live! And aroids grow both part in the water and part out of the water which is not likely to be what you want.

    Before you buy a single plant find a really good pet store, and I don't mean one of the corner chain pets stores, and buy a really good book on aquatic plants. The first thing to look for is the lights the seller is using. If they arent' very strong, so strong they almost hurt your eyes when you look at it, they dont know what they are doing! Those books will tell you what plants can truly be grown in water for long periods of time and kept healthy. They will also tell you how to prepare the bottom medium and it isn't as simple as dumping a few pounds of gravel. You need several layers of medium and it is a bit complicated. That medium must be cleaned often but not by dumping it out. You will need to vacuum the bottom with a special tool almost daily.

    The water must be of a specific hardness and pH which will require you to buy some good test kits. The water will generally need to be soft, but that depends on the species. Most successful aquatic growers start with purified water and then add compounds to adjust both pH, hardness, and a variety of other water quality factors. I've seen several grown with no filtration at all! The plants do the filtering. Undergravel filters almost always mess up the root systems.

    I certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone from trying, but the Germans are the all time experts at growing aquatic plants. So if you can find a book that is translated from German you'll have a better chance of making it work. I've seen a couple of German tanks that looked like a slice of the Amazon River! It is stunning if done correctly but can be awful for the fish if done poorly. To be honest, you will likely spend less money and be happier with some of the well made plastic plants. But buy a good book first, read it, and then decide.

    I didn't read these articles but the overview appear to be descent:

    http://www.aquabotanic.com/aquamenu.htm
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2008
  6. Creeping Jenny

    Creeping Jenny Active Member

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    I give the pleco that special pleco food. Keeps them off the plants...usually. Zuccini would be cheaper!

    Comets! I couldnt remember what they were called. I didnt know they schooled. Never got the chance to see. We had a bunch in a big whiskey barrel pond @our condo a couple years back but someone came and ate them one night. The one we have in our tank now was the only survivor.
     
  7. Creeping Jenny

    Creeping Jenny Active Member

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    Steve,
    I would love to get into the lighting and fun stuff one day. Im still dreaming of having a huge tank!! For now I guess our little 10 gallon will have to do. It gets pretty good sunlight though. Ill have to check out the link, thanks!
     
  8. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    For mine, the zucchini was a special treat in addition to the balance Pleco Pellets....
     

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