How to add plants?

[Laurabhspt]

Hi! My yo-yos ate all my plants…. I just wondered if I buy more how to add them? I’m not so worried about snails etc as the yo-yos take care of them but worried about other diseases etc. I’ve gone from having plants that absolutely over ran the tank, introduced 4 yoyo’s and now have about one tiny stalk left that is fighting back, but is no match for these greedy loaches!

Any advice very welcome! I’m still really new to this!

Thanks

 

[Byron]

Tougher plants usually survive eating by any fish, such as Java Fern and Anubias which are not touched (so far as I have read), and crypts and aponogeton are said to be left alone by this loach (Botia almorhae). Swords (Echinodorus species) are generally not bothered by herbivorous fish but for some reason are a particular favourite of this loach. Most all stem plants are more delicate and I doubt would last long.

 

[Laurabhspt]

Tougher plants usually survive eating by any fish, such as Java Fern and Anubias which are not touched (so far as I have read), and crypts and aponogeton are said to be left alone by this loach (Botia almorhae). Swords (Echinodorus species) are generally not bothered by herbivorous fish but for some reason are a particular favourite of this loach. Most all stem plants are more delicate and I doubt would last long.

Thankyou. Any idea how I introduce them to my tank? Do I need to clean them? If so how? That kind of thing

 

[Byron]

Thankyou. Any idea how I introduce them to my tank? Do I need to clean them? If so how? That kind of thing

If they come from a tank of plants with no fish, I just put them in the tank. I do not ever rinse them in anything but a bucket of tap water, as I have no worry about snails like some do, and any chemical really effective on snails or algae will harm if not kill the plant. If the plants come from tanks with fish, caution would say we quarantine them just as we would new fish. Plants in a tank with no fish (meaning in your quarantine tank) would presumably deal with fish disease things, though who knows?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I didn't know yoyos were plant eaters. Interesting. I've kept A. sidthimunki, yoyo's smaller cousin, and they never showed the slightest interest in plants.

If the plant is coming from a suspect source, I would probably quarantine it for a couple weeks. That will be enough time for most of the common fish pathogens (especially ich) to die off for lack of food. I've tried dipping them in peroxide, but that seems to do as much harm to the plant as to the pathogens.