Vallis In A Pot?

[nurglespuss]

Hi all,

I have a 18" deep aquarium with rather strong flow and low-moderate lighting.

My substrate is a thin (1-0.5cm) layer of sand.

I have Java moss in the tank which grows very well! and java fern which is yet to take off.

I would like to include some vallis in the tank, for a bit of height, ive never grown this before and cant seem to find any info on keeping it potted?

My 'idea' is to use a clay pot, drill holes around its edge (so water still flows through), and fill with fine gravel, possibly with a root tab tucked away? - would this work?

if the plant grows, I would wait for it to produce runners and then transplant these into new pots.

Any info/help appreciated!

Thanks!

(temp 23'C/pH 7.2-7.3)

 

[KittyKat]

I've never had problems growing plants in pots, but I also found that it's easier to not drill holes because otherwise the substrate can fall out of them.. but it kinda works if you have something like larger pebbles to line the holes.

 

[nurglespuss]

Thanks

 

[three-fingers]

When I grow things in pot's I just use a tiny amount of regular soil with gravel on top. With vallis you may want to put a few bits of shell/crushed coral in the soil as it prefers more alkaline conditions.

The soil gives the plants a much bigger boost than root-tabs, and has lots of beneficial root-bacteria .

Remember that anything in a pot will have to be re-potted once the growth gets too dense, so make sure you can take the pot out of the tank without destroying all the other plants - I made that mistake last time lol.

 

[TetraUk]

A friend of my fathers had a fish house for many years, until recently retiring...

As his main focus was breeding all his tanks were kept bare bottomed for ease, so all his plants were grown in shallow bonsai pots like this:

 

[nurglespuss]

cool thats a great tip! thanks