Thoughts on plant placement in an previously running aquarium...

[Magnum Man]

so, I'm still slowly adding a few plants to my barb tank ( that one gets a few Java Ferns, that will stand up to the adult Tin Foils ) I'm thinking about adding them weighted to a space between the heater, and the side glass, that the activity on the sand from the Cory's, & the flow around the tank, has a tendency to deposit solid fish waste, from the larger fish in that gap... if I added plants to that gap, I assume the plants would make use of those nutrients, & it may also change the flow in that area, to a spot easier to vacuum... but with plants there, it would make it near impossible to vacuum... but even as it is, with nothing there, it would be challenging to vacuum on the sand, as I'd have to used a reduced size tube, which would make it suck up more sand...

thoughts??? plants in a problem spot???

 

[GaryE]

Mulm will collect there, from what you describe. But everyone has different tech moving the water. I like to identify collection spots to make cleaning quicker, but I also have tanks I never remove mulm from.

Plants will use the wastes, and I've noticed how efficient many are at trapping rich nutrients around their bases. I have a few tanks where all I can do is hover an inch over the substrate with the siphon, and the roots and stems make vacs useless. It's whether you want that or not that may be the question.

 

[noahm]

In my experience, I tend to leave mulm except for around a few very short or carpeting plants that seem to suffer from it (DHG is the main one). I am definitely a fill-the-gaps guy, but that isn't what nature does in many cases. I just like it that way.