Plants And Snails

[leighann]

i would really like to start putting plants in my aquarium sometime in the near future but im afraid of all the parasites that my fish could get and snails over populating my tank. what should i do to make sure that my fish stay healthy and snails dont over populate?

 

[nicklfire]

Well a great thing to do is to go to a pet store that you know is reputable. You can pretty much look in there tanks and see if they have a problem with snails. All you basically gotta do is check the plants for snails before you stick them in your tank. I dont see much of a problem with parasites coming from plants, you'll risk more from putting new fish in than from plants. Just make sure you are ready for plants... you have proper lighting setup, co2, substrate and fertz. You cant just buy plants and stick them in or they will die. Good luck.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Hygrophilia Polysperma makes an excellent first plant. If you are worried about the possibility of snails, then Hygro is hardy enough to be dipped in a weak bleach solution for a minute or two, killing any potential nasties. Just make sure you rinse the plants thoroughly before planting.

Here is a list of easy plants that Llj has compiled:

Foreground

java moss
Christmas moss
Willow moss
Marsilea quadrifolia
Hemianthus micranthemoides (can grow towards the light or behave and stay a lovely little bush). Mine behave.
Hemianthus callitrichoides (same as HM)
Small cryptocorynes (parva, lutea, lucens, etc)
Anubia petite nana

Midground

Mid-sized crypts (wendtii, others, excellent plant)
Barclaya longifolia (can get big, can also behave)
Nymphaea species (must be taught to behave, otherwise a background plant)
Anubias (barterii, coffeefolia, barterii var nana, others)
Anubia gracilis (does better emersed rather than submerged)
Java fern
Bolbitis heudelotii (when small a midground)

Background plants

Most hygrophile species
rotala rotundifolia
Egeria densa
Egeria najas
Limnophila sessilifolia and indica and aquatica
Hydrocotyle leucocephala (Brazilian pennywort)
Nymphaea species
Amazon swords
Bacopa species
Bolbitis heudlotii (when full grown, a very slow grower)
Alternantera reineckii (striking plant, can do low-light with CO2)
Vallisneria (americana, asiatica, spiralis)
Some Sagittaria species


Dave.

 

[Underwurlde]

May help...

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=167686

Andy

 

[leighann]

wow thanks for all the help could alot of this be found at my local petsmart/co?

 

[Dave Spencer]

Petsmart sounds Americano to me, so I can`t help you there I am afraid. Having said that, I just Googled it and saw pictures of Cabomba and Vallis, so you should be OK with the more mainstream plants.

Dave.

 

[reiverix]

Snail population is based on food supply. If you get overrun then you are feeding too much. I have snails in all my FW tanks and just wish I had more.

 

[fishstick]

Don't worry if you do get snails. I had a big snail problem but got 3 zebra loaches who, after a while, got the idea and cleared my 180 litres of every snail with noisy crunching sounds. I sometimes wish there were some left as the loaches obviously relished them.