Question About Real Plants In The Tank

[Imcanadieneh]

I really like my tank but I think it would look better if I got black gravel and some real plants. Do the plants need dirt or will these plants grow without it?

 

[three-fingers]

Depends which plants you get, some can just grow on rocks and stones like Anubias spp. and Java fern, and some other easy ones like Hygrophyla polysperma, elodea, hornwart and cabomba can get most of thier nutrients from the water.

Others really do much better with a good supply of nutrients through the roots, like Cryptocoryne spp. and sword plants. For these species you can get plant substrates that go under the gravel (and you can also use cheaper non-aquatic ones if your careful), or 'root tabs' which are basically tablets/balls/sticks of nutrients that you push in beside the plants roots and replace regularly.

 

[Goodygumdrops]

If you're after black gravel that you can grow plants in,Caribsea do one called eco-complete.Funnily enough,it's black,and it's enriched with goodies to help your plants grow.I've just invested in a few bags of it for my first planted tank.
You can also buy liquid fertilisers to add to your water,which will give you a level of success even if you just use regular gravel and light.

 

[Underwurlde]

Good nutrient rich substrate (i.e. NOT gravel) = hell of a lot less faffing about.

Period.

 

[newfishy]

plain old gravel is a major pita with live plants.

 

[Gunngee]

Just curious as I am also thinking of using real plants. What happens to the substrate when you do a partial water change/cleaning with the vaccuum tool. Will it suck out the substrate?

 

[Honeythorn]

You will need roughly around 2-3 inches of bottom cover all told, to grow rooted plants. Wether you use sand or gravel.

I've had reasonable success with growing plants in all my tanks by using a 1 cm layer of basic pond soil, topped with 2 and a half inches of sand or gravel.

I don't use root tabs or any fertilisers, and all my plants grow very well under a bog standard single tube and have done for 5 years . No CO2 or anything like that.

In my 30 gal I have Echinodorus, Aponogentons and Crypts . In the 12 gal and 2 5 gals I have cabomba, moss balls and java moss . I don't count the java moss and moss balls though, as they aren't rooted of course.

As for vac-ing the substrate, just don't push the tube right down to the bottom, and you won't suck up any plant substrate or soil you've put in. Just doing the first inch or so is fine to pick up any visible waste.

 

[three-fingers]

Just curious as I am also thinking of using real plants. What happens to the substrate when you do a partial water change/cleaning with the vaccuum tool. Will it suck out the substrate?

Old thread.

However, I simply don't gravel vac the substrate.

If your not heavily dosing any other fertilisers, its generally best to leave the substrate alone, that way dead leaves and fish waste can decompose and replenish the soil when the plants have stripped it of some nutrients.

Obviously you don't want piles of fish poop and plant leaves lying around everywhere, so I personally find things like Malaysian trumpet snails essential to act like earthworms. A good flow rate can help a lot too.

 

[Honeythorn]

Damnnit! I didn't look!

I do let bits of poo collect around the plant bases, but I vac everywhere else. I inherited some MTS with a huge mossball I bought. Since I mixed a bit of gravel into the sand at the front of my 30 gallon ( they don't seem keen on sand ) , they've gone ballistic and multiplied.