Plants in pots for aquarium

[DallasFish]

Hello All -

I've been reading up on planting plants in pots in the aquarium, which is good for me since I've got dojo loaches that love to dig stuff up.

This article discusses planting in terra cotta pots using regular topsoil from a home improvement store, covered with aquarium gravel and rocks.

Has anyone had good (or bad) experiences doing this? I thought I'd ask before I tried it.

 

[jsoong]

I've planted with terracotta pots (unglazed so no chance of toxins leaching) .... use something bigger (3-4" wide) and more shallow than tall or the fish can knock the pot over. <My goldies knocked over 1 1/2" pots & spilled everything even though I weight the pots with river rocks.>

I'd be wary of using plain topsoil as the amount of organics may cause an NH3 spike & algae problem. There is another post on mineralizing the topsoil so it is safe but it is a long involved process. If you are going for just a few pots, I'd use something premade like ecocomplete, Schultz aquasoil, or just plain coarse sand with some root tabs & clay added.

 

[DallasFish]

Thank you jsoong - great tips!

 

[brutus]

i agree with jsoog and also makes easier to move them around if you not like where they are for any reason

 

[DallasFish]

Me too! I planted all the plants in clay pots using eco-complete. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

Thanks again!

 

[brutus]

is alot cheaper to fill little pot with it then whole tank .

 

[DallasFish]

is alot cheaper to fill little pot with it then whole tank .

It certainly is