Should I Use Live Plants In My New Tank?

[BIGbadJOHN]

Hey guys. I recently set up a 10 gallon tank and currently have only a betta in it. The tank is bare at the moment, but I was wanting to set up a simple planted aquarium. Nothing like one of the elaborate aquascapes that are so beautiful. I just want something natural and simple. Can this be done? I purchased 12 pounds of the CaribSea FloraMax along with a log centerpiece and 3 plants. I bought a 12" Kyoto grass plant, 8" Umbrella plant, and 4" White Ribbon plant. I only have the bulb that came with the 10G Aqueon starter kit. It's fluorescent, but I'm sure not for live plants. Basically all I want to know is: Can I make due with the items I have? If not, what exactly do I need to purchase extra if I am way under prepared to have a few live plants in my tank? I know I haven't done my research. Sorry, but I just want to know if I'm going to run into real trouble and a nightmare if I pursue what I want to do, or if it is completely possible if I know what to do. Please give me all your opinions guys because I don't like just taking one lonely commenter's word for it. I know that what I WANT to do and what is possible are 2 different things. Your advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[PDSimon]

You got pics of those plants? Never heard of them! Can you find out the wattage of the bulb/ballast?

In a small tank like that, I would go with low light, mostly slow growing plants... things like java fern, java moss would be suitable. They are easy to maintain and don't require much. You could probably get away without ferts if you have enough waste from the fish and the lights aren't kept on too much. around 6 hours would probably be better.

Get a bit of hardscape, some nice stone, root/wood and that will certainly help make it look a bit more natural.

 

[RadaR]

All of the plants listed aren't (fully) aquatic.

 

[hensonc4098]

Yep. The light in your tank should be fine for growing less demanding plants like cabomba, java ferns, vallis, elodea, java moss, amazon swords and also some crypt species. The main thing you have to watch when buying plants is that so so so many fish shops and online sellers will sell non-aquatic plants as being suitable for your tank, when these plants should be in a plantpot on your windowsill, not submerged in water. It will look great for a week or so, and then start to rot away.

The key is to research before you buy. All the ones that I mentioned you will be able to find easily on google or whatever, and I would think that all online aquarium plant sellers will sell them.

It's totally achievable to have a nice planted tank, as long as you're careful with what you get. I know you mentioned a few plants that you've bought. To be honest, they sound like they could be aforementioned non-aquatic plants to me. However if you could get pictures of them then we'll be able to tell you for sure if they are and how they should be planted etc.

Hope that helps

 

[frankbarnes]

yes live plants will be great, it will increase the likeliness of your fish because it give more natural feeling to them. So it will be great and it will keep balance of chemical some plants can do that. So choose right plant for your tank.

 

[BIGbadJOHN]

Yep. The light in your tank should be fine for growing less demanding plants like cabomba, java ferns, vallis, elodea, java moss, amazon swords and also some crypt species. The main thing you have to watch when buying plants is that so so so many fish shops and online sellers will sell non-aquatic plants as being suitable for your tank, when these plants should be in a plantpot on your windowsill, not submerged in water. It will look great for a week or so, and then start to rot away.

The key is to research before you buy. All the ones that I mentioned you will be able to find easily on google or whatever, and I would think that all online aquarium plant sellers will sell them.

It's totally achievable to have a nice planted tank, as long as you're careful with what you get. I know you mentioned a few plants that you've bought. To be honest, they sound like they could be aforementioned non-aquatic plants to me. However if you could get pictures of them then we'll be able to tell you for sure if they are and how they should be planted etc.

Hope that helps

You're right. They aren't aquatic. Says so right on the top. I asked the worker if all of their plants were aquatic even though some said semi aquatic and he told me yes. Goes to show me I shouldn't trust anyone except myself and good research. I actually worked at PetsMart for 3 years so I should know that a lot of the employees aren't very knowledgeable. Plus a lot has changed there. We actually sold aquatic plants when I worked there. Now everything is in the plastic tubes. I'll be bringing all of them back tomorrow. Glad to know I can do live plants without getting into aquascaping just yet. What works best and where can I find a planting log for a java fern? I have a beautiful little log I bought a while back but it releases tannins and I hate that dingey look it gives the water. Even though that is natural looking. Are there woods that don't release the tannins? Thanks for your responses! The answers were just what I was looking for.

 

[PDSimon]

I Imagine redmoor releases less than bogwood, but not entirely sure, probably because it will generally have less mass. If you don't soak the wood enough they will often be more yellow for a while. You can always put some water cleaner in your filter and that'll give you crystal clear water.

