plants???

**fishyfamily** · 05-01-2009, 05:21 PM

im probably getting gouramis and tetras. with these whats the best way to do plants, live or plastic or mix and if live, whats the easiest or best for these types of fish and will let me add others later if i want. i need something with low maintainance but i dont mind some or havingto pulling some out and also what type of gravel is best with plants, ive heard the regular aqarium rock isnt good for plants but i dunno. thanks

**gm72** · 05-01-2009, 05:57 PM

Gravel is fine but the plants you keep depends on the light you will have. What are you thinking about?

**bushwhacker** · 05-01-2009, 06:48 PM

my tetra tank is heavy planted with a sand bottom ~108 watts on a 55 g tank they dont grow crazy but they all doing pretty good... various swords, vals , crypts, java moss.... things i do not know LOL... same setup on the 75G SA/CA tank... ooops theres 216 watts on the 75 but i swear its not as bright as the 108 over the 55

**Glub** · 05-01-2009, 07:12 PM

Plant compatibility will be determined more by your water parameters than coexisting species as long as they're getting the nutrients they need to survive.

As for actually recommending plants, that's a little hard to do since you haven't mentioned your water temperature, lighting, or GH/KH and pH.

Anubias nana (dwarf anubias) is a very common and popular plant, often recommended for being good survivors. Java moss is pretty hard to kill.

There are many plants that could work for a low tech, low maintenance setups.

There's a couple ways to go about keeping plants.

The lowest maintenance way to do it would be a low-tech natural setup which uses natural bacterial processes to break fish mulm down into nutrients usable to plants. I'd suggest doing a lot of research if you want to take this approach. There's some key details and science behind it all, but I've read that it's an appropriate way for beginners to start keeping plants. Although I would suggest you do a lot of research on it first so you understand it. The tenant beneath us when I was growing up had a 55gal setup like this. As I remember it ran steady for many years.

The more conventional way would be to dose fertilizers, but this is more high maintenance.

The problem with regular aquarium gravel is that plants have a hard time rooting in it. It also holds little, if any usable nutrients for the roots to absorb. Play sand works. Even better yet, commercial plant growing substrates like eco-complete allow for good rooting, and contain nutrients. But there are plants that will do fine in gravel nonetheless.

It's a little hard to tell you what sort of ferts you'd have to dose. Light and CO2 are going to be the main factors in your success. The rest mostly all depends on your water, your lights, how many plants you have in there, and how fast and large they're growing.

**terrapin24h** · 05-01-2009, 08:22 PM

there are some species of tetra that will eat plants. Buenos aires tetras come to mind, and are a large reason why my tank isn't planted. I have read in some spots that hardier plants(java moss and fern, anubias) can go in with them, but then read other places that said they got ate. Be sure to check plant compatibility with the tetra you decide to get. Gouramis should be ok

--chris

**fishyfamily** · 05-01-2009, 08:25 PM

well, glub, i havent actually set up the tank yet so temp. and pH whould be a hard thing to give you. but it will probably be right around nuetral possibly leaning ever so slightly toward acidic and somewhere around 75-80F based on what fish i get. this is more research then practice at this point i just wanted to get some general suggestions from the experienced aquarium owners such as yourself on what would be the best and hardest to kill for a beginner. as far as light goes, im not sure yet, my sis-in-law is givivng me her whole set-up but i havent laid eyes on it yet so details are outside of my reach. doing research will not be a prob for me, i gather as much info as possible before diving into anything! thanks for the suggestions. i will definately look into some of that.

**Z Fish Man** · 05-01-2009, 08:58 PM

The easiest most low tech set up would be to use something like play sand as substrate, and you will most likely not have very high wattage lights unless the set up you are acquiring had live plants in it. Assuming you have low light, and low substrate you won't really need to worry about CO2 and dosing ferts. You will be limited in plants you can choose but there are still hardy, easy to to grow plants that will live in this environment like java ferns, java moss, hornwort and anubias species. Take a loook at http://www.aquahobby.com/e_aquarium_plants.php they have nice pictures and requires as well as user comments about each plant.

**Taurus** · 05-01-2009, 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by terrapin24h

there are some species of tetra that will eat plants. Buenos aires tetras come to mind, and are a large reason why my tank isn't planted. I have read in some spots that hardier plants(java moss and fern, anubias) can go in with them, but then read other places that said they got ate. Be sure to check plant compatibility with the tetra you decide to get. Gouramis should be ok

--chris

Won't java fern, java moss, anubias root to bogwood or other forms of
driftwood? Gravel should be ok as substrate in this case. Mulm in the gravel should act as nutrients for the plants?

**Sir Tristen** · 05-01-2009, 10:29 PM

Yes, java fern and anubias plants are attached to driftwood instead of planted. They are very hardy and actually very nice plants. My java fern is probably my favorite plant. Java moss works the same, but attaches a bit better. I haven't been able to remove the strings from the rock that holds my narrow leaf java fern. My regular java fern might be well attached to the driftwood though.

Crypts are also good choices from what I've read. I've never had any myself though. I'll have to get some when I set up the 35 and try them out. . .