can live plants be planted in fish gravel or do they need a special substrate and fertilizers.?

Question

I never had live plants so the more info the better.

Answer 1

I'll agree with the previous two posters to a point. Some types of aquarium plants shouldn't be planted at all, however, but left to float. If you try planting them, any parts below the top of the gravel will just rot and the plant will float up anyway.

Fish are your best fertilizer, but many aquatic plants appreciate a boost of iron, which is low in most aquatic systems. If you do decide to use a fertilizer, try to find one with iron as an ingerdient.

What you'll be able to grow will depend largely on your lighting - as already stated, research your plants to find out wich will be best suited to your conditions before you buy!

Answer 2

Plants are able to live perfectly fine in gravel or sand. But Eco Complete is one of the better plant substrates. Certain plants will need different lighting conditions in order to thrive. As a beginner I would suggest that you start with java fern or anacharis. They are very easy plants to grow, they don't really require any fertilizers or additional lighting. Here is one of the better places for more information growing plants.

Answer 3

Live plants can be planted in any type of aquarium approved substrate. Special substrates and fertilizers are used to aid in growth of plants and in some cases are needed. It greatly depends on what type of plants you are considering of putting in your tank. Low light plants such as java moss can be put in the tank with just plain gravel with no fertilizer/special substrates needed. But as for moderate light+ plants, it gets pretty complex. And from there you have to worry about lighting requirements, CO2, fertilizer and other needs.

The thing about live plants is that you can get hooked. I started with one amazon plant and now my tank is filled with many different plants with a co2 reactor and scheduled doses of fertilizers.

Answer 4

Is this for an aquarium? If so, then your plants will be fine as long as they can be submerged in water. You can always double check where you buy your plants.

If it's not for an aquarium, then it depends on the plant. Some do very well in that medium (philodendrons) but