Keeping live plants potted?

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Guppylover3x

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I currently keep my live plants potted at the moment in my tank. The ones I purchase come potted and instead of removing them I put them in as they are. I find is prevents them from breaking up. I also donā€™t want to put the amount of gravel required to bury the sponge completely. I want to know if anyone else keeps plants this way? They do seem to last a good few weeks before I have to replace them. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
 
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We use to grow plants in 1 or 2 litre plastic icecream containers. You put an inch of gravel in the bottom of the container, then spread a thin layer of granulated garden fertiliser over the gravel. Put a 1/4inch (6mm) thick layer of red/ orange clay over the fertiliser. Dry the clay first and crush it into a powder. Then cover that with more gravel.

You put the plants in the gravel and as they grow, their roots hit the clay and fertiliser and they take off and go nuts. The clay stops the fertiliser leaching into the water.

You can smear silicon on the outside of the buckets and stick gravel or sand to them so it is less conspicuous. Or you can let algae grow on them and the containers turn green.

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If your plants are only lasting a few weeks then the plants are either not true aquatic plants or you are not providing them with enough light. Most true aquatic plants should live for years and grow rapidly.

Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia/ Hydrilla, Ludwigia species, common Amazon sword plants, narrow Vallis, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).

The water sprite can grow on the surface or planted in the substrate. The other plants should be grown in gravel. All these plants do well when grown in pots with fertiliser and clay.
 
We use to grow plants in 1 or 2 litre plastic icecream containers. You put an inch of gravel in the bottom of the container, then spread a thin layer of granulated garden fertiliser over the gravel. Put a 1/4inch (6mm) thick layer of red/ orange clay over the fertiliser. Dry the clay first and crush it into a powder. Then cover that with more gravel.

You put the plants in the gravel and as they grow, their roots hit the clay and fertiliser and they take off and go nuts. The clay stops the fertiliser leaching into the water.

You can smear silicon on the outside of the buckets and stick gravel or sand to them so it is less conspicuous. Or you can let algae grow on them and the containers turn green.

----------------------
If your plants are only lasting a few weeks then the plants are either not true aquatic plants or you are not providing them with enough light. Most true aquatic plants should live for years and grow rapidly.

Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia/ Hydrilla, Ludwigia species, common Amazon sword plants, narrow Vallis, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).

The water sprite can grow on the surface or planted in the substrate. The other plants should be grown in gravel. All these plants do well when grown in pots with fertiliser and clay.

I think itā€™s more my guppies pecking at the plants. I notice they do this quite a lot of the day. Iā€™m guessing itā€™s algae on them that they are pecking at. It could be a light problem. How many hours do you recommend? The last ones did go green and build up algae as you state above. Iā€™ve added new plants today from a different seller. I usually buy them in store but Iā€™ve ordered on eBay. So thereā€™s currently 6 now, I think I got a bit carried away online. They seem to be in an okay condition I guess some being better than others. Iā€™ll see how these get on. I must say I am impressed with the way you lay out your plants, I wish I was this creative. Many thanks for your advice.
 
We did plants in pots for a couple of reasons.
1) I was working in an aquaculture facility and we grew and sold live plants to shops. Some of the shops wanted advanced plants in pots so we did that.

2) Plants like sword plants love nutrients and have big root systems so they needed more gravel and big pots. When given ideal conditions these plants would produce lots of runners with new plants on and we got more plants to sell.

3) Most of the tanks only had a thin layer of substrate that was nowhere near thick enough for plants to grow in so having them in pots allowed us to grow plants in tanks with minimal gravel in the tank.

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I usually have lights on for about 14 hours per day but it depends on how many plants you have. Most people start out with 10-12 hours a day and increase or reduce the lighting period depending on the plants.

If you get lots of green algae growing on the glass then reduce the photoperiod.
If the plants are growing well and you get a small amount of green algae on the glass then it is pretty close to spot on.
If you don't get any algae growing in the tank then you can increase the lighting period by an hour and see how it goes over the next week.

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Some plants like Ambulia and the Hygrophilas will tell you when they have had enough light. They do this by closing up their leaves. The top set of leaves close up against each other first and then the next set will close up against the stem, and so on down the plant. When most of the leaves have closed up against the stem you wait about 30 minutes and then turn the tank lights off.
 
We did plants in pots for a couple of reasons.
1) I was working in an aquaculture facility and we grew and sold live plants to shops. Some of the shops wanted advanced plants in pots so we did that.

2) Plants like sword plants love nutrients and have big root systems so they needed more gravel and big pots. When given ideal conditions these plants would produce lots of runners with new plants on and we got more plants to sell.

3) Most of the tanks only had a thin layer of substrate that was nowhere near thick enough for plants to grow in so having them in pots allowed us to grow plants in tanks with minimal gravel in the tank.

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I usually have lights on for about 14 hours per day but it depends on how many plants you have. Most people start out with 10-12 hours a day and increase or reduce the lighting period depending on the plants.

If you get lots of green algae growing on the glass then reduce the photoperiod.
If the plants are growing well and you get a small amount of green algae on the glass then it is pretty close to spot on.
If you don't get any algae growing in the tank then you can increase the lighting period by an hour and see how it goes over the next week.

