Clay pots

[My toddlers tank]

Ok so I have seen clay pots in other aquariums, was wondering if these are safe?
Was also wondering how these will effect our ph if at all?
Our plants will be in tomorrow afternoon so I was thinking about putting the root tabs in the bottom and adding a small amount of sand in the pot as we have gravel and then putting the gravel around the pots so they would be hidden for the most part.

Thoughts experiences are all welcome and appreciated.

I have 2 wisteria and 3 lemon bacopa ordered

 

[nereksnad]

greetings.

recently i added clay pots to my aquarium aswell, while i can't tell if it altered ph because i don't measure that, i can say that it hasn't caused a hazard yet. rather than burrying my pot i carved an entrance in the buttom of it and placed a saucer in the top, creating 2 spaces one for a plant and one at the buttom for catfish.

sincerely,
nereksnad.

 

[My toddlers tank]

Thanks, did you wash them before you put them in the aquarium?

 

[nereksnad]

yes, i washed them in warm water and brushed them off thoroughly, they were quiet dirty.

 

[Rivercats]

Those pots are fine but as stated above do give them a good scrub under hot water. They never altered Ph when I used them.

 

[aqua_chem]

I've used those pots quite a bit in smaller tanks, and I've never had an issue with them affecting the water chemistry.

 

[brennae]

I've always used pots too and never had a problem. They are cheap and the fish seem to like when you use them for caves.

 

[My toddlers tank]

I couldn't get the root tabs and changed my mind on the pots thanks for the info they are put away in case I change my mind.

My wisteria came but not the lemon bacopa my LFS can't get it in. I took the tabs off and spread the plants around the back and sides and added some liquid fert.

 

[Rivercats]

I couldn't get the root tabs and changed my mind on the pots thanks for the info they are put away in case I change my mind.

My wisteria came but not the lemon bacopa my LFS can't get it in. I took the tabs off and spread the plants around the back and sides and added some liquid fert.

That will actually make a nice wall in the back and you'll just have to keep it trimmed so it doesn't take over. Can the store get some crypts? This is just a thought but I studied the picture and if you could move the middle decoration over so it is touching the left DW but put it at an angle off the corner of the DW on the middle tank side. Does that make sense. Anyway that opens up the middle-ish area where you could put a nice group of say three crypts. Plant them a few inches apart in a triange shape the single in the back and two in the front to make a triangle. They then grow in and make one huge plant. Or an amazon sword would work for some time until it out grew the tank. Then if you could find some neat rocks, not huge, but maybe egg size or so I think you'd have a pretty good start. Just some ideas to think about.

 

[My toddlers tank]

Moving the fake decoration in the middle makes sense, we actually have it angled so we can somewhat see in all the holes to spy on the fish, not that they really go in it. The shark we had used it before he jumped to his death.

I was looking at the plants thinking well that is a start and was thinking about getting another bunch from the LFS if she had any left in Monday to fill it in a bit more, hubby says no more until after Christmas.

I will have to look at the crypts to see if I like them, I am kinda picky. I will definitely mule it over for awhile as I want to keep it so the our 2 1/2 year old can see the fish with ease, I am soo worried she is going to act like the "niece" from finding nemo. Lol I already have to watch her because she would feed the fish every time she eats if I would let her.

We had a small group of friends come over tonight and she brought every guest to the aquarium first

Ok rambling one to many green apple martini's, time for water

 

[My toddlers tank]

Ok so I will add it here don't want to start a new thread yet again, the wisteria is indeed growing I was not sure if it was soo I looked at the posted pic and compared it to the tank.

So I am thinking the little brown dots are diatoms. No root tabs so I was wondering in my 20 g do I keep adding 10 mls with each water change or can I reduce the amount to 5 where I am not changing out more than 10 g and is once a week enough to add the "nutrafin plant gro" ?

 

[Rivercats]

The brown dots most likely are diatoms. But actually watch how your tank is doing. If it's doing good on the amount of ferts you giving weekly then don't change them. The plants are using X amount of ferts per week regardless of how much water your changing so if they are doing good on 10ml a week then going down to 5ml a week will short them nutrients they are used to getting.

 

[My toddlers tank]

So is there a thing as too much frets?

I am actually amazed that the plants have grown lol

 

[Rivercats]

Yes you can and it's much easier to do with liquid ferts IMO. But if your doing large WC's weekly and have good light and using liquid carbon or CO2 usually the plants will use up the ferts. In lower light tanks with few plants it's alot easier to over fertilize.

 

[My toddlers tank]

Ok, I have no co2 or carbon and low lights in my 20g but a lamp on the table next to the aquarium. I am not sure what you mean with IMO.

How will I know if I am using too much ferts? I didn't add any tonight as I was changing the water for the Bettas fin. I only changed a quarter of the tank though. I am thinking we should have to take a course and pass in order to keep an aquarium and all the living things happy and balanced.

Lol from what I have learned in the last couple of weeks I shake my head at my previous attempt.


Ok one more question and I have to go to bed so I can put my son on the school bus in the morning, will the wisteria spread in the aquarium the way dandelions do on your lawn or will the pieces I have just grown up?

Thanks

 

[nereksnad]

IMO means 'in my opinion',

you can tell if you are using too much fertilizer by an algae outbreak, and you can tell you are using too little if the plants are showing signs of nutrient deficiency(yellow leaves, bright green leaves, loss of color, holes, roots showing over the gravel, etc)

 

[My toddlers tank]

Thanks nereksnad,

That was very helpful my plants have some bright green leaves so I will add a smidge more ferts, I didn't get all the roots under the gravel in the initial planting, I will move some rocks over them tomorrow night when I do my water change. And keep an eye on them after that.

 

[Kellie]

greetings.

recently i added clay pots to my aquarium aswell, while i can't tell if it altered ph because i don't measure that, i can say that it hasn't caused a hazard yet. rather than burrying my pot i carved an entrance in the buttom of it and placed a saucer in the top, creating 2 spaces one for a plant and one at the buttom for catfish.

sincerely,
nereksnad.

I realize the pots have become off topic to this thread, but I was just wondering if you could post a picture of what you did to the pots? My brain is intrigued but I can't quite picture what you mean.

Thanks!

 

[Rivercats]

A wisteria plant will grow up and out. You won't have a wisteria field in your tank unless you plant one

 

[My toddlers tank]

Lol thanks I will definitely get more once I know the ones I got are healthy. I am happy with them. I have been looking at your aquarium and calisto9's. Between the two of you I have turned green with envy.

I changed the pots and the driftwood last night during the water change, I removed the driftwood to double check it for sharp edges but I think it was the pots so I am going to pull that out tomorrow night during the next pwc and double check. It doesn't look right so I have a thought in my head and I am going to try it and post a pic if it works.