Personally, I would avoid amazon swords, they seem to grow too much for a small tank like yours. You will struggle to provide the nutrients and it overgrows much bigger tanks! up to you though. A lot of stem plants will be the same, so I would be cautious. Anubias are great low light plants and the smaller varietys are lovely.

 

[hensonc4098]

I'm not sure where would be good for you to get plants from seen as I'm from the UK. Your best bet is to look up some of the mentioned plant species and look out for them in your local fish shops, or there's no doubt people that can recommend you a website that you could order them from.

As far as wood goes, if you soak it for long enough then it should stop leeching the tannins. Leave it in a bucket or something and just change the water every day until you see that it isn't releasing as much. You could attach the java fern at the same time if you wanted to so that it's beginning to attack itself at the same time.

It is true that amazon swords will grow big if you let them. Personally I like the kind of "wild" look they give, and you can trim them if you don't want them too big, but it's just as easy to use other plants I suppose

 

[BIGbadJOHN]

What substrate should I use? I got some black CaribSea FloraMax, but I kinda wanna go with something white now. Would pool filter sand be a good way to go? Or would I be better with some CaribSea Super Naturals?

 

[ace61502]

Are there woods that don't release the tannins?

I'm new to this, too, and decided to just deal with the tea stained water and do more frequent, smaller water changes until the driftwood stops releasing it, but I've read you can boil it for an hour and that will get rid of most of it, and sterilize it at the same time.

What substrate should I use? I got some black CaribSea FloraMax, but I kinda wanna go with something white now.

I got some silica sand from a local equipment store. I called a sandblasting company out of the yellow pages and asked where they got their sandblasting sand. They told me Williams Equipment Co., so I called them and got 100# for less than $10, much cheaper than the pool filter sand around the corner. They also had black beauty, and I'm tempted to go get some of that and sprinkle it into the silica sand in a (probably futile) attempt to get a "marbled" look.

 

[hensonc4098]

Is the FloraMax an actual plant fertilising substrate? If it is then it'd be good for having live plants in your tank. If you wanted a lighter colour you could just put a layer of sand or whatever on top. You technically don't need a fertilising substrate, but it will help your plants.

 

[BIGbadJOHN]

Is the FloraMax an actual plant fertilising substrate? If it is then it'd be good for having live plants in your tank. If you wanted a lighter colour you could just put a layer of sand or whatever on top. You technically don't need a fertilising substrate, but it will help your plants.

The FloraMax says it contains iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and dozens of other elements. Also claims to have unsurpassed macro-porosity for bacterial colony. Uniform grading and porosity aids in oxygen and nutrient delivery to plant roots. Says it eliminates the need for laterite. It also won't raise the pH.

I'm thinking I may use the FloraMax along with the pool filter sand. The filter sand ran me about 13 bucks for a 50 pound bag and the Flora Max was about the same price for a 12lb bag. I want a lighter color gravel to help bring the colors of the plants and fish out. I think mixing about half of the Flora Max in with some sand will give it a nice look. Plus I'm also thinking it may be beneficial to the oxygenating the substrate and preventing anaerobic bacteria buildup since the Flora Max is supposed to be very porous. I think the dark Flora Max mixed in with the lighter sand will result in a very natural look also. The pool sand I got isn't the very light sand most other people talk about. It's much darker and actually a tan color and looks very natural. I'll take a handful of the Flora Max and the sand, mix them up and see how they look together before deciding. Might just use the sand and stir up my substrate a little every week or so to keep it fresh.

 

[BIGbadJOHN]

Are there woods that don't release the tannins?

I'm new to this, too, and decided to just deal with the tea stained water and do more frequent, smaller water changes until the driftwood stops releasing it, but I've read you can boil it for an hour and that will get rid of most of it, and sterilize it at the same time.

What substrate should I use? I got some black CaribSea FloraMax, but I kinda wanna go with something white now.

I got some silica sand from a local equipment store. I called a sandblasting company out of the yellow pages and asked where they got their sandblasting sand. They told me Williams Equipment Co., so I called them and got 100# for less than $10, much cheaper than the pool filter sand around the corner. They also had black beauty, and I'm tempted to go get some of that and sprinkle it into the silica sand in a (probably futile) attempt to get a "marbled" look.

I don't have a pot big enough to boil it in so for now I just threw it in a large ice chest with some hot water and I'll change the water out a couple times until I see it going clear. I'd like to boil it though. It's a knarly piece of wood and I know a java fern will attach nicely to it.

 

[PDSimon]

Can't you manage to boil sections of it? and then just keep turning it.

 

[hensonc4098]

The floramax sounds good. As you said, either mix it in with your sand, or put the floramax in first and then "cap" it with a layer of sand on top