Plants for the beginner aquarist

[Ian_Brown]

I am about to purchase a freshwater tropical fish tank (my first aquarium - around 40L) and I intend to try fishless cycling before introducing any fish.

I was wondering whether or not it is possible - and advisable - to introduce any small plants to the tank during cycling to make the tank more interesting during the process.

I appreciate any advice,
Ian.

 

[clunkster]

hi & to the forums

 

[Kajuki18]

idk java fern is a good newbie plant

 

[FishSticks]

These are the plants I've had success with under only 2 wpg in my low tech tank with just plain gravel no Co2 and no fertilizers. I've noticed they tend to grow like crazy, especially during the beginning of the tank cycle because like all plants they take in a lot of the bad stuff in the water and use it to grow.

Water Sprite
Anubias Nana
Asian Ambulia
Dwarf Sag

 

[Yenko]

Plants will sometimes prevent a cycle from occuring - this is no problem, it means that instead of the ammonia from fish waste being converted into Nitrate by bacteria, it's directly absorbed by plants (Plants absorb Ammonia and Nitrite much faster than Nitrate).

 

[modernhamlet]

What Yenko said. Plants stabilize a tank. This is a good thing.

And fish love them...

And they just look good...

In less than 1WPG, I grew the following plants successfully:
Hygrophila Polysperma
Java Fern
Java Moss
Thai onion
Duckweed (floating plant)

Edit: Oh! And WELCOME to TFF!

 

[scuba_jez]

hey i have a new 38 litre tank and i got a wooded anubias for $20 australian - cheap as! looks so good. the bloke at the petshop recomended it since its slow growing, doesnt need much light (hence is slow growing), hardy, and can absorb some nutrients out of the wood if need be.

Whats the deal with CO2? do you need to add it if u have plants in your tank ?

EDIT: yes sorry i am a noob

 

[@ombomb]

What's the deal with it?

It's one of the key ingredients that plants use in photosynthesis (sp?).

Unless you're going for a full on planted tanked tank and are planning to increase the lighting, you should be fine without CO2. All the plants listed so far will work well, without CO2.

Best to post this sort of thing in the planted forum.

 

[Ian_Brown]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll go for a few plants at first, just to see how quickly and easily they grow before testing the water and adding a few fish.

 

[BigC]

Try Hygrophilla Polysperma. Grows anywhere and is virtually indistructable. It comes in various leaf forms and colours. So you could actually set up a planted aquaria with only this plant. Grows very vigorously so you just take cuttings, remove the bottom 2 leaves and plant straight back into the gravel (fine gravel)

 

[phoenixrb]

I am about to purchase a freshwater tropical fish tank (my first aquarium - around 40L) and I intend to try fishless cycling before introducing any fish.

I was wondering whether or not it is possible - and advisable - to introduce any small plants to the tank during cycling to make the tank more interesting during the process.

I appreciate any advice,
Ian.

[snapback]873339[/snapback]​

Hi Ian,

Yes adding plants to a tank whilst cycling is a good thing, so that the tank has something in place to deal with the nitrates. You need to make sure you keep the plants in there for a while though so that the fish can get used to them being there for hideouts and comfort. They will not deal well with sudden changes in the tank appearance and the nitrite, nitrate levels if you remove the plants soon after introducing the fish. One other thing is if you put plants in a tank and then your fish, but you decide you want to change the plants just make sure you dont change them to frequently because your fish will become stressed having to deal with finding new hideouts etc, especially if you have larger fish in your tank.


I hope this helps

Rachel

 

[IovaykInD]

I think the key to keeping low light planted tanks is pruning. Whenever you see a leaf or any part of a plant dying, just cut it. This will encourage, or should I say cause, new leaves to grow and be much stronger. If it's about to die, just cut it.

Isaac

 

[KeddyPie]

java moss is nice. No planting, just drop it in ^____^ Or tie it to some wood, that works too. Mine has endured no end of torment, and it's still alive and kicking!

Hornwart is good too... Floats, And grows like a WEED if it has good lighting!