plants or new aquarium first?

[cutechic]

i've been fish-keeping for around 2 years. i currently have a 4 gallon and a 5 gallon aquarium. both have fake plants. i am saving for a 54 gallon aquarium, and ive got a few questions.

1) is 54 gallons too large? ive got room and time for maintenance. ive heard its good to buy a larger aquarium.

2) i want to keep live plants in the 54 gallon. my plan is to get the aquarium set up with plants, then add fish a few months later. should i buy some plants for either the 4 or 5 gallon aquarium to "practice" plant-keeping, so i wont be completely inexperienced when i buy the larger tank?

sorry if my post is a little confusing

 

[LesGerber]

Plante are really easy to care for, all they really need are 4 things.
1. plenty of light (upward of 2 watts per gallon)
2. Food
3. CO2 (supplied by the fish and supplimented by add on co2)
and 4. Fish that dont eat them

I know that 4 sounds silly but there are fiah out there that when they see a live plant think the buffet has opened and they eat them all down. I cant keep Anachrais in my tank due to the swords and platies all eating it


HTH


Les

 

[cutechic]

so i could keep live plants in the 4 or 5 gallon aquairum?

 

[LesGerber]

It wouldnt hurt at all, Plants really make a tank of any size look great.
get a few and give it a try and see what you think


Les

 

[Alex]

Live plants can be really decorative, most also help oxygenate the water. Look into plants though, as a lot of ifs sell "aquatic" plants that aren't truely aquatic, those ones tend to be bog plants that can be under water for a couple of months then they start rotting, as they need to be out of water for a few months as well. So look into it, and enjoy, there are some lovely plants out there.

 

[Phreaxer]

I have a small "potted" plant in my 2.5 gallon at work. And it seems to be fine. It is pretty new though, so I will have to see if anything changes.

 

[cutechic]

yes, i dont have very good substrate in either aquarium. . . hot pink gravel, to be exact )

would putting the plants in a terra cotta pot (aquarium-safe, of course) =, and then burying the pots in the gravel be ok for the plants?

 

[Jamnog]

i would expect the shop that sells you the plant to also sell you little plastic pots with little fibre stuff wraped around the roots. normally i just burry the plants straight into the substrate and forget about them they root pretty well in relatively low soil substrate the fish provide all the nitrates the plants need.

 

[cutechic]

ok thx ill go to the lfs and check it out