Live plants always get destroyed by fish??

[femmeartist51]

Hi everyone.
I tried posting this under the plant section. The error I get is that I do not have permission to post. So I am going to ask it here.
Do not know why, I put plants in their little buckets in our tank and in a few weeks there is not one leaf left. I think I have very bad fishies in my tank I think they eat them. Last time I put some in my tank, since I heard they do help with nitrates, they where gone. One plant a long stringy kind of one is alive. Anything with a broad leaf is like a salad to my fish. So how can one have a live planted tank, what type of fertilizer is safe to use with the fish? My koi in the pond do the same thing, they redecorate the pond, move plants around all the time. They do not eat them though. Oh, we have small pebbles in our tank, 55 gallon. I want to change to sand, as alot of people mentioned they use sand and it is easier to clean. I wonder how hard that will be to change?? Any good ideas. Thanks Lynda

 

[SnowyzMom]

Lynda, what kinds of fish do you have in the tank? It would help us. Thanks

I can say that the java moss I have in all my tanks (I bought a handful from the lfs for $4 once) is so small leaved that it makes great fish snack food but keeps growing like mad so I don't run out and it's a great fry hiding place and snack bar too.

I just added some new live plants and if they get eaten I'll be coming here for advice too!

One plant that grows underwater, I don't know why...is that "lucky" bamboo they sell in pots in stores. It seems to do just fine stuck in the gravel and fish don't eat it but it's not your typical aquarium plant. My bamboo are striped leaves and are only little accent pieces in the tanks. Once in awhile a leaf starts to rot and I remove it but that is rare and infrequent. As we don't have a huge live plant variety in this town we were stuck with the bamboo til we drove days to a city. Now I've got fancy plants but the bamboo are still just fine.

Sand--buy the 20 kg (40 lb!) Play Sand from Walmart for $5.67. (it's in the kids or gardening section) I got mine on sale for $2.47! I nearly broke myself hauling THAT home, it was wet sand! 40 lbs my aunt fanny!

Anyways put a few scoops in a bucket and rinse it in cool water until the foam disappears entirely and the water runs clear then run off the water...I used aquarium water to finally rinse it off after the tap water, just in case--danged chlorine....anyways, then you can gently add handfuls of sand over the gravel you're using, (if you wish and there's not much gravel and you just cleaned it), or you can remove some gravel first, usually I scoop some up with a fish net...then drop in the sand by handfuls. It settles fast. At least that's what I've done and added natural pebbles on top after and it looks super. I also have tons of sand left over! Sand castles anyone?

 

[femmeartist51]

Lynda, what kinds of fish do you have in the tank? It would help us. Thanks

Hi Snowy...
We have two blood parrots, two jack dempsey, 1 angel (left over from last tank) 1 gourami (whose mate was killed recently) by the channel cat and we have one pleco. Oh lets not forget the small baby oscar. I had to beg for that one. Husband hates oscars. Says you can get then free in Fla.
I have to find that Java moss. My fish will think they are in hog heaven. They will have a snack bar for sure. But maybe it will grow fast enough that it will grow.
Hey I have some lucky bamboo. I am going to put it in the fish tank. Who knows, maybe they don't like the taste. I think I am just supplying them their greens. I have one blood parrot, who will not eat unless I hand feed her. They are sitting there now just staring at me, asking me how come they are not being fed? I cleaned the tank yesterday and they just started attacking my arm. Guess I looked like some good food. I hope you can get your plants to grow. Thanks again, Lynda

 

[SnowyzMom]

You can put cucumber slices into the tank for food. Plecos LOVE them...if you could put it in a lettuce clip--a clip with a suction cup you put down in the tank for them...it would hold the cucumber slice down there. Lettuce helps too. Sounds like they need their veggies. Yeah, some fish like hand feeding. Guess they think they're "all that" eh?

Spirulina flakes, pellets might help too. Peas, squished outof their shells usually go over good too.

 

[femmeartist51]

Hey snowy
Yep, my fish think they are somthing. They think we live and sleep for them. they are so spoiled. Also one looks a little drunk all the time. Guess the blood parrot has been hitting the bottle. She always lists to one side and needs glasses After her problem with ick and then swim bladder she can't seem to see the food, unless I actually put it in her mouth. Or as I said before she is spoiled. Know a good eye doctor for fish B) Well I am really thinking of going the sand route. Think I can get hubby to do the work, yeah right. I guess I can get him to haul the sand. He thinks the pebbles, natural river pebbles are fine. I think adding sand will be kind of neat. Is sand hard to use the syphon cleaner with???
Thanks again, Lynda

 

[smooth_bourbon]

I have a dempsey a pleco and an oscar also. The Oscar attacks any plants I put in the tank, then the pleco eats the scraps. So all I can keep alive is Java Moss, and Java Fern. They takes a beating and keeps on growing. I tied mine down to some of the bogwood which lasted about an hour lol. So I have had very pretty green plants that float around my tank.

