Wanting to Plant in Established Tank

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Lozzamogz

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Messages
18
Location
Lincolnshire, UK
Hi all,

I'm after some advice. I have a 120 litre tropical established tank with happy fish inside. I used a gravel substrate and, whilst all my plants are real, they aren't planted so need to be replaced when they die.

I would love to venture down the planted tank route and I was wondering whether there is any way of doing this without having to temporarily relocate the fish. I know the substrate needed to plant can cause havoc to water perametres and so should not be added with fish.

Any advice would be great! Thanks :)
 
Hi all,



I'm after some advice. I have a 120 litre tropical established tank with happy fish inside. I used a gravel substrate and, whilst all my plants are real, they aren't planted so need to be replaced when they die.



I would love to venture down the planted tank route and I was wondering whether there is any way of doing this without having to temporarily relocate the fish. I know the substrate needed to plant can cause havoc to water perametres and so should not be added with fish.



Any advice would be great! Thanks :)


All depends on what plants u want etc.

Will u be injecting co2?
Going high or low tech?
What plants are u looking to grow?

A lot of plants can grow in a normal gravel substrate and plants like anubias and Java fern can be glued or tied to rocks.

All plants will need ferts such as flourish and excel by seachem.

Substrates such as Eco complete or fluval soil are fine to add with fish.

Adding dirt as a substrate will kill your fish.



30g planted, 90g Oscar tank
 
I use little ceramic buttons and the insides of twist ties to hold rhizome plants down, letting their roots go where they will.

1477007331154.jpg

Before Ichi changed to sand, I also used the buttons straight up to hold the plants in place. Most aquatic plants will drop roots, so you can trim off the tops. Put those clippings in a button, and you've got a new plant.

1477007553097.jpg

I started this tank out with a mix of lava rock, pea gravel, and sand. I took out the other two and just have sand now, and I really like how much easier it is to keep the plants in place.

I used the CaribSea Super Naturals, which I like a lot. I made some bad decisions in the process, but I felt like the change was worth it. The critters hung out in a five gallon bucket for maybe an hour. It worked out just fine.
 
I have 1 tank that I grow plants in gravel just fine . I use root tabs and Excel for carbon . Here it is......
 

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