stupid questions......

[lilmisstrouble]

Hi, sorry in advance for the stupid questions but i have had a quick scout for the answers and couldnt find them.....

1) When you plant the plants in your tank do you take off the plant pot? What about the cotton wool stuff?

2) is it just liquid fertiliser stuff u put in the tank? can u get it in LFS? will it harm my fish?

As you can tell i am totally new to having a planted tank (have always ahd fake plants) but really want real plants now. Have been reading up and I know i need low light etc ones, and have a number of suggestions to take to my LFS with me, but just need these two questions answered (sorry to sound so dumb!)

thx

 

[zig]

Haha..........i like the name

Yep you take it out of the pot and try and get off as much of the wool as you can without harming the roots, leaving some wool on is ok, and plant it in the gravel or substrate.

Nearly every lfs will have liquid fertiliser for aquariums just follow the instructions. it wont harm your fish.

 

[lilmisstrouble]

thx zig.

xx

 

[Jo and Gra]

what if you dont take them out of the little pots?

 

[zig]

what if you dont take them out of the little pots?

Well i guess like any plant it will eventually become potbound and not grow properly.

 

[superjalami30]

You can leave them in the pots until they establish roots, that is of course if they have no roots, or a poor set of them.
Usually though, potted plants should have a good root system already, unless like my lfs they sell "bunched" plants in pots!!!!
That made me !!

Be mindful thought that if left too long the wool, I've heard, can cause algae trouble.

I've left a few of my pots in for a week or two and havent had a problem.

 

[IMCL85]

yea me too just take them off in like 1-2 weeks and make sure u have enought plant food and lighting too. I put my tank next to my apartment window for healthy 10-14 hours daily sunlight. Plants r very healthy only down side is even it was heavily planted it still have a little algae but as with any other planted tank.

 

[Jo and Gra]

so no biggy leaving them in the pots.....but potential "long term" issues.

 

[abstract]

keep in mind you're also more likely to get some nasty hitchhikers along with the potted plant - the wool doesn't rinse as easily as the plant itself....any eggs, insects, larvae on the wool will borrow deeper into it when you try to rinse and you could end up with snails, etc