What do suggest to help plants be healthy??

[thomasina]

Now that my 10 gal. tank has cycled, I would like to go from fake plants to real. I want to add: water sprite, wisteria, moss ball and a banana tubular thingy plant!! What product do you suggest is the best for keeping your plants healthy! Tank is stocked with a few Endlers, three spepra long fin tetras and a few Glo-danios. And what algae eater is the best for these conditions? Thank ahead of time!

 

[bud29]

A few oto cats would be OK algae eaters for a 10 gallon. With low light plants like that, I'm not sure if you would need any fertilizers, just use your light

 

[My toddlers tank]

I am getting some wisteria and lemon bacopa tomorrow and some root tabs to put under the gravel to keep the plants happy

 

[bud29]

Plants do take care of ammonia and nitrates, I don't think they do anything to nitrItes, though.

Root tabs could benefit the plants, but I am not sure that they are necessary in this situation.

 

[Rivercats]

For a tank that size I would suggest getting 3 nerite snails. They can't reproduce in freshwater so you won't get a population explosion of snails and they eat the biggest variety of algae of any of the algae eaters I know. In fact they are the only algae eater than can eat green spot algae. Plus they won't add anything to the tanks bio-load.

As for plants... even in a low light tank the weekly addition of a small amount of liquid fertilizer would be good after water changes. This way your plants are less likely to have any nutrient deficiency problems.

 

[aqua_chem]

Three serpae tetras is a recipe for a very unpleasant tank. They need a school to not be nippy and aggressive. Also considering the size of the tank, I wouldnt suggest any species of fish as an algae eater. Shrimp and snail would be a better alternative, with red cherry shrimp and Nerites being good options.