Plant Questions

[comocrayfish5]

today i went to see the boston aquarium and i was amazed and inspired to add plants to my tank. i think i might put some in my tropical tank that only has livebearers, since all the other tanks have fry of crayfish . so i was thinking of some java and flame moss for starters is that good for fry to hide in when they are born? and some of the flame moss on ebay is on wire mesh; is that ok?are some plants easier to care for than others? can i get the liquid fertilizer (or what ever it is - i have much to learn ) or do i have to get the stuff to mix with the gravel? i just want to ease in to the aqua plant world and not jump into a full out planted tank. how often will i have to clean the tank if there is a good amount of plants in it? i like the look of java ferns too.

can you tell me everything about staring to put plants in an aged tank (10gal)?

thanks in advance for any info!

 

[stu40]

Hi
the quick answer is that Java Fern & mosses are easy plants to start with.
They don't need loads of light, co2 added & you might not need any extra ferts other than the ones provided by your fish, so your gravel will be fine
The Java Fern will need to be tied to some wood, rather than buried (which will kill it off)
I believe moss in a fry tank is a good thing,for various reasons, but i have no experience of that

 

[comocrayfish5]

thanks.


any other info?

 

[envious]

hi
i have java fern in my tank. i have it attached to bogwood and it grows really well. i dont add anything different at all no fertilizers or co2. its also easy to split large plants into several plants.
as for cleaning the tank iv read that heavily planted tanks dont need to be cleaned as often. i normally do 10% water changes every 2 weeks

 

[stu40]

any other info?

Now there's a question.

If you're just going to start out with the previously mentioned plants, then there's no need to change your current regime.
Depends on how much info you want.This is a good read for the basics.This lists some plants & their needs.
You can add Anubias to your easy list of plants

 

[comocrayfish5]

i normally do 10% water changes every 2 weeks

i usually clean my tanks every 2 weeks so that would not change.



so if i start with anything it should be java moss and java ferns? when i clean my tank can i rearrange the plants as i usually do?

 

[envious]

yeh i would deffenetly give java ferns a go if i was you, they are very easy to grow. as for re arranging if its attached to bogwood you can easly move the bogwood around if you wanted and also take cuttings witch you could just attach somewhere else.

 

[comocrayfish5]

and would the moss be a good first time plant too?