------------------------
Some plants like Ambulia and the Hygrophilas will tell you when they have had enough light. They do this by closing up their leaves. The top set of leaves close up against each other first and then the next set will close up against the stem, and so on down the plant. When most of the leaves have closed up against the stem you wait about 30 minutes and then turn the tank lights off.
We did plants in pots for a couple of reasons.
1) I was working in an aquaculture facility and we grew and sold live plants to shops. Some of the shops wanted advanced plants in pots so we did that.

2) Plants like sword plants love nutrients and have big root systems so they needed more gravel and big pots. When given ideal conditions these plants would produce lots of runners with new plants on and we got more plants to sell.

3) Most of the tanks only had a thin layer of substrate that was nowhere near thick enough for plants to grow in so having them in pots allowed us to grow plants in tanks with minimal gravel in the tank.

------------------------
I usually have lights on for about 14 hours per day but it depends on how many plants you have. Most people start out with 10-12 hours a day and increase or reduce the lighting period depending on the plants.

If you get lots of green algae growing on the glass then reduce the photoperiod.
If the plants are growing well and you get a small amount of green algae on the glass then it is pretty close to spot on.
If you don't get any algae growing in the tank then you can increase the lighting period by an hour and see how it goes over the next week.

------------------------
Some plants like Ambulia and the Hygrophilas will tell you when they have had enough light. They do this by closing up their leaves. The top set of leaves close up against each other first and then the next set will close up against the stem, and so on down the plant. When most of the leaves have closed up against the stem you wait about 30 minutes and then turn the tank lights off.

Many thanks for the information, very interesting. Maybe Iā€™ll be brave and try it myself one day. Iā€™ll observe how the plants go for the next few weeks based on what you have provided. Thank you for your help :)
 
Unless they are tissue culture, aquatic plants in pots are most often packed in rock wool and must have the rock wool removed and be replanted to survive long term.
As for lighting, most lights that come with aquariums are fine for fish viewing, but typically not for growing plants. An exception are newer ensembles that come with LED lights capable of supporting plants. With higher intensity lighting, typically 6-8 hours daily is sufficient.
 
I agree with AbbeysDad. I too, have left my plants in their little buckets before and they donā€™t thrive. You have to remove them from the basket and remove the packing. My goldfish pull them up all the time and I find them floating but they are fine. Just stick them back down.
 
They plants I buy look like this. Thank you.
 

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Yep, thatā€™s what mine are in too. If you remove the plants youā€™ll find they are packed in material to keep them alive in shipping.
 
Yep, thatā€™s what mine are in too. If you remove the plants youā€™ll find they are packed in material to keep them alive in shipping.

Many thanks for your reply. I donā€™t think Iā€™d want to remove them from the pots because the material they are in is generally large and bulky. I may just have to keep changing them every few weeks or look into changing the type I buy. Thank you.
 
Unless they are tissue culture, aquatic plants in pots are most often packed in rock wool and must have the rock wool removed and be replanted to survive long term.
As for lighting, most lights that come with aquariums are fine for fish viewing, but typically not for growing plants. An exception are newer ensembles that come with LED lights capable of supporting plants. With higher intensity lighting, typically 6-8 hours daily is sufficient.

Thank for your the advice. I did actually change my lighting system the first week I upgraded my tank for this reason. The fluval spec lighting I had previously was amazing so I decided to purchase another overhead light of eBay and add a condensation cover over my tank. Iā€™ll try to keep my lighting go the time you recommend and Iā€™ll see how these get on. Many thanks.
 
Many thanks for your reply. I donā€™t think Iā€™d want to remove them from the pots because the material they are in is generally large and bulky. I may just have to keep changing them every few weeks or look into changing the type I buy. Thank you.
Why not remove them from the pot, remove and discard the rock wool and plant them properly in your aquarium?!?! Give them a chance....they want to live!
 
Why not remove them from the pot, remove and discard the rock wool and plant them properly in your aquarium?!?! Give them a chance....they want to live!

Thanks for your reply. I am worried about the mess they may cause if I go tearing into all the packing and remove them from the baskets. I try to perform a lot of gravel vacs and I imagine itā€™s going to make the process a lot harder.
 
You remove the plants from their pots before you put them in the tank. Get a bucket and put the plants in that. Remove the pot and any medium around the roots and let the crap drop into the bucket. Rinse the plants under a tap and then plant them in pots with gravel (like I described above) or put them in the aquarium gravel.

If you have them in pots you can move the pots and gravel clean the substrate easier and without disturbing the plants.
 
You remove the plants from their pots before you put them in the tank. Get a bucket and put the plants in that. Remove the pot and any medium around the roots and let the crap drop into the bucket. Rinse the plants under a tap and then plant them in pots with gravel (like I described above) or put them in the aquarium gravel.

If you have them in pots you can move the pots and gravel clean the substrate easier and without disturbing the plants.

Many thanks for your response Colin. Iā€™ll follow through your advice and hopefully this helps. :)
 

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