I need advice about plants please

[Doozie]

Hi guys,

My 46gal tank only has fake plants in at the moment. They look quite good but I would like to change to real ones. Can anyone tell me if this will require a lot of extra care? Will real plants affect the water parameters? Will fish eat or dig them up?

Could anyone give me a pros and cons list for real plants?
thanks

Current stock: 8 x tiger barbs, 5 x torpedo barbs, 1 x bn plec, 1 x gold gourami, 1 x ram, 2 x rainbow fish, 3 x corys.

 

[kzimmerman]

Cons- some extra work, weeding, pruning, ect.
Pros- They help some with water quality, though not much, they are living things, they provide for some maturation of a tank, as things never stay the same.

Some things to think about. What kind of lighting do you have on your tank? The lights that come with most tanks aren't sufficient for much in the way of plants. You could probably grow amazon swords, cryptocorns, java ferns, java moss, and anubius. If you upgrade your lighting to some t-5 HO flourescents, you can grow more. Also, what is the pH and hardness of your water? Most plants like a neutral to acid pH, and a lower hardness.
Planted tanks can be amazing creations, just look at some of the stuff Takashi Amano does. They can be a little more work though. I've never kept barbs in a planted tank, but all the other fish should be compatible. I think I read somewhere that barbs can be rough on some fine leaved plants, so you may want to avoid them.

 

[JakeH]

First off, the one thing you NEED for plants is a timer to plug your light into. You can get a $4 jobbie at wal-mart for now.

Pros- a little help with nitrate/phosphate, more natural environment for fish, another life to care for

Cons- you will want more after you get started... more plants, more light, more growth, etc. Its an addiction just like fish!

Java moss is the easiest & won't require anything extra from you. Amazon swords are a lot harder to grow without upgrading to a big light (I assume you run only standard light). Jave ferns & Anubias are pretty, but grow really slow & don't help much with nitrate/phosphate. I say start with some moss-covered styrofoam balls or coconut husks & let it grow for a while before considering other plants or bigger lights. You can make some pretty wild stuff with moss too: trees, bushes, walls, etc...

 

[Doozie]

Ok thanks for the info

 

[ridehardorgohome]

The only thing I did is get t-5 freshwater bulbs,subtrate,and flourish excel and the rest is lush green plants, I have a about 8 different types in my 46 bow and they look killer,
ps i'm running 2x 39watt t-5's great lights

 

[Sab_Fan]

it has been my experience that plants are very helpful in maintaining water parameters. I have had zero problems with ammonia/nitrite/nitrate in any of my planted tanks, as these are sources of food for the plants themselves

they are more work than fake plants, of course, and they will need proper nutrients and lighting, but for me the pros definitely outweigh the cons

I personally prefer to keep it simple, mainly with cryptocoryne (wendtii), anubias, java fern and swords . . . a good substrate (eco-complete, flourish or something similar) will simplify things, and good T5 or CFL lighting in the 6500K to 10,000K rating are recommended

I don't think they are that much work, but sometimes people over-complicate things. I'd suggest you do some on-line research, start with the most basic setups, and then go from there . . . good luck!

 

[ridehardorgohome]

Best thing is to is keep it SIMPLE as poss(other than arranging them in your tank),I really don't do much to the water other than add prime when doing 25-30% water change once a week or so,I only check ph maybe once a month and it stays around 7.0-7.2 at 78-79',and don't even bother with checking nitrates or ammonia levels, This tank has been up and running for a while now and I have raised everything from peacock bass to guppies and never had a problem,I use black moon sand and it great I love it, It does not have the nutrient that most subtrates have but I think it works just fine and it looks really cool too, Don't worry about using Co2, its just a pain in the @&#,I just use flourish excel twice a week and that's it no other fertz,,One thing that I have noticed is that one of the best filters for a planted tank is a power head with the quick filter on it,It cleaning the water so well and I have used many of filters and its by far the best,the other filter I use is a penguin 170 and Current 39watts x2 t-5 one freshwater plant bulb,set on a timer for 12hr that it,Let me know what you think about the pics???? sorry I took them with my crappy phone