Live plants for aquariums

[Tyler777]

I never had live plants in my aquariums. So this might b a silly question.

If I get live plants do I need to get some filter just for them ? Some kind of food, anything special ? To keep em alive n healthy ?

Bcause I read leve plants help to better the water n add oxygen n are good for the tanks but I dunno NOTHING bout how to take care of them.
A couple of weeks ago my wife asked a petsmart fish employee bout it and the girl said " no just dump em in the water n they will b fine "
Of course rolled up my eyes bcause every answer I got from was wrong after I asked you guys the same.

So if I get live plants what do I need ?

 

[Magnum Man]

It really depends on what kind of plants… some you can literally just dump in, and some need more or specific lighting, nutrients ( fertilizer ) and possibly even setting up a co2 system, to add additional co2 to the water

There are literally as many different plants, as there are fish

 

[Tyler777]

It really depends on what kind of plants… some you can literally just dump in, and some need more or specific lighting, nutrients ( fertilizer ) and possibly even setting up a co2 system, to add additional co2 to the water

There are literally as many different plants, as there are fish

 

[Tyler777]

Would you please tell me names of some plants i can just put em in water n let em be without having to buy anything else ? I would truly appreciate that

 

[Magnum Man]

Others are more qualified, than I… I mostly put normal house plants, rooted in the water, but growing out of the tank…

But for aquatic plants, my favorite are Java ferns… you can literally just plop them in… don’t bury the roots, or they will suffer… I just usually attach a weight to keep them in place, and just drop them in… I have many of them, in several tanks…

This is one I just dropped in, a month ago…

 

[Lcc86]

I started with floating plants, so either elodea densa or egeria densa (pretty much the same thing), Dwarf lettuce, red root floaters. They're super easy to care for with a little liquid fertiliser. I found floating plants good as I had no knowledge beforehand.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Tyler. If you keep to the easy to grow plants, you don't need anything special. Plants like Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias, Water Sprite, Water Lettuce, Anacharis and such need about 3 watts of light for every gallon of tank volume. They don't need special fertilizers, just what the fish produce. Try any of these to start.

10

 

[Tyler777]

Others are more qualified, than I… I mostly put normal house plants, rooted in the water, but growing out of the tank…

But for aquatic plants, my favorite are Java ferns… you can literally just plop them in… don’t bury the roots, or they will suffer… I just usually attach a weight to keep them in place, and just drop them in… I have many of them, in several tanks…

This is one I just dropped in, a month ago…View attachment 342668

Ok, thank you

 

[Tyler777]

Hello Tyler. If you keep to the easy to grow plants, you don't need anything special. Plants like Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias, Water Sprite, Water Lettuce, Anacharis and such need about 3 watts of light for every gallon of tank volume. They don't need special fertilizers, just what the fish produce. Try any of these to start.

10

Thank you so much my friend. That helps a lot

 

[FishyD]

This gets better when your tank has a little more age to it. If you don't want to bother with lighting or feeding them at all, stick to your plan and only get simple plants. I would start with a floater and see how that goes. If that doesn't thrive it mostly gets harder when you put plants in the substrate farther from the light. In addition to previous suggestions, water wisteria is one of my favorite simple plants. You can float it for awhile and after it adjust to your water you can plant it. Planted tanks are very rewarding to me for many reasons, but they usually do take a little expense and effort to get a great result, even with easy plants.

 

[Colin_T]

No they don't need a filter but most do better with some water movement. They need light and for best results, some type of aquarium plant fertiliser.

Have a read through the following link.

Aquarium Plants 1.01

AQUARIUM PLANTS 1.01 TURNING LIGHTS ON AND OFF Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly. In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Tyler777]

I started with floating plants, so either elodea densa or egeria densa (pretty much the same thing), Dwarf lettuce, red root floaters. They're super easy to care for with a little liquid fertiliser. I found floating plants good as I had no knowledge beforehand.

Thanks man, the liquid fertilizer doesn't cause a water parameters change when you pour into the water

This gets better when your tank has a little more age to it. If you don't want to bother with lighting or feeding them at all, stick to your plan and only get simple plants. I would start with a floater and see how that goes. If that doesn't thrive it mostly gets harder when you put plants in the substrate farther from the light. In addition to previous suggestions, water wisteria is one of my favorite simple plants. You can float it for awhile and after it adjust to your water you can plant it. Planted tanks are very rewarding to me for many reasons, but they usually do take a little expense and effort to get a great result, even with easy plants.

Thank you my friend

 

[Lcc86]

Thanks man, the liquid fertilizer doesn't cause a water parameters change when you pour into the water

Thank you my friend

It shouldn't do as long as you don't overdose! I just pop the required amount for my tank size in when I do a water change, nothing special.

 

[FishyD]

Thanks man, the liquid fertilizer doesn't cause a water parameters change when you pour into the water

Thank you my friend

You have to follow directions of course. I daily dose my tank with liquid ferts I mixed from dry to last 6 weeks and still struggle to keep nitrates high enough for the plants. Typically I am dosing something similar to what is in Aquarium COOP Easy Green. You could dose 25% the suggested amount and watch your parameters. You can alos do as you said and just throw in a couple easy plants for now. If your tank is fully stocked it will feed the plants with low requirements. It will do a better job of that when the tank is six months old though. A new tank with 50% WCs is going to stay fairly "sterile" for awhile.

 

[Tyler777]

It shouldn't do as long as you don't overdose! I just pop the required amount for my tank size in when I do a water change, nothing special.

Ok good. Thank-you