i know NOTHING about plants! can they go in a 10g?

[steppy104]

i have a freshwater 10g that currently has 1 male betta. it looks so plain and dull with some small fake animal skull, and a gargoyal thing. i was wondering if i could take out those decorations, change the substrate, and maybe put some nice plants in there?

i'd like something simple that looks nice, and won't grow to take over the tank....but ya, fake plants aren't very attractive...so, is there anything i can do? anything that might work out?

i need details if there is something. i've never delt with aquatic plants before.

thankies

 

[Yenko]

How much light do you have? 20 or more watts of flourescent lighting will be enough. If your tank is one of the wal-mart 10 gallon kits then you should just replace the incadescent bulbs with compact flourescents and you will see good results.

 

[steppy104]

i've changed my mind...the plants look harder to keep than the fish

aw well....maybe when i have more time on my hand for cooler things like that.

 

[reiverix]

Take out the fake stuff, get a nice small bit of driftwood and tie on some java fern. Easy to grow and very undemanding.

 

[steppy104]

i don't have a light for this tank.....i don't know if it would work out...

 

[kenneth_kpe]

lighting is important plants are not that hard to keep IMO, it all depends on the plants you choose, same with fishes, some fishes are easier to take care of compared to others

you can go basic first, low lighting, low lioghting low maintenance plants but be careful, one you pop, you cant stop

 

[jimbooo]

java fern like the ones in my pic below will grow in your tank. (theres about 10 plants on each piece of wood, ignore the grass)

in fact i challange you to get one and kill it. it's near impossible.

they will even grow without tank lights using only the light in the room, thats how easy they are to keep. obviously they will grow faster with light but thats the only drawback. ie whatever happens it WILL live and i'm sure it'll look better than the skull etc.

heres what to do.

- go to LFS, Buy one or 2 Java Fern.

- buy a piece of bogwood (sometimes called Mopani wood)

- Soak the bogwood in a bucket of warm water for 2/3 days, to soak out all the tannin (or your tank water will look like stewed tea!!)

- tie the Rhiozome of the plant (the horizontal stem which the roots/leaves grow from) to the bogwood with cotton thread or fishing line.

- place in tank and forget about it.

- after a few months the old leaves will have new tiny plants growing on them.

- remove new plantlets and repeat steps above.

and on and on and on.........


please please go buy a plant and chuck out the skull

 

[steppy104]

lol. if anything, it'll be the gargoyle piece i "chuck". not very attractive. i might try that out in that case depending on how much money i have left after getting another cory or two....

oh ya...i forgot to mention....i now have a small apple snail and an emerald cory.....if that matters

i'll check up on the java stuff! thanks

 

[jimbooo]

the snail may munch on the fern a bit but they are just about the toughest aquarium plants available so still get it. if a java fern doesnt survive nothing will.

cories will be so much happier as well.

they really are cheap and require no maintenance at all apart from the tieing onto wood bit. no pruning or anything.

lift up your sofa cushions, you'll probably have anough loose change there to afford one. SO NO EXCUSES

 

[clutterydrawer]

my java ferns all died. i jsut can't keep them alive.

if you have that problem steppy, try anubias.

 

[steppy104]

lol. i asked the person at the store about it, and they said that my tank should probably be running for about a month so it can get enough junk and leftovers in the rocks for it to feed on....

and i mentioned bogwood and she had a confused look on her face....she had no clue what i was talkin about. can't blame her though....i didn't even know what i was talkin about! lol. i'll have a look-see on google to see what bogwood is....cuz i don't have a clue. lol.

and why would the java fern have to be tied to bogwood anyway? the ones in the plant tank were just nestled into the rocks.

 

[clutterydrawer]

bogwood is jsut the wood that people put in their aquariums. if youve ever seen a pic on here of a tank with wood in it, it was almost certainly bogwood.

java fern is a rhizome paltns whihc means it has a long think horizontal "stem" thing from which the leaves grow up and the roots grow down. you mustnt bury the rhizome in the substrate or it will eventually rot and the plant will die. if you tie it to rock/wood it will eventually attach itself and you can take off whatever you tied it on with.

 

[steppy104]

ahh, in that case i think our stores carry it.....but is the thing about running the tank for a month right?

 

[clutterydrawer]

i dunno...how long has your tank been set up?

actually seeing as java fern doesnt root in the substrate its irrelevent how much debris there is in the substrate for it to feed on, it will be getting its nutrients from the water. ha!

 

[steppy104]

lol. i've had the tank set up for....umm.....since cleaning day...umm....that would be...

SUNDAY! there we go.... so thats 1...2...3...FOUR! four days! ok, not alot...how long should i wait, or do i really have to wait?