How many plants?

[Susielyd]

Hi all,
After looking at all the pictures of your beautiful aquariums I realize how much help I truely need
I have a 6g tank (only now after I bought it and have been on this site do I figure out how tiny that is!) with 2 guppies and 3 platies.
My question is : how do I set it up with plants so it doesn't look over crowded. I have one little treasure chest ornament in it now, but other than that it is looking very sterile.
I would really appreciate any advice you could give.
Kind regards,
Susan

 

[jimbooo]

ok first of all what kind of light do you have over the tank (flourescent tube/pigmy lamp/basic bulb)

what is your nitrate reading?

 

[Sanj]

when starting out a new aqurium best to cram it with as many plants as poss and with different varieties. Stem plants in particular.

Reasons:

1) Out competes algae fro mthe start particularly fast growing stem plants e.g hygro polysperma, ambulia, heterantha zosterfolia

2) Not all plants will grow in any one aquarium, even if two diff aquariums seemingly have exact same set up and conditions, one mayy grow well in one and not the other. Many plants fro mthe start allows you to find out what grows and what doesnt.

In the long run few species look better than a riot of diff species, but thats subjective opinion.

Ofc you need good light, good substrate and pref co2, def needed at higher light levels.

 

[freddyk]

When I ventured into this planted tank, my first, I considered the previous post's advice, which seems to be an accepted method. The problem is plants seem very expensive around here. Instead I just bought a few and I'm glad I did since some didn't work out. I hit on some that thrive in my conditions, and before I knew it I had a nicely planted tank - glad I didn't spend the cash! I ran into a small algae problem at one point earlier on but a bit of time sorted it out and the oto's were fat and happy.

 

[Susielyd]

Hi there,
thank you for your advice,
first to answer questions: I have a fluro bulb that says something about 'daylight'
I am not sure what the nitrate reading is - I have just purchased the ammonia and nitrite tests, and ) ran out of $$, so I will buy that test next week.

Kind regards,
Susan

 

[jimbooo]

just so you know (not sure if you already do) NitrAte is the final product of the nitrogen cycle, it is poisonous to fish but only at high levels of time so if you are doing weekly h2o changes you probably dont need to test it as far as the fish are concerned (unless you are losing fish and dont know why).

NitrAte is also what the plants feed off. they use it in photosynthesis.

without getting too technical your nitrAte readings should be between 12.5 and 25ppm for good plant growth. above 25ppm and you need to do a h2o change.

as i said if you already know this then sorry but you never know, might be of use.

happy fishkeeping

 

[Discomafia]

Your lighting would be the most important. How many watts is that tube? You'd need at least 12 watts for most plants...

 

[Griz]

A good strategy IMO is to purchase several of the least expensive, least demanding plants you can find to start with. Get a couple different varieties. Java fern seems to work just about anywhere and is easy to find. Bear in mind that they do grow slowly and take a while to look good. Swords are another that look great and are always available. They need lots of fertilization. Java moss and many crypts are some others to try. There are lots of others though, these are just some that I have experience with. You may lose some varieties, but others will hopefully thrive. Get more of those! A planted tank is always a work in progress. Many plants will dies off a bit at first before they get aclimated to your tank so be patient as this can sometimes take quite a while. Don't be too quick to rip out ones that aren't looking too good, give them a chance and don't move them around except as a last resort. As you get a feel for what works in your tank, you can then try more expensive and demanding plants that you think may do well for you. Best of luck!

 

[Yenko]

If you have sufficient lighting, buy a small amount of either hygrophilia or Java fern. I'd reccomend the Java fern; I've never failed to grow that stuff. Java Fern seems to do best if it's the only plant in the tank; in my experience it grows very fast without competition, and more slowly if theres other plants in the tank.