are plants high maint?

[CoreyB]

I have no clue when it comes to planted tanks. And when I looked at the sticky here I got even more confused.

Whats with this CO2 injection? dont the fish naturally make CO2?

Id like to get some dwarf gauramis, but I read that they like to have plants in their tank.

 

[hashbaz]

Most plants are high maintenance. They require high amounts of light, fertilizers, pruning, and sometimes CO2. This is not true of all plants. Some, like java fern, require less maintenance than plastic plants.

Yes, fish do give off CO2, but with lots of light, lots of plants and fertilizers the CO2 is absorbed VERY quickly.

 

[youronlysin]

Woopsy...I hitthe report button accidently. I unreported it also, but if anything comes of it, it was an accident!! Great post...I laughed about the Java fern requiring less maintenance than a plastic plant!

I agree about the type of plants determining your maintenance needs...so far, most of my maintenance comes from cleaning up the leaves that my guppies keep knocking off of my Red Ludwigia . I've had to remove my Radican Sword and place it in my growout tank because my Gold Mystery snail ate all the leaves off of it. Now, my tank is only moderately planted with low light requiring plants, so I dont have excessive amounts of work to do to keep it up. I dont fertilize or use CO2 and my lighting is adequate, but not expensive due to the type of plants that I have. I would like to do more, but I am waiting on a light upgrade first..then I'll think about adding CO2. I enjoy keeping up with my tanks and maintaining them...thats all part of the fun for me.

I havent had a fish yet that didnt like to have plants in the tank. I might be wrong, but I believe that when you read that a fish likes a planted tank, its mostly so they have adequate shelter and hiding places. Some fish like the security of lots of plants to hide in. Artificial plants will provide that, and as long as your feeding them properly, I dont see a problem with using artificial plants if you prefer not to have live plants.

 

[penpitt]

Hi Corey. I'll try to answer some of your questions but someone more knowledgable should come along and give you more answers.

You only need co2 injection if you have app. 2.5 wpg or more of lighting. On smaller tanks(under 40 gallon) you can usually do a diy setup. Yes fish create co2 but this normally would not be sufficient in a heavily planted/lightly stocked tank. And of course at night plants give off co2.On my 80 gallon I run 210 watts and I consider myself borderline. I'd probably be better of with co2 but right now i'm doing without.

For lighting you can run anywhere from 1wpg on up. That will determine what type of plants you may keep. Most plants will do fine at 2 to 2.5 wpg unless you have a deep tank or want a few of the high light plants. fw plant bulbs have a temperature scale. Anything in the 5000 to 10000k will work for plants.

Your lighting can also be broken into NO,PC, and VHO. NO is pretty much your standard fluorescent bulb and works fine for smaller tanks. For larger tanks you want VHO (very high output) or PC (power compact) fixtures. These produce more light then the NO bulbs but they allow you to put more light over the tank in the same space. They also cost a little more to purchase.

As far as gouramis liking plants I wouldnt know. I've never kept any.

HTH

 

[tiptoptank]

Here is the deal. Yes, they are high maintainence. I started with some java moss and my love for plants grew into a lovely show tank filled with plants. I spent alot of money to get it right though.

Here is what you'll need.
2 watts pergallon of light. THis usaully starts at 50$ I would suggest looking in a a corallife freshwater powercompact. I have one and it's great.

You will need real good filtration. I run a Fluval 304 24/7 and a whisper 60 at night to lower my co2 levels.

You will need a presurized co2 setup. This means a co2 tank, a regulator, a bubble counter, some co2 proof tubing, and a reactor.

You will need test kits for KH, PH, nitrate, iron, and amonnia.
You will need ferts. first off get a real good subsrate that has iron in it, then dose at least twice a week with liquid ferts. you will need a good iron fert and a good micronuiteren fert.

You will need to do weekly water changes of as least 40%

You also will need a Quarentein tank in case you fish get sick, beacuse you can't dump meds into the plants cause they will die.

If you got any more question don't be afriad to PM me

 

[malkore]

You'll also need a test kit for phosphates, and skip the iron test because they are horridly inaccurate, and most people don't have an iron deficency as long as they dose a small amount of iron every other day.

Plants don't have to be high maintenance. You can have a very nice looking, low light tank full of java ferns, java moss, anubias bartari v. nana, and several cryptocoryne species, like red wenditti. Once you get the hang of it, you can always move on to a higher light setup.

 

[tiptoptank]

Malkore is correct. Many people do low light plant tanks. The only thing with tanks that are not injected with co2 is that they are very prone to algea breakouts.

