If I say what knowledge I was given about having a planted tank, can anybody please tell me if it was accurate or if there's anything else I should know?
I had a tank years ago with gravel, and bought plants that I didn't even bother removing the cotton wool type stuff around the bottom before putting in the gravel, so the plants didn't grow much. I didn't realise at the time you were supposed to take off the cotton wool. Sounds dumb, but I was young and left most of the fish keeping technology to my ex husband, who also didn't know about plants.
Now years later I'm setting up a new tank, but don't have any fish yet. I like the look of planted tanks I've seen online, and was told that the only way for plants to grow is to use soil type substrate. I wasn't given good advice in a store and was sold the kind of substrate that you put under gravel, so the tank went all muddy. Then was told there's a special kind of soil substrate you don't have to have gravel above, that's like hard balls, which doesn't make the water muddy. Then I was told that you can grow plants in gravel, as plants get their nutrients from the water anyway, as long as you put some aquatic plant food in the tank.
In the end after the muddy tank incident, I didn't try the other substrate and put gravel back in. Bought some plants and took off the cotton wool, but wrapped weights around the plants as they didn't stay in the gravel if just stuck in the gravel. They're still alive a few weeks later. I might try some pots with the soil kind of substrate, put the pots into the gravel, to see if they grow better in plant pots in the tank than in the gravel.
I'm still learning, so if anybody can add any info to what I was previously told, it would be useful, thanks.
I had a tank years ago with gravel, and bought plants that I didn't even bother removing the cotton wool type stuff around the bottom before putting in the gravel, so the plants didn't grow much. I didn't realise at the time you were supposed to take off the cotton wool. Sounds dumb, but I was young and left most of the fish keeping technology to my ex husband, who also didn't know about plants.
Now years later I'm setting up a new tank, but don't have any fish yet. I like the look of planted tanks I've seen online, and was told that the only way for plants to grow is to use soil type substrate. I wasn't given good advice in a store and was sold the kind of substrate that you put under gravel, so the tank went all muddy. Then was told there's a special kind of soil substrate you don't have to have gravel above, that's like hard balls, which doesn't make the water muddy. Then I was told that you can grow plants in gravel, as plants get their nutrients from the water anyway, as long as you put some aquatic plant food in the tank.
In the end after the muddy tank incident, I didn't try the other substrate and put gravel back in. Bought some plants and took off the cotton wool, but wrapped weights around the plants as they didn't stay in the gravel if just stuck in the gravel. They're still alive a few weeks later. I might try some pots with the soil kind of substrate, put the pots into the gravel, to see if they grow better in plant pots in the tank than in the gravel.
I'm still learning, so if anybody can add any info to what I was previously told, it would be useful, thanks.
