Seperate Plant Tank?

[Valyrian]

In fish stores I see that they have tank where they only have plants. Is it possible to grow plants in just water and substrate and nothing else or is there something more? The reason I'm asking is that I want some nice plants in my tank but I have gouramis that keep eating my plants and just putting in more and more new plants to replace the ones that get eaten seems like a bad idea, not to mention costly, so I want my plants to get a chance to really grow. Any advice on this?

 

[guppygirl]

I would suppose it's an option, but if you've ever had an empty planted tank waiting for fish, as I have at times, they're a little boring. It's not like the plants move much! And there's plenty of other fish that won't eat plants.
If you're really having trouble, move the gouramis somewhere and pursue planting, it's very rewarding when your plants turn flourescent pink like *cough* kenneth kpe's tank *cough*
Anyways, I hope this helps!

 

[Torrean]

there are plants that your gourami's will not eat. Not sure off the top of my head what they are. I have elodea densa, hardy apongeton, in a tank with a blue three-spot and a gold gourami, They ate the elodea for a while but now they leave it alone. The spongeton doesn't get touched. You can have a planted tank with no fish but I would suggest using fertilizer and a good substrate, can't think of the name for some reason, someone on here will surely know though.

 

[George Farmer]

Fish and fish food/waste provide essential nutrients for the plants. As mentioned with no fish you will probably need to add fertilisers although you might get away with just water changes if your water is hard and contains nitrates and phosphates. Fish also provide (small amounts of) CO2 which is a major nutrient but you can add this easily with DIY - one bonus is that you could add it in massive doses without fear of harming your fish.

Ideal substrates include gravel and laterite, Seachem Flourite, Caribsea Eco-Complete and a few others. Diana Walstad (low-tech set-up and plant expert) uses a layer of soil topped with gravel with good results.