Is your tank planted, (apart from algae)?

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

This is not a debate about the pros and cons of live plants in a tank.
I'm just curious as to how many of you have no live plants in your tanks.
Obviously, if you do or you don't, it might be useful to appreciate your reasons.
For example, I imagine that many won't have live plants in their tank because they always die, or that they have fish that always eat them, or repeatedly dig them up, etc..

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Since I set up my first planted tank a long time ago and saw how effective they were pretty much all of my freshwater tanks have been planted to some degree.

Even my marine tanks used macro algae to support nutrient export using basically the same concepts as freshwater planted tanks.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

No plants...well real ones anyway.

Real wood only for me but thats about it

Too many bad experiences with chronic pesky pest snail explosions and a basic inability to keep any plants (house/aquarium/garden) alive

 

[robmcd]

With my planted tank I go all out. High lighting, CO2, quality substrate, etc.... It gets very costly to do that on multiple tanks so I just do it on 1 of my 3. Another is a SA cichlid community, so plants are a no go there, and the 3rd is a low tech semi planted platy/shrimp colony (I can't stand the ratty look of aquatic plants without the use of CO2).

 

[fishyfun&fans]

I just bought beginner easy maintenance plants I’ve done nothing to them apart from plop them in and watch

they seem to be doing well apart from the mass of shell dwelling friends they’ve helped create

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I just bought beginner easy maintenance plants I’ve done nothing to them apart from plop them in and watch

they seem to be doing well apart from the mass of shell dwelling friends they’ve helped create

Too late now, but ASDA do a nice, cheap, thin bleach.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Just the one wedged in the back under the drift wood and the little one in the front

other side of the tank has 2 fakeys

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I just bought beginner easy maintenance plants I’ve done nothing to them apart from plop them in and watch

they seem to be doing well apart from the mass of shell dwelling friends they’ve helped create

Treating Plants for 'Passengers'

1. Rinse the plants in a bucket. Remove the plants and empty the bucket.
2. Mix 1 part unscented bleach to 20 parts of water in the bucket. Wear rubber gloves and mix thoroughly.
3. Prepare a second bucket with fresh water and add Water Conditioner.
4. Dip plants in Bucket 1 and ensure that they're completely submerged.
5. After the prescribed time, place immediately under a running tap for about a minute.
6. Place in Bucket 2 and leave for at last a minute.

Delicates: Mosses, cryptocorynes, etc.. - 90 seconds.
Average plants: Echinodorus sp., most stem plants - 120 seconds.
'Hard' plants: Java fern, Anubias, etc.. - 150 seconds.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Treating Plants for 'Passengers'

1. Rinse the plants in a bucket. Remove the plants and empty the bucket.
2. Mix 1 part unscented bleach to 20 parts of water in the bucket. Wear rubber gloves and mix thoroughly.
3. Prepare a second bucket with fresh water and add Water Conditioner.
4. Dip plants in Bucket 1 and ensure that they're completely submerged.
5. After the prescribed time, place immediately under a running tap for about a minute.
6. Place in Bucket 2 and leave for at last a minute.

Delicates: Mosses, cryptocorynes, etc.. - 90 seconds.
Average plants: Echinodorus sp., most stem plants - 120 seconds.
'Hard' plants: Java fern, Anubias, etc.. - 150 seconds.

Thanks again can I screenshot this and keep it as a guide Bruce?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Just the one wedged in the back under the drift wood and the little one in the front other side of the tank has 2 fakeys

That looks suspiciously like a Dracaena variegata, (or D. sanderiana, if it has white edges to the leaves); a pretty-looking, non-aquatic plant. It should last a few months before rotting away.

 

[Slaphppy7]

All of my tanks are planted...nothing high-tech, no CO2, just simple-to-grow, low to medium light requirements

The benefits of a planted tank for the inhabitants are too significant to ignore, IMO

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Thanks again can I screenshot this and keep it as a guide Bruce?

'Course you can.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Another purchase from Guess where? Lol

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Another purchase from Guess where? Lol

I bet they open up the shop of a morning and then eagerly wait, noses pressed tight against the glass...

 

[fishyfun&fans]

They probs do...oh here comes that Dumb Pilot what can we sell him today