Newbie Question on Plants

[BDomanico]

I am looking to start up a 29 gallon freshwater tank. I am going with the fishless cycling method which will also discipline me in "taking care" of my tank while it cycles. My question is, being new I am not sure I want to get into live plants as well. It seems as though most members use live plants which I know are good for the fish and such. My question is am I wrong or harming the fish by not using live plants?

Thanks

Brian

 

[kimo]

There is "no harm" done if you don't use live plants but a tank will always look more natural with them added. Some species of fish nedd them to reduce stress levels. They don't like to have to swim in the open continously.

If you use live plants, you don't have to even cycle the tank in the normal time-consuming way. A silent cycle. The plants supply some bacteria to get your bed going, they consume most if not all of the ammonia. Done within reason you would be able to add a small number of fish immediately without danger of ammonia poisoning (always test any way). Add more plants if tank shows any ammonia.

Always fit your plants to your lighting... if a low light tank, just use low light plants like Anubias, Java fern, Java moss, some apons, some crypts, Argentine swords.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If you are not comfortable venturing into plants on your first setup, it is perfectly fine not to. There is no harm whatsoever in using fake plants. Maybe after you are done cycling and the tank is a little more established and you are comfortable with fishkeeping, you will venture off into a planted tank. I wouldn't say the majority of members have a planted tank, it may be 50/50. The percentage of first time aquarists having a planted tank is even lower.

 

[haykay]

It took me more than a year and my 6th tanks before I started planting.. It does nothing bad ata ll by having plastics

 

[neilanh]

Planted tanks do require more maintenance, so you need to be sure you want to take on the extra work before you do it. I have both, planted and non-planted tanks, it's all about the look that you hope to achieve with your tank.

To Kimo's response about silent cycling, it requires a pretty heavily planted tank and a lot more than just putting in plants to successfully conduct a silent cycle, so anyone who wants to go that route should do some research before attempting it.

 

[saffikeagan]

I was going to not use real plants, but I spent lots on the fake ones and went: "they still look fake." I have now planted my entire tank just because I couldn't handle the fake ones. Now I'm having to learn about plant care. LOL

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

If your considering live plants, please look at the wattage of the light you have and type. If its a 15w then you may be able to grow mosses, ferns, crypts and maybe a couple others, but not much else. Also these are not going to grow fast, more of a sustaining growth.

 

[BDomanico]

Thanks for all the advice. I went with fake plants for now until my feet are on the ground with this fish stuff! My tank is all setup and I have begun cycling today. I have 2 nice pieces of driftwood soaking for later on. I will post pictures when the driftwood is in.

 

[Tifta]

Maybe a little late for this, but I have two tanks with fake plants and also real plants and everything seems to be fine. I do like watching things grow, that isn't nasty icky algae!