Keeping Plants In Pots

[stanster]

Has anyone ever keep a tank where plants are grown/kept in pots rather than substrate.
 
Are there any type of pot/container that are suitable for this ?
 
Are some plants better suited for this too ?
 
Thanks.

 

[Byron]

There are advantages and disadvantages to growing aquarium plants in pots rather than the substrate.  It might be useful to know the background, i.e., why you might be considering pots.
 
Clay pots are suitable; I'm not aware of other types, though they may well exist.  Plants with larger root systems will need very wide pots.  Echinodorus (swords) for instance have very extensive root systems; I have seen the roots from one of these extend well beyond a foot horizontally from the crown, in all directions.  Cryptocoryne can also develop extensive root systems.  There is a real benefit to the substrate and thus the biology of the aquarium from this; plant roots release a lot of oxygen, promoting various types of bacteria throughout the substrate.  There is also obviously the uptake of various nutrients including ammonia/ammonium through the roots.  My general thinking is that plants are best planted in the substrate.
 
Byron.

 

[Akasha72]

personally I always remove my plants from their little plastic pots but I have seen others who just push the pot into the substrate. My Dad had kept fish all my lifetime (it's all his fault!) and he's currently got a 50 litre tank which he's planted up once he lost his plant eating barbs. He decided to keep a cryptocoryne plant he bought in it's pot because the root system had escaped the slots already and he didn't want to damage it trying to remove it from it's pot. He just pushed the pot into the substrate burying it to hide the pot. The crypt has grown and spread out with no problems at all
 
Not sure what help that is but I thought I'd mention it

 

[ShinySideUp]

I kept plants in pots for several years to try to stop the overgrowth of Vallisnaria plants (which kinda worked). I have sand in my aqaurium and it isn't very deep as I don't really need it to be but I found from my old tank that the plants -- Vallisnaria and Amazon Sword -- grew better in gravel; so the pots had gravel in. Suitably disguised by bogwood they were quite unobtrusive but I eventually decided to try them again in the sand. The Vallisnaria is doing well the Amazon Swords, not so much at the moment.
 
I used unglazed clay pots and never had any problems. Of course they don't have to be round, clay pots come in all shapes and sizes these days so it would be easy to make an underwater feature of pot-contained plants.
 
Try it, you can always take them out if it doesn't work or you think it doesn't look good.

 

[stanster]

There are advantages and disadvantages to growing aquarium plants in pots rather than the substrate.  It might be useful to know the background, i.e., why you might be considering pots.
 
 
 
 

 
Just want to be able to move plants around until I settle on an arrangement that I'm happy with, so pots give me an easy way of doing this.

 

[Byron]

 

There are advantages and disadvantages to growing aquarium plants in pots rather than the substrate.  It might be useful to know the background, i.e., why you might be considering pots.
 
 
 
 

 
Just want to be able to move plants around until I settle on an arrangement that I'm happy with, so pots give me an easy way of doing this.
 

 
In this situation, what I have done is simply put the potted plant (in the small plastic pot it often comes in) where I want it (without un-potting it) and it can stay there for a few days to a few weeks.  Once I am certain, I gently pull it out of the substrate, remove the pot and rock wool, and plant the roots in the substrate.  This avoids upsetting the roots too much, which can have a detrimental effect (replanting), though usually minimal.  Some roots do grow through the rock wool and pot, but not disturbing these until you are ready to plant is easy this way.
 
Byron.