Hi. Need help

[Ahmed dada]

Hello. I'm trying to decide whether to get fake or live plants for my 10gal. I had about 20 live plants b4 and all ended in a disaster. Don't know what to do. My neons prefer live ut it pollutes the tank

 

[Rutrag]

What kind of lighting do you have over the tank? My experience is that if you have a "standard" hood, you're not going to have enough light intensity to keep many plants at all. There are a few you might could get away with. (Java fern comes to mind.)

Also, as a general rule of thumb, do research before you buy any plants at the LFS. It is not at all uncommon to see terrestrial plants sold in aquarium shops and they simply can't live underwater.

Finally, I'd argue that plant's don't pollute the water so long as they're alive. In fact they actually absorb some of the fish waste as fertilizer.

 

[Ahmed dada]

Got an excellent fluorescent light that's on for 5 hours a day. Is it ok

 

[Ahmed dada]

Where can I get java fern. Does look good?

 

[Rutrag]

What wattage? Also, your photoperiod is too short. Try upping the photo period to at least 10 hours. My tanks are all set for 12. If you haven't already, invest in a timer for your lights. You can find them at any hardware store for around $6, so you're not going to break tha bank on that purchase.

You should be able to get java fern at your local aquarium shop. It has broad dark green foliage with a kind of crinkly look to it. It grows best attached to something - driftwood or ornanments - as opposed to in the gravel. it will reproduce by budding off little plantlets on the leaves as well as by sending out runners.

 

[Ahmed dada]

Anywhere I can get it. I live in bury st edmunds uk

 

[Ahmed dada]

I took out all my live plants. They are dying n leaves are in the water. Is it ok that all of them are in pots? I bought them in pots. I don't know the wattage is but its really bright

 

[Ahmed dada]

Aquatic plant pots

 

[Rutrag]

I've never been big on leaving plants in pots. I've always felt like it constricts the plant growth.

 

[Ahmed dada]

I like my fake plants though. They look nice all year around and are always green n look healthy

 

[Ahmed dada]

Is it ok to leave the lights on for 11 hours with neon tetras?

 

[Rutrag]

Won't bother them at all. Just make sure they have some darkness too. A lot of folks use an aquarium as a nightlight and the fish end up with natural daylight followed by the artificial aquarium light with no darkness to offset it.

 

[Retired_AF]

With proper lighting, live plants are the better choice (IMHO). They arent as hard to maintain as many people believe. I am fairly new at live plants myself, but it was so simple once I got the lighting right.

The only advantage plastic plants have is that they are easy to take out and clean.

The live plants will help you keep your tank ammonia and nitrite levels down and will use the fish droppings as fertilizer.


As far as pots, you should take the plants out of them and plant them in the substrate to encourage growth. The pots will only bind the roots.