I'm thinking of trying something different....

[BlaiseinLondon]

....and I'd appreciate your thoughts.

I've never had much luck with aquarium plants (they go brown and die!), but have stuck with it, as I do believe that live plants are best for the fish. I'm thinking of trying planting some plants in small terracotta pots, filled with appropriate growth medium, and wedging them into my sand/gravel (two tanks) substrate.

Thoughts?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

My thoughts depends on why you want to do it that way?

Using pots would stop plants from spreading but then you'd need to stay on top of fertilising each pot unless you're going to use liquid ferts

 

[GaryE]

I used to kill plants, and have learned a lot of it had to do with plant choice. I used to have moderately hard water, and the species that would thrive there wither in my current very soft water. The ones I couldn't keep do well. My local stores used to sell plants for 'the wrong water'. A conspiracy theory? Maybe, but it made me buy a lot of plants until I figured things out. Once I joined the local aquarium club and saw what people were bringing in to sell, I found plants that thrived in the local water.

Lighting is also an issue we pay for. The lights that come with kits usually don't cut it, unless...

Go with low light, slow growing plants. I have bought several Cryptocorynes as tissue cultures. For the price, I have gotten 3 or 4 'crypts' per pot, and they have done very well. The various Anubias species have done wonderfully in all sorts of water through every move I have made. Java ferns might grow large for your tank, but they too are tough, beautiful plants.

Crypts need to be planted in the sand/gravel and will send out runners. They may lose their leaves after planting, as a shock reaction, but they usually come back. I use root tabs for mine, and I really like them. Anubias and java ferns need to be attached to rocks or wood and can't have their rhizomes buried.

You don't get a tank of the month look with the slow growers, but you can create really beautiful tanks.

 

[anewbie]

You have very hard water - there are some crypts that like hard water so you might try them - this selection from mrs google:
Cryptocoryne usteriana
Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae
Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia
cryptocoryne affinis
cryptocoryne hudoroi

Be aware that cryptocoryne is a huge genus with many species requiring very soft water; also be aware that mrs google is not very smart and frequently makes mistake so always double check what mrs google suggests.


There are other plants that will grow in liquid rock water of course but many plants are only going to find success in very soft water so pick wisely.

The right plants will leave to a very solid growth and the wrong plant will leave to a very mushy mess.

My very soft water plant over 18 or so months

and my harder water aquarium over some period - i don't have a sequence for this rat - but maybe 14 months (started from one itsy bitsy plant - i should take another picture since it has gotten a *lot* worse):

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

The hard water was a huge issue for me, I've tried all sorts of plants too but the one that absolutely thrives in my local water is cryptocoryne. And I have them in all varieties

 

[Magnum Man]

I tried similar, before… I used a specialty short wide mouth canning jar… and put dirt in them, planted the plants, then capped with black gravel… they ( being glass ) pretty much disappeared in the tank, with black substrate…
the plants still suffered the same problems as any plant stuck directly into the substrate…
I still often pot my slow growing anubias, the thought being it would make them easy to remove , and clean algae off… I don’t end up having the time to remove them and clean them, but I could if I wanted to… the pots I currently use, are resin, in natural shapes, like logs, or stumps…

 

[Magnum Man]

a few of my current tank pots… in the 1st picture, the plant is doing well growing for the last year, in the others , the plants have been struggling… the ones struggling have been in rock hard water, the 1st plant is in temperate soft water…

 

[seangee]

1. Choose plants that are rated as easy
2. Buy tissue cultured plants wherever possible - cost a bit more, but worth it. Probably best to buy on-line than your LFS
3. For fast growing stem plants you can trim the tops and replant after a few weeks
4. I'm with @GaryE on the low light, low maintenance. I use TNC Lite at 50% of the recommended rate when I remember. My tanks all have very low light and a lot of surface cover.

If plants don't work in my tanks they get binned, if they do work I let them spread or actively propogate.
I occasionallyused to track progress in this thread

 

[gimme30]

My thoughts?
Don't. You already know how this is going to go. Buy yourself a nice shrimp dinner instead.

 

[BlaiseinLondon]

My thoughts?
Don't. You already know how this is going to go. Buy yourself a nice shrimp dinner instead.

???

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

My thoughts?
Don't. You already know how this is going to go. Buy yourself a nice shrimp dinner instead.

Well you won't get anywhere with that attitude

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have a lot of plant potted rather than inthe substrate. I also have a lot attached to wood or rocks (anubias and ferns). I fertilize the substrate in potted plants. Here are a few examples.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

@CaptainBarnicles

So how many plecos can I send you? I only have L173s left. A very pretty fish that cost anywhere from $125 to $500+ depending on age and size. I started with adults and you could have bought a decent used car for what I paid for them when I finally owned them. They were initially given to me to try to spawn but I did not own them. the deal was I would split any fry with the owner. But I have people who breed more affordable plecos and i would be glad to get some tor you.

When I was setting up my first tank I had a list of rules. Almost all of them did not last.
1. I wanted only fake plants. I ended up with 13 planted tanks at the peak which included one with pressurized CO2.
2. I would never get one of those ugly canister things under a tank. I have had up to three running but and down to two.
3. I would never own any of those fish that sucked onto the glass. i have had over ,1000 over the years.
4. While I did not have any desire to have my fish spawn. I wanted to have them in boith sexes. Most of the plecos in #4 were born in my tanks.

It is very easy to have colorful fish of all sorts in one's tanks. But how many of use keep fish that are black and white only?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

@CaptainBarnicles

So how many plecos can I send you?

Zero!......although I won't say no to the decent used car

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Sorry, I spent the on more plecos. Gotta have those suckie fish as Barbie F. calls them. But don't we all want our fish to stick around?