My New Plants :)

[fluffycabbage]

I went and bought 8 plants today - what do you think? are there any good/bad points to them, special care etc?
i love them all! i have 2 or 3 more in the nursery tank too. i hope to be to a fully planted tank soon - want to change to a sand substrate first though.

 

[MewMew42]

very nice tank

but I would take teh plants out of the pot so that teh roots can breathe!

and also im sure that the picture 3rd from the bottom is not an aquatic plant [is usually used for goldfish, in case youre wondering why it is sold in an aquatics shop!]

 

[fluffycabbage]

oh im changing from gravel to sand, hopefully tomorrow, so thought i'd 'plant' them then

do you mean the middle picture? the plant with pink edges? can that not live in an aquarium then?

 

[ridewake210]

Should run something a little more plant friendly then just plain sand.
Depending on what your doing as far as plant growth goes, lighting, fertilizing etc..
It may be a better idea to leave a majority of those plants potted.

 

[fluffycabbage]

Should run something a little more plant friendly then just plain sand.
Depending on what your doing as far as plant growth goes, lighting, fertilizing etc..
It may be a better idea to leave a majority of those plants potted.

Oh its very confusing when you hear such conflicting advice! I dont know what to do now!!!

lighting is good (apparently), no fertilizing or co2. So what is more plant friendly than sand then? Coz every planted tank picture i look at seems to have a sand substrate??

 

[BadBadger]

Should run something a little more plant friendly then just plain sand.
Depending on what your doing as far as plant growth goes, lighting, fertilizing etc..
It may be a better idea to leave a majority of those plants potted.

Oh its very confusing when you hear such conflicting advice! I dont know what to do now!!!

lighting is good (apparently), no fertilizing or co2. So what is more plant friendly than sand then? Coz every planted tank picture i look at seems to have a sand substrate??

Dont know too much about planted tanks, but i think most people use a nutrient substarte type thing (like this, http/www.amazon.co.uk/JBL-AquaBasis-plus-2-5L/dp/B002X678G8) and then cover it up with sand

 

[jameshughes1989]

Sand is fine. You dont need a nutrient based substrate, although it helps if you forget to dose.

I think you'll be fine to unpot them and put them in the sand

Why are you not dosing ferts?

 

[fluffycabbage]

Sand is fine. You dont need a nutrient based substrate, although it helps if you forget to dose.

I think you'll be fine to unpot them and put them in the sand

Why are you not dosing ferts?

The guy i bought my nursery tank from has kept fish since a young boy, his dad ran a aquatics store, and his tanks were perfect! He had marine, tropical and cold at his house. I spoke at length with him about all sorts of fish-keeping things. He said he started off putting this that and the other in his tanks, but in the end he just left alone the planted freshwater tanks, and theyve not had anything extra for years! His big freshwater tank in the lounge was immaculate - so he must be doing something right? Surely I'd be a fool to ignore his advice?

If you think im being a fool though, just tell me

 

[Ben M]

hi, firstly, a few of the plants that you have aren't aquatic. the one in the middle of the second picture with the arrowhead shaped leaves is Syngonium podophyllum, which will die and rot quite quickly when submerged, as will the plant in the middle of the third picture (Dracaena sp.). i think some of the others are non aquatic, but i can't see them clearly. the tall fern like plants at the back and the spiky ones at the middle of the back look non aquatic. as said before, sand is fine for plants. you could use a fert such as TPN+, which you can buy from www.aquaessentials.co.uk, which contains all of the micro and macro nutrients needed for the plants.

 

[SlyPolak]

Did you buy the plants at PetCo??
MOST "aquatic" plants they sell arent

 

[fluffycabbage]

hi, firstly, a few of the plants that you have aren't aquatic. the one in the middle of the second picture with the arrowhead shaped leaves is Syngonium podophyllum, which will die and rot quite quickly when submerged, as will the plant in the middle of the third picture (Dracaena sp.). i think some of the others are non aquatic, but i can't see them clearly. the tall fern like plants at the back and the spiky ones at the middle of the back look non aquatic. as said before, sand is fine for plants. you could use a fert such as TPN+, which you can buy from www.aquaessentials.co.uk, which contains all of the micro and macro nutrients needed for the plants.

Did you buy the plants at PetCo??
MOST "aquatic" plants they sell arent

im so annoyed! Why dont they keep aquatic and non-aquatic plants separately? grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! i got them from the japanese koi company, which sells pond and aquatic - you'd think the pond ones would be outside with the ponds wouldnt you?!?! tbh i think its worth complaining about! its not fair on newbies or the fish!!
im might condsider fert but im not sure about it yet.

 

[Ben M]

hi, the non aquatic ones aren't pond plants. some of them are march plants, and some are pot plants. if i where you, i'd get some ferts and choose some easy to keep aquatic plants. (do they actually sell many aquatic plants?) good ones to start with would be vallis, amazon sword, java fern (which must be attached to a rock/wood).

 

[fluffycabbage]

hi, the non aquatic ones aren't pond plants. some of them are march plants, and some are pot plants. if i where you, i'd get some ferts and choose some easy to keep aquatic plants. (do they actually sell many aquatic plants?) good ones to start with would be vallis, amazon sword, java fern (which must be attached to a rock/wood).

havent got a clue if they sell them or not tbh. seems i know nothing about aquatic plants (oh the ones in the back are defo non-aquatic, theyre plastic! )

what are march plants?

ive taken them out of the tank anyway, not risking the water quality.

I think i'll just buy them online now instead

 

[Ben M]

sorry, i meant to type marsh plants.

 

[fluffycabbage]

ooooh so basically stick them both in soil then theyre soooo gonna get a piece of my mind