 

[femmeartist51]

Sounds like you have some very bad fish also. I was thinking of that moss. I guess if I did I would have green fuzzies around the tank. Snowy said to put in that good luck bamboo. I have some nice bamboo, I just put in there. I hope they don't think I am giving them their buffet again. I wonder how others can have fish and live plants??? I heard that the live plants can keep the nitrates down. I hoped my fish wouldn't be so bad. Take care, Lynda

 

[mux11]

Good luck bamboo !!
Well I was at a grower and they were using buckets of water to grow the stuff in which got me thinking it could easily go in the tank.
Silly me I asked one of the lfs around here and got a response like
"what the hell are you thinking? nobody does that. It will hurt your tank keep it out of there." yup Im quoting!

 

[Bloo]

Hi everyone.
I tried posting this under the plant section. The error I get is that I do not have permission to post.

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Are you sure ? Did you not just need to activate your membership (by clicking on the activation email that would have been sent to you when signing up) ?

 

[femmeartist51]

Hi Bloozoo2

I did do that, clicked on the link to activate and still said I did not have permisson to post. I just figured maybe I needed more posts. I keep trying though.
thanks, Lynda

 

[femmeartist51]

Good luck bamboo !!

Silly me I asked one of the lfs around here and got a response like
"what the hell are you thinking? nobody does that. It will hurt your tank keep it out of there." yup Im quoting!

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Wonder why they said that. Where they serious. I put some lucky bamboo in the tank. Doesn't seem like it would cause a problem. I may just put a new post regarding this issue, before I destroy my tank. I do not see why there would be a problem. Maybe I should take it out before I hurt the tank. Maybe the ifs wanted to sell you expensive tank plants.

thanks Lynda

 

[SnowyzMom]

Quote: Silly me I asked one of  the lfs around here and got a response like
"what the hell are you thinking?  nobody does that.  It will hurt your tank keep it out of there."  yup Im quoting!

Hmmmm. All I can say is ask Snowy Angel about bamboo danger....she put the lucky bamboo in her tanks just for the heck of it, as at one point we couldn't get ANY live plants up here, and that was years ago and she's never had any trouble with ANY fish ever. And bamboo is a grass, no big danger there and it grows in swampy areas. I have some in several tanks and have never had a problem with it. I'm talking those stalks with bare roots you see in little containers of pebbles, the stalks just sprouting. I am NOT saying use bamboo and nothing else...but as an emergency tide over.

I'd love to know what people think bamboo will harm. I know bamboo is supposedly insanely fast growing and all, but not submerged it isn't.

Of course we ALL know LFS's are experts!

 

[femmeartist51]

Hey snowy
Yep they are such experts aren't they. I was a little worried about that issue with bamboo being a danger to the tank. I couldn't see how that could be. It isn't even a poison type plant. In the swamp, well they have all types of fish around the bamboo. Yep that is the type of bamboo I am talking about. Long stems, little bit of leaves and little roots, stuck usually in pebbles or rocks. Well mine are little bit of leaves, LOL. It looks good in the tank, and two are twisted kind of ones and my two blood parrots are running through it chasing each other. The angel kind of just stood there staring at it, looked like it was saying, ok what the heck is this thing in my corner. Remove it or die. My Oscar, he rides the air bubble up from this stupid look aligator, that opens it's mouth gives off a big bubble of airthen the mouth closes again Well for awhile the blood parrot played with it, now the oscar goes above it and waits for the mouth to open and let it's big bubble of air come out. He then rides the bubble up to the top and takes off and goes back down to wait for the bubble. I think I have insane fish here gotta love them
Well thanks for easing my mind about the bamboo. Lynda

 

[SnowyzMom]

The thing about your Angel Fish trying to outstare the Bamboo....

And your Oscar....boy did that ever flash me to the movie Finding Nemo, that yellow fish in the dentist's aquarium..."Bubblesbubblesbubbles! MY bubbles!"

I did just think of ONE thing that might make bamboo bad for a tank...sometimes Bamboo is shipped in with that wax cap on the end of the stem. The wax has to come off and be removed. Otherwise, can't see a problem.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

1) remove the little plastic basket from the roots of your plants, remove the rock wool around the roots and plant the roots directly in the substrate. leaving the bucket on them crowds the roots and prevents the plant from getting enough nutrients.

2) most of the plants you buy in little pots aren't aquatic plants at all--so they drown and then rot when placed in the aquarium.

3) true bamboo is also a terrestrial plant and if fully submerged will eventually drown and then rot in your aquarium. just because it likes a lot of water doesn't mean it should be sunk.

4) oscars, jack dempseys, and blood parrots are all notorious for destroying plants and rearranging tank decor to suit themselves. you also have too many of them for a 55 gallon. i suggest that you discuss alternative stocking arrangements in New World Cichlids.