I Wish To Have Real Plants

[fostersimported]

Ok then I have my tank all set up it has been for some time. I have 6 Carninal Tetra, 2 Female Mollys, and a pair of Dwarf Gourami.

The tank is 63L 60cm wide 35cm high 30cm deep with a hidden 3 stage filter spanning the back of the tank.

I want to get rid of the plastic plants and add some real plants to the tank.

How should I go about it as to not overly disturb the community?

Should I take out the gravel and add some plant substrate then put the gravel back on top? If I do is it best to Syphon out all the water into buckets move the fish to a bucket. remove gravel add substrate stuff, put gravel back return water and fish?

I don't want to get a CO 2 system but will if I have too.

I would like to have some sort of "grass" Floor in places along the front with some tall plants along the back wall. All plants should be easy for a beginner, I also wish to have some color in some the plants (red leaves) etc..

Would it be wise to add one floating plant for the Dwarf Gourami?

I would like your Ideas thoughts and opinions , (with recommended plant names if poss)

many thanks

Don

 

[ston3]

I recently started my first tank. Based on my research, I have an amazon sword, java moss, and a java fern. They are all low maintenance, relatively low light plants. The amazon sword is growing great with just gravel as the substrate. My java moss is tied down with thread on a piece of driftwood. You could get a grass like effect by tying down some java moss to a piece of slate rock. My java fern is also tied to a small piece of driftwood. Plants that aren't green (i.e. the red plants you mentioned) require more light. You should take that into consideration before you buy it. I know I am no expert, I just base it off what I have researched. Google is your friend.

Winston

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, my research has come up to be similar to Winston's. There are "easy plant" lists on TFF, probably mostly in the planted tank forum. I would find those and take a look. You can then research each one as much as you want. Winston is correct I believe that as a beginner without fancy light equipment you should give up your wish for red - red is difficult they say.

Several TFF members have advised that beginners should buy a fairly large variety of easy plants and think of it as an experiment rather than getting very invested in any individual plant. See which ones grow in your particular tank and which ones die, then shift your list accordingly.

If it doesn't work or you want to do more, then my take is that you have to start studying over in the planted tank section. I think the skill areas are Lighting, CO2, Nutrients/Substrates and Algae. Each skill area has some aspects where you can make simple improvements or for each area it can become a complicated little world of study within itself, whatever you care to make of it. In my reading these skill areas all interact somewhat with each other, so there is a larger whole.

One interesting thing I've read is that in some respects more plants might make things easier than less. Its somewhat counter-intuitive but at about 70% plant coverage of the substrate area, the plants have a greater chance of out-competing the algae. Algae is of course one of the main problems, it is always ready and waiting to take over if any aspect of your plant environment is sub-optimal.

Sorry not to be of more help but I'm a beginner myself. ~~waterdrop~~

 

[dwarfgourami]

Hi!
I'm one of the lazy plant growers, can't be bothered with special substrate or CO2 or any of the specialist stuff. My tanks have been set up for 2-3 years with just ordinary gravel, some easy growing plant and a weekly dose of liquid fertiliser (when I remember). Hard alkaline water is what I get out of the tap and haven't done anything to change it. The plants that have done best for me are hygrophila, vallis, Java moss, anubias and to some extent Java fern. Hygrophila is fast growing (which is good as it crowds out algae) and can also be left to float on the surface. Anubias is expensive and quite slow growing but I have found it hardy and it looks good. I have one in my Juwel 70 which has grown to the depth of the tank and flowers every now and then.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi!
I'm one of the lazy plant growers, can't be bothered with special substrate or CO2 or any of the specialist stuff. My tanks have been set up for 2-3 years with just ordinary gravel, some easy growing plant and a weekly dose of liquid fertiliser (when I remember). Hard alkaline water is what I get out of the tap and haven't done anything to change it. The plants that have done best for me are hygrophila, vallis, Java moss, anubias and to some extent Java fern. Hygrophila is fast growing (which is good as it crowds out algae) and can also be left to float on the surface. Anubias is expensive and quite slow growing but I have found it hardy and it looks good. I have one in my Juwel 70 which has grown to the depth of the tank and flowers every now and then.

Now that is a really helpful type of post! Thanks, dwarfgor, can you tell us more? How tall is the water column on that tank? Exactly what type of light (T8,5,watts?) What is your fertiliser and do you follow label instrucs or use differently?

thanks and sorry for all the questions!

 

[vinylman]

If you want to add plants, but don't want to put in a new substrate, just buy a small pack of Laterite, then make a hole in the gravel, put in some Laterite, then place the plant in that, covering the Laterite with a little gravel. Even doing that makes a big difference.

 

[fostersimported]

Doh ! Well I wish I had read your reply sooner!

I managed to mess up my tank by adding some jbl substrate temporary moved the fish, tank water and filters heater to a large container. Removed gravel added substrate, replaced gravel and toped up tank (very slowly) with some fresh water about 20%. Water went brown and cloudy! Thought that wont work, got mad, stressed out cleaned out new substrate in bath, blocked bath Doh !!

Lol

Well I will experiment now to see which plants I survive and if the look like they need the extra Laterite etc I will make a hole in the gravel and fill with Laterite.

 

[RIONDET]

Hi,
Sorry for my english, I am French but I would like to correct some few things. There is several sort of plant in nature and they don't need the same type of water. I am a plant keeper and I really like the red colour, the fine leavec plant etc... So I use a lot of stuffs on my 200l to have a great result (4x T5, CO2, fertiliser...)

The plants selected by FISHAHOLIC are plants which don't necessit a lot of maintenance but you need at least 2 bulbs (change it one after 10 month and another one after 12 month). Then you can use a fertilizer soil or some laterit in balls (I use JBL range in my case, very efficient). Then a weekly fertilizer as Ferropol is the minimum (easy to find now at Maidenhead).
To my mind, It is really depending of the plant you want. Red plant needs low KH and CO2 (so no tap water)...

If you want more details, tell me if you are interested, I will post you more details.

Good luck.

Doh ! Well I wish I had read your reply sooner!

I managed to mess up my tank by adding some jbl substrate temporary moved the fish, tank water and filters heater to a large container. Removed gravel added substrate, replaced gravel and toped up tank (very slowly) with some fresh water about 20%. Water went brown and cloudy! Thought that wont work, got mad, stressed out cleaned out new substrate in bath, blocked bath Doh !!

Lol

Well I will experiment now to see which plants I survive and if the look like they need the extra Laterite etc I will make a hole in the gravel and fill with Laterite.

Hi, I think you have use Aqua Basis from JBL. You normally use this product before filling your tank. You can use a floculant to clear the dusty effect of your water (Clearol for example from JBL). In your case, use the 7 balls from JBL to fertilise your current soil. Sorry for the name but put these balls in the soil every 10-15 cm, that is a mix of clay + laterite. I use its every 14-16 month to re-seed my soil.
Bye

 

[fostersimported]

Hi RIONDET.
Please post or PM me more details, as I am still learning. My tank has hair alge now, think it is cycling still. My nitrites when up very high, killed the neons. But I want to get the plants sorted now before any more fish.