plants without substrate?

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mcmemily

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 6, 2005
162
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Oregon USA
I've tried plants in my malawi tank and they just seem to never survive...but then again I don't know all that much about keeping water plants alive.:nilly:
My tanks don't have substrate, one has sand, the other river rock.

I'm wondering what people would recommend as far as fertilizers, etc. to keep my plants flourishing without substrate.
 
seachem flourish is good
 
What do you mean substrate. As in no Plant substrate or bare bottom?
 
Few things to look at... What types of plants have you had, and what is the pH of the tank? Most plants need substrates. Rocks and sand are both substrates.
 
I mean no plant substrate...one has 7.0ph and river rock, the other 7.8-8.2 ph and crushed coral sand. I'm using flourish now...just wondering if anyone uses other types of fertilizers...especially for the african tank.
 
Well, what kind of plants do you have? I tell everyone to try Anubias for African tanks(any tank for that matter). It is a great plant for African tanks becuase it is supposed to taste bitter to fish (and most African cichlids love to eat plants). And another thing about Anubias is that it does not need to have its roots burried. Same goes for Java fern too, it does well just tied or stuck in between rocks and wood.

As for the ferts, with Anubias, I have found that ferts are not needed as long as your tank is stocked well. Some species have big leaves that tend to grow algea on them when extra nutrients build up. So I just let the fish fertilize them.
 
My plants are great in plain black gravel.
 
I got some hair grass for my central amer. tank. Seem to be doing well. And I took the Java Fern out of my African tank because they never grow, and they were all beat up by the fish. They would pull them up and eat the roots. Always ended up sucked to the filter intake.
I'll have to try some anubias though. I bought some more flourish yesterday.
 
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