"Heavily planted tank" - newbie needs help

[myriam]

As you all probably know by now I am obsessed about my livebearers and their (hopefully) future fry

So I keep hearing about how a "heavily planted tank" will help the fry hide. Can anybody explain or post a pic of a heavily planted tank, so I can see what I should be aiming for? I have a 20 GAL and I'm using plastic plants for now, and I have several in there along with a rock/cave thing.

I haven't been that successful at creating a heavily planted area, mostly because those plastic cups(?) at the bottom of the plants are hard to shove into the gravel close together. How exactly would the fry hide in these areas if the other fish are constantly swimming around the plant roots anyways?

Somebody here also mentioned they used marbles to create fry-hiding areas. How is that done, just by creating a pile of marbles in the corner, or around the plant roots?

As you can see, I need some help

[ghoastoflyle]

mostly because those plastic cups(?) at the bottom of the plants are hard to shove into the gravel close together.

Its a good idea to remove the plastic planting pots before putting them
into the gravel. it helps the plants roots extend out and lock into the gravel and get more nutrients i think their mainly on the plants when you buy them to keep the plant from getting damaged. i may be wrong if so some one will correct me. i dont know too much about heavily planted tanks but heres a possibly useful link:
http://www.brainyday.com/jared/aquarium/info.htm

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photop...ry.php?cat=543 The gallery, lots of pics of planted tanks here.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=8935

Planted tank primer, will give you the basics.

[myriam]

Thanks! I have a pregnant molly in a divided section of my tank but the 3 platies in the regular section are all pregnant now, too. So I am going to aim for a heavy planted tank and cross my fingers for the fry.

[wabyrd]

I've got a moderately planted tank and I have no problem keeping the fry alive. I have to make regular deposits at the LFS to get rid of them and keep the tank in balance. I wouldn't fret too much over it because both mollies and platys are like rabbits.

[madasafish]

Yeah, no fretting. Mollies, Platies and guppies will have babies even in the LFS. Your conditions will be a lot better than theirs (I assume).

Two other comments.

1) New-born fry are safest when your planted tank has dense vegetation with small leaves or filaments. The most highly recommended plant for birthing is the Java Moss, as many non-libearers tend to choose it to lay their eggs in, and as livebearer fry tend to hide in it for protection. If you can get any aquarium-safe moss, get it. Your LFS may not stock it. (This isn't imperitive.)

2) If you're really concerned with the safety of the fry, you might want to look into getting a breeder enclosure or a separate tank. I've got an Aqua Nursery from Penn Plax. It isolates the pregnant livebearer. When she gives birth, the fry are gently sucked down a tube by the air pressure caused by an air pump, and into a second compartment, where they are safe. http://www.bigalsonline.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi The picture is a little hard to make out... But the mother stays in the chamber to the left, and the babies move down the tube at the bottom to the chamber at the right.

Choose one or the other option, and return the babies to the tank when you think they're big enough to brave it on their own. If you can't get to her before she has the babies, try syphoning the babies out of the tank gently, and moving them to another, safer tank.

Do you have any fry food? Liquifry or First Bites (Hikari) are what I use, and my fish grew well. Before that I'd been feeding them only algae wafers and crushed flake food. They weren't enjoying it.

Good luck!

[cdawson]

Originally Posted by myriam

As you all probably know by now I am obsessed about my livebearers and their (hopefully) future fry


I haven't been that successful at creating a heavily planted area, mostly because those plastic cups(?) at the bottom of the plants are hard to shove into the gravel close together.

Lol,
dude...you're supposed to remove those. They're just for store purposes. For transporting and quick and easy removal from the stores tank. =)

Well, you are supposed to remove thm, but many folks don't know that. In addition, they are not really for store purposes, they are for grower's purposes. The plastic basket surrounds rockwool (the fibrous stuff). growers use these to grow the plants eficiently, space-wise. They also use them to grow them emmersed (out of water) and/or hydroponically.

We are all here to learn/teach. Even if something seems obvious to you, it may not be to someone else.

Peace,

CC

[Scottw68TN]

he is referring to the plastic bottoms of plastic plants. not the pots for live plants.
his post states:
Can anybody explain or post a pic of a heavily planted tank, so I can see what I should be aiming for? I have a 20 GAL and I'm using plastic plants for now

[Scottw68TN]

Excuse me I mean her post

[myriam]

You guys will think this is really dumb of me, but when I was talking about the plastic cups, I was talking about the ones on the plastic plants Ack.

I read the links about heavily planted tanks and to be honest, was a bit intimidated at the work it needed. So for now, I'm kinda embarassed to say I am going to stay with the plastic plants. Maybe in a year when I've got the fish part totally down pat, I'll venture into live plants! For now I will stick to trying to keep my fish alive and healthy, maintaining a nice clean tank, and trying to have some fry

So I got a bunch of plastic plants and I've created heavily planted areas in 3 corners of my tank, and also got some stones and made little piles around the roots. It looks to me like there are a lot of places for fry to hide, so for now I'm just waiting for the platies to pop!

In my divided area of the tank, my molly is still nice and fat but no fry yet.

I did get Hikari First Bites, and am anxious to have the opportunity to use it!

Thanks for all the GREAT advice everybody!

[possum]

Hey dont be embarrassed i couldnt even keep those bul;bs from walmart alive

[fishfreek]

Dude, I am failing at keeping my 29 gal freshwater tank that I was going to have a planted tank alive with just 2 plants let alone all the great flora everyone else has.

I guess I should stick with the much easier saltwater tanks.

[possum]

And by the way myriam its not dumb of you as you stated in your original post that you had plastic plants. Perhaps ppl should read before poking fun.