Thats how I started out and found it easier just to drop the 300$ to get the tank right. I mean all I have to do is add ferts and change the water on Sat. I don't ever have to touch the light or the co2 ever. It turns itself off and on. You can even get a fert doser the drips your ferts in the tank for you.

 

[malkore]

that's not 100% true tiptop.

Algae, like plants, needs sufficient light to grow. Most people who have the 'came with the tank' light don't have algae problems (aside from the typical brown 'algae' diatoms, which aren't really algae, or blue-green algae, which is actually a bacteria).

So a low light planted tank really doesn't have any more algae than a non-planted low-light tank.

Algae, by the way, is always caused by a nutrient imbalance, when there is sufficient light present.

You are, however, correct in that higher light tanks without CO2 injection having nasty algae issues. Under high light, CO2 is used up too quickly, and the plants cannot utilize the nitrate and phosphate present, thereby opening the door for algae to take hold. At 1.5wpg, CO2 starts to benefit the plants, and defintely stunts algae growth. At 3wpg, CO2 injection is pretty much mandatory, unless you like the look of algae and sickly plants.

(BTW, its' the carbon in CO2 that plants need...they split the CO2 molecule during photosynthesis, which is why plants give off O2, and is how carbon supplements like Flourish Excel work)

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

It all depends on the plants you get, how many you get, how much time and money you have to spend and how lucky you are. As hashbaz said, java ferns require almost no maintenance (he says they require less than plastic because their roots grab on to the gravel so you don't have to rebury the roots when you move it). They also don't tend to be nibbled as much (tiger barbs think of most plants as a salad bar). Another cheap, easy, plant is hornwort. It grows fast, doesn't require much light, and is hardy. The disadvantages are that it grows too fast sometimes and makes a big mess if it starts to die. Always remove any dying leaves on any plant.
Sometimes you can find packages of bulbs at petco or walmart. They are pretty cheap and produce beautiful plants. The disadvantage with those are the plants are root feeders so you either need a special substrate or you can pot them. I use some little pots from walmart or a craft store (terra cotta, unpainted) and fill half way with a mixture of peat moss, vermiculite and kitty litter (plain, no chemicals, the cheap stuff). Place the sprouted bulb on top and then fill up to the top of the bulb with gravel. Rinse gently under the tap to get loose peat and vermiculite to wash away.
Keep it simple and you should be able to have a beautiful planted aquarium for not a lot of money.

And this is just an argumentative hyper-technicality but the O2 plants give off actually comes from splitting hydrogens off of water molecules. But it doesn't matter... and no one cares... and I should probably delete it before I submit... but I probably won't.

 

[humpty]

And this is just an argumentative hyper-technicality but the O2 plants give off actually comes from splitting hydrogens off of water molecules. But it doesn't matter... and no one cares... and I should probably delete it before I submit... but I probably won't.

Exactly, in the process of photosynthesis they trap light energy to break down the molecular structure of water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen binds to carbon dioxide and then to oxygen to form glucose, some oxygen is left over and is released back into the water.

I couldn't let all that useless pent up chemistry knowledge go unused!

humpty

 

[frog girl]

I think plants are a good safety net in an aquarium & there are some that are pretty low maintenance. Like any houseplant you occasionally have to remove dead leaves or prune them back if they are taking up too much space (but you don't have to remember to water them). I guess because I'm into biology & I know that basically plants use CO2 and nitrogenous wastes which fish give off and release oxygen which fish need that they are a good balance for each other.

I would definitely reccomend the hornwort for a beginner. It is a floating plant so you don't have to worry about substrate and it will absorb nitrogen peaks which can stress out your fish. You just have to prune it occasionally which involves pinching it off & throwing part of it in your compost or garbage. It also makes good cover for stressed fish if you have any personality conflicts. You don't have to get all into it like some of us are & get a whole new substrate & buy a lot of stuff. You may want to get a higher watt bulb when you change out yours next time. That can result in a little extra algae but remember the algae is just like the hornwort & will eat up fish wastes. Plus with algae you can get some otocinclus catfish which are small & a great clean up crew.

Don't get intimidated by the complexity of it all. Very simply plants & fish complement each other & form a more balanced ecosystem in your aquarium.

 

[CoreyB]

Can someone post pics of hornwort and that moss one?

 

[malkore]

Just look them up here: http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php

 

[black udder]

Thanks for sharing the geek-speak on plants.

It's educational (and entertaining) to read your bantering