planted tank?

[laur94x]

So I'm considering changing all of my plants in my 138 litre tank from fake to real and making it quite a heavily planted tank but I have absolutely no idea about it. So I was wondering if people could tell me -
The advantages and disadvantages of real plants
Does it make the tank easier or harder to maintain?
What else would I need to buy other than the plants (plant fertiliser etc or something?)
How difficult is it?
Is my bristlenose pleco likely to eat the plants? She sucks on the fake ones lol.
And basically any other information I'd need to know please.
What are easy but nice looking plants to grow?
I did buy 5 small potted plants when setting up my tank and managed to kill 4 of them within days :s is this actually a good idea? Lol. Help please. Thanks! Laura

 

[bud29]

The advantages of real plants are that they absorb toxins. Fast growing plants can make a tank easier to maintain.

What lighting do you have? That will determine what plants you can keep and whether or not you need fertilizers.

BNP's from my experience will not eat plants.

I think that going planted is a great idea, IMO live plants look better

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Live plants aren't that difficult to grow but just like fish they need to be given the right things to stay healthy. Proper lighting is the first and easiest thing to provide. Not just any light can grow any plant. If you want an easy setup you could go low light but that will mean you'll only want to buy low light plants. The type of gravel isn't as critical but large gravel makes things harder.

Like fish they'll need to be fed. Depending on your tank size you can go two routs, store bought fertilizers or DIY dry ferts ordered online.

What size is your tank and what light dies it have?

The bristlinose pleco is great to have with live plants.

 

[laur94x]

Oh god I don't even know what lights I have! Lol. All I know is its really bright haha, ill go and have a look downstairs and see if I can find out. We only just got the bulbs but I can't remember what they were. My tank is 138 litres - I think that's about 36 gallons however I may be wrong? And I have stuff called crushed coral as gravel I think.
I was never really interested in putting in real plants until I saw some of the planted tanks and they're gorgeous!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Crushed coral is definitely not recommended for planted tanks. Its more for African cichlids. It'll need to be changed for something more plant friendly. It sounds like more trouble than it is, but it's well worth it in the end. What kinds of fish are you keeping in the tank right now?

 

[laur94x]

To be honest I've only got crushed coral in there because my mate bought too much and gave me a bag for free. What is more suitable for plants? At the moment I only have 5 guppies, 2 cories and a bristlenose pleco. I'm going to be making it up to 8 cories soon though and adding some white fin tetra and a pair of german blue rams (the blue rams not yet though) probably

 

[laur94x]

I was thinking I will probably need to change gravel anyway as crushed gravel may not be good for my cories? What would be good for plants and cories?

 

[laur94x]

Okay after reading up on it I definitely need something else on the bottom of my tank for my cories and pleco! Should have researched sooner! I research everything but didn't think the gravel made much difference to be honest :s. Trip to the fish shop tomorrow then!

 

[phin]

i just switched my planted tank to red flourite. It was a pain to rinse and rinse and and rinse and and rinse and and rinse and and rinse and and rinse and and rinse and and rinse and....but I love the way it looks now!

 

[nereksnad]

I was thinking I will probably need to change gravel anyway as crushed gravel may not be good for my cories? What would be good for plants and cories?

i use 2-4mm gravel in my tank, which has sharp edges. i've had corydoras for over a month now, no visible signs of barbel damage. typically you sould experiance that damages corries get to their barbels originate from bad water conditions.

plants don't care really, larger gravel just means more aeriation at the roots, which isn't bad.

 

[laur94x]

See this crushed coral doesn't actually feel sharp at all :s I've washed it out with my hands enough and never got a single tiny scratch, the edges are smooth. Should I still change for the cories?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

See this crushed coral doesn't actually feel sharp at all :s I've washed it out with my hands enough and never got a single tiny scratch, the edges are smooth. Should I still change for the cories?

You should. It isn't about being rough or sharp, it's about buffering the tank. Crushed coral makes the pH high and the water very hard. I use Eco Complete in my planted tanks and I love it. It's black and makes the color of any plant or fish pop. If you prefer white substrates Pool Filter Sand is great and super cheap at a hardware store. Cories will be fine with either choice.

 

[laur94x]

Hi thanks for the advice. I spoke to my friend today and apparently its not crushed coral but he can't remember what it is so god knows :s anyway I went and bought some sand tonight and its currently declouding lol. (The fish are in a spare tank so I'm hopinh it'll settle quickly. I wanna see the cories on the sand I can't decide whether to do a planted tank or not yet. I'm scared ill bugger up my whole tank

 

[CorallineAlgae]

The cories will love sand.

Well, as long as the light can support plants you could always try a couple of really easy ones like anubias or java fern tied with thread to some decoration or a crypt in the sand with a root tab under them. It really is a lot of fun.

 

[laur94x]

Ah now I'm tempted again haha
What do you need to know about my lighting?
And do you know what that plant is that looks like dark green moss type stuff and it grows accross wherever you put it like the floor or an ornament I think? Sorry that probably made no sense lol

 

[CorallineAlgae]

It is moss. You can use flame moss or Christmas moss or any other type you like. I have some of each on order at a local shop for two of my tanks.

 

[laur94x]

Oh great thanks. I love the look of that. How difficult is that to grow?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

It's very easy though algae can grow on any plant. Mosses are among the least difficult plants to keep.