New With Plants. Would Love Some Advice!

[woodstock]

I'm a betta keeper, currently 5 gallon divided. I'm just starting to get interested in actual plants (I only have silk plants), but not all my questions have been answered by googling.
I'm most interested in the ANUBIAS variety. I'm aware of algae issues, I'm planning on getting nerite snails (I hear they're very very dependable with algae).

Please try to answer as much as possible! Bear with me here

1) What is "low light", etc. Is this how long the lights are on?
2) I have two options with lights. Either turn them on at 5PM (I have school, this is when I come home), or turn them on at 8AM? Amount of light seems to affect how they grow. With personal experience (or not), which is preferable? The tank is in a generally very dark room, hardly any direct sunlight. It starts to get very dark at around 5:30PM.
3) What in the world is the difference between Anubias barteri and Anubias barteri var. barteri? (Note, I only went on the Petco website, and saw these were *apparently* two different plants. I've only seen "it's the leaves.").
4) How slow is "slow". Apparenly anubias are quite slow... in terms of inches, or even leaves, how slow is slow?
5) Do I need any soil at ALL? Now, my substrate (gravel) is HARDLY an inch and a half (1.5''). Would this suffice?
6) I'm keeping them with bettas, so is adding CO2 necessary at all? I'd rather not.

7) I will be getting these from Petco. What preparation should be done for them?
8) How far away should they be spaced from on another for "optimum" growth? And is there a limit on how much I can have? Again, it's a 5 gallon.
9) I do use gravel vacuums, and I stick that vacuum way into the gravel. Would this destroy the roots, so I should stray away from them? If it does, how far away should I gravel vac from them? (Ex: 5 inches away from where they are rooted)


Thank you for ALL of your time, even if it's only one question!

 

[Truck]

I'm a betta keeper, currently 5 gallon divided. I'm just starting to get interested in actual plants (I only have silk plants), but not all my questions have been answered by googling.
I'm most interested in the ANUBIAS variety. I'm aware of algae issues, I'm planning on getting nerite snails (I hear they're very very dependable with algae).

Please try to answer as much as possible! Bear with me here

1) What is "low light", etc. Is this how long the lights are on?
2) I have two options with lights. Either turn them on at 5PM (I have school, this is when I come home), or turn them on at 8AM? Amount of light seems to affect how they grow. With personal experience (or not), which is preferable?
3) What in the world is the difference between Anubias barteri and Anubias barteri var. barteri? (Note, I only went on the Petco website, and saw these were *apparently* two different plants. I've only seen "it's the leaves.").
4) How slow is "slow". Apparenly anubias are quite slow... in terms of inches, or even leaves, how slow is slow?
5) Do I need any soil at ALL? Now, my substrate (gravel) is HARDLY an inch and a half (1.5''). Would this suffice?
6) I'm keeping them with bettas, so is adding CO2 necessary at all? I'd rather not.

7) I will be getting these from Petco. What preparation should be done for them?
8) How far away should they be spaced from on another for "optimum" growth? And is there a limit on how much I can have? Again, it's a 5 gallon.
9) I do use gravel vacuums, and I stick that vacuum way into the gravel. Would this destroy the roots, so I should stray away from them? If it does, how far away should I gravel vac from them? (Ex: 5 inches away from where they are rooted)


Thank you for ALL of your time, even if it's only one question!

1.Low light is normally lighting in the <1.5WPG band
2.Can you buy a timer? start off at 6 hours a day and work up to 8
4.Very slow indeed, a couple of CM every few months
5.You don't need any specific soil but it will help.
6.That is depending on light, but I doubt you will
7.Just take the out of the pot, and tie them to wood or rocks, or plant in the substrate but only plant the roots, make sure the rhizome remains uncovered.
8.Personal preference really, but they will grow.
9.Just wave the gravel vac over the substrate to pick up the detritus.

You may also want to look at Cryptocorynes, Microsorum and Echindorus species too.

 

[woodstock]

Very much appreciated. However, I don't understand the first answer, lol... I'll be researching on that though. Now, is fertilization necessary? I was on my way to edit, but you answered.

I'm mainly considering anubias because I can get it readily at the LFS. But I will consider those as well.

 

[Truck]

What light do you have over the tank?

you can work out WPG providing you have standard linear tubes, you do Total number of watts divided by volume in US gallons.

 

[woodstock]

I have an (approximate) 15watt fluorescent compact bulb. Again, 5 gallons.
I forgot to mention, but it's most likely I will be able to get a timer.

 

[woodstock]

Another question, in the case of a rotting / dying leaf, where should I break it off. Should I just *break* it off with my hands? Or use scissors?

... or perhaps, here's another question. Is anubias the type of plant where if a leaf is taken off, it would be able to root itself?

 

[woodstock]

-Sigh- And another question.

Because I have bettas, I keep the filter current low for them. I doubt there is decent circulation in the tank (doesn't seem to have any oxygen issues, though). There is limited surface agitation - only enough to break their bubblenest...and that's not much. Would there be issues with this? I realize that the anubias variety are said to be very easy to take care of, but easiness always has a level.

 

[lljdma06]

2) I have two options with lights. Either turn them on at 5PM (I have school, this is when I come home), or turn them on at 8AM? Amount of light seems to affect how they grow. With personal experience (or not), which is preferable?

With the photoperiod that Truck recommended, turning them on after school might be a safe bet.

3) What in the world is the difference between Anubias barteri and Anubias barteri var. barteri? (Note, I only went on the Petco website, and saw these were *apparently* two different plants. I've only seen "it's the leaves.").

The problem with barteri cultivars is that the leaf size varies in size depending on growing conditions. I had anubias barteri var. barteri that looked like nana because it was grown under low-light, no CO2 conditions. I have also had barteri var nana that looked like petite nana for the same reason.

5) Do I need any soil at ALL? Now, my substrate (gravel) is HARDLY an inch and a half (1.5''). Would this suffice?

No, anubias do not need soil, they are usually attached to wood and rocks. Some people have attached them to the substrate by just their roots, but you have to be extremely careful not to bury the rhizome. I do not recommend substrate placement.

6) I'm keeping them with bettas, so is adding CO2 necessary at all? I'd rather not.

No, it is not necessary and the anubias will grow with the stock lighting.

7) I will be getting these from Petco. What preparation should be done for them?

Remove dead leaves and brown and black growth as they are dead. Inspect the plant for snails' eggs.

Other questions. No, anubias do not work like that. You can't cut a leave and get a plant. H. polysperma does that really well, though. You can, however, cut a part of the rhizome and under correct conditions get a new plant. The lack of current shouldn't be much of a problem.

Have a read of the PARC section. You can setup a very nice planted tank with your 5g.

 

[woodstock]

Thank you very much.

Now, which would you recommend with my lighting? I would prefer the broader-sized leaf. I'm also considering adding some brazilian pennywort in there too.

How would I trim the plants? Cut it close to the stem, right?
EDIT: Ignore, I properly went through the PARC section~

Also, is the rhizome going to be obvious? Not sure what that is. (*ahem* can I trust an employee's word on where the rhizome is? Lol )
EDIT: Ignore also

I've skimmed through the PARC section, but I'll probably go back again for a re-read. Thanks for all info.

For the lighting

I'm not 100% sure what my wattage is, I threw away the box. When I got to walmart, I'll re-check it. However, it should be about 10-15 watts. If I'm thinking straight (I'm a bit sick - if I don't make sense, excuse me please), my WPG should be 2-3? Just want to make sure.

 

[lljdma06]

Thank you very much.

Now, which would you recommend with my lighting? I would prefer the broader-sized leaf. I'm also considering adding some brazilian pennywort in there too.

How would I trim the plants? Cut it close to the stem, right?
EDIT: Ignore, I properly went through the PARC section~

Also, is the rhizome going to be obvious? Not sure what that is. (*ahem* can I trust an employee's word on where the rhizome is? Lol )
EDIT: Ignore also

I've skimmed through the PARC section, but I'll probably go back again for a re-read. Thanks for all info.

For the lighting

I'm not 100% sure what my wattage is, I threw away the box. When I got to walmart, I'll re-check it. However, it should be about 10-15 watts. If I'm thinking straight (I'm a bit sick - if I don't make sense, excuse me please), my WPG should be 2-3? Just want to make sure.

In my experience, the smaller bulbs used for the aquarium kits are not the most efficient light bulbs, so I wouldn't use WPG so much. I had a 2.5g with like 5.2WPG and I treated it like a low-light tank with no CO2. The rhizome looks like a very thick green root. The leaves emerge from this rhizome and the roots emerge from below it. Each rhizome has a terminal point where the new leaves emerge. Eventually a rhizome gets established enough that multiple terminal points can be created and the rhizome can be divided. The pruning section of PARC, I believe has a couple of pictures of anubias.

 

[Aquaspot World]

The rhizome is the thick, fleshy, part where the leave stalk and roots grows out from. The Anubias family belongs to the rhizome group, they are not stem plants. You should find out more about which group plants belong to first, as they have different needs/preferences.

Choose your plants size based on how big your tank is.

Read about:
- Anubias barteri var "nana"
- Anubias barteri var barteri
- Anubias barteri var nana "Petite"

 

[woodstock]

Thank you for the links, I'll refer to them.

 

[woodstock]

On Brazilian Pennywort - how would I prune / trim these? I'm assuming it's a stem plant, however I'm still not entirely sure where to trim these. I don't intend on using it as a floating.

 

[lljdma06]

On Brazilian Pennywort - how would I prune / trim these? I'm assuming it's a stem plant, however I'm still not entirely sure where to trim these. I don't intend on using it as a floating.

Eh, it kind of ends up that way. It is a vine-like stemplant. You can train it to be more contained by weighing down the stems. Or you can train it to wrap around driftwood.

My Hydrocotyle verticillata grows more contained, but it is extremely hardy as well.

 

[woodstock]

Hmm :\ I don't really want it as floating. I'll weigh down the roots then, if somehow. So.. where would I trim it if I attempted to keep it down? (Even if it's floating, I would need to trim it anyways, right?)