Take Plant Out Of Plastic Holder?

[Floyds mum]

When you buy plants and they come in a plastic cup thingy or ceramic one, is it best to take the plant out of the little cup thingy?

 

[mixmaster jay]

yeah i always do it lets the roots grow properly

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I did but they were in sponge and it wasn't very nice...I took them out for aesthetic reasons. Although I wouldn't listen to me as it was my first attempt with real plants in a tank.

 

[mixmaster jay]

yeah that sponge smells lol , becarefull taking the sponge off as the roots grow through it so take it off gently and if the pot is the black plastic one the roots are normally wrapped in rockwool this isn't so bad just carfully tease the rockwool apart and then just wash it off in a jug of water it normally comes right off , sometimes there can be a little left on but don't worry about that too much

 

[Floyds mum]

ok thanx and i assume i just shove them in the gravel? gently of course lol

 

[mixmaster jay]

yep just place them wher you want them

 

[Floyds mum]

Ok many thanx people

Can anyone reccommend any easily available plants that would be good in most smaller aquariums?

Ive got moss balls, java moss on lava rock and bogwood and anubias nana on lava rock and cryptocoryne wendtii, i want easy to care for plants and slow growing ones preferably or slower than cabomba aquatica.

Im wanting to have my guppys to breed eventually and mb mollys to, i know java moss is supposed to be great cover also its easy to care for and fairly slow growing - this is ideally what i want. The pic below is my tank atm but im wanting to get more plants, the huge bit of lava rock in the middle could go to make more room for plants.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Yea the sponge stinks! I think I've just gotten rid of the smell; 2 weeks after getting rid of the plants.

 

[adasca]

When i buy the plants, i allways have this same decision, but iv done both, and i found by keeping them in the pots it worked still great, just cover the gravel over the top. By taking them out, the sponge eventually became un attached to the plant and started floating around the aquarium!!
Not a good sight
However, do what you think will work best, no really problem by doing either just annoying when tht happends ^^^

Adam

 

[Bobtastic]

I've just gone through the planting of my 240litre tank and I removed all the pots and rockwool. Doing this will allow you to split the plants down further, some to individual stems, so that the plants you have will stretch a little furhter.

It also means that you have better control of the planting area as you can put plant closer together and not have to worry about the pot getting in the way.