Cichlids and Plants

[giggalz]

do you only have rocks and plenty of them..or do you have plants..real or fake? when i did cichlids years ago my aunt (who owns a fish store) suggested not bothering as they will uproot them..i've gotten back into it in the last few weeks..bought real plants..granted probably not cichlid friendly..but they've made a mess out of the plants and eating and uprooting...i dont think it would be such a huge issue if my tank wasnt so tall..that i have to stand on a chair and stick my head in the tank to get to things at the bottom of the tank lol.....

so i guess i'm wondering what others do as far as real or fake plants with their cichlids

 

[DragonFish71]

I have a planted tank for our JDs. They don't uproot anything in there. Of course, it's all up to the individual fish. Our could just be well mannered.

 

[HN1]

What type of cichlids? Africans are almost impossible with plants, but I have seen java ferns work with them. That's about it though.

 

[giggalz]

africans yes..i have a JD in another tank and he's so calm compaired to my other tank..so i can imagine it being fine with jd's lol..i've thought about java's ...i just havent gone to spend the money yet..i've spent entirely to much already lol..

 

[DragonFish71]

Ah, africans.

As HN1 said, they can be terrors with plants. Stranger things have happened though. My friend has africans with javas, anubias, swords and vals.

 

[giggalz]

yeah i knew this..but i had to listen to someone else saying my tank was missing something..like plants...i should have saved myself 40 bucks and got rocks..lol

 

[Gillie]

Anubias, aquatic ferns and Crinum sp. are pretty distasteful to Africans. You could also try other hardy plants by potting them and hiding the pots in the rockwork.

 

[allaboutfish]

i was wondering this too bc im going to get some bolivian rams do they dig up plants?

 

[giggalz]

Anubias, aquatic ferns and Crinum sp. are pretty distasteful to Africans. You could also try other hardy plants by potting them and hiding the pots in the rockwork.

I've got mine in rocks etc and they've managed to loosen that up..I've since moved one plant in another tank and plan to on two more that their constantly eating..but I ordered some Java fern last night and will see how that goes

 

[JulieAnna]

If your tank is tall get yourself a long handle grabber/planter or some tongs.

My daughters Africans didn't terrorize her plants but then again she wedged the plants between her rocks and caves. I use simple tongs in most of my tanks (arm still gets a little wet/I am too cheap to buy the long handle planter).

I have German Blue Rams and they are not bad on my plants. All of tanks are moderatley planted in sand. Even my goldfish don't hurt the plants too much. I do buy anachris every month or so and float it all the tanks (they all nibble on it). But I also feed my fish algae wafers and assorted vegis and fruits.

Good luck- Julie

 

[HN1]

i was wondering this too bc im going to get some bolivian rams do they dig up plants?

Rams are fine with plants.

 

[giggalz]

If your tank is tall get yourself a long handle grabber/planter or some tongs.

My daughters Africans didn't terrorize her plants but then again she wedged the plants between her rocks and caves. I use simple tongs in most of my tanks (arm still gets a little wet/I am too cheap to buy the long handle planter).

I have German Blue Rams and they are not bad on my plants. All of tanks are moderatley planted in sand. Even my goldfish don't hurt the plants too much. I do buy anachris every month or so and float it all the tanks (they all nibble on it). But I also feed my fish algae wafers and assorted vegis and fruits.

Good luck- Julie

i use this scraper its a pretty good size handle well its not a scraper it has a scrubby end and i'll flip it around and use that...with the sand that i have i need my hands if i'm trying to bury something like plants...cause as soon as i move it ..it moves back...i just got done removing 3 of the plants cause they were eating them...i have africans so its common for them to do this..i didnt have plants before when i had them...i just bought java fern i heard cichlids leave it alone..and its easy to grow so we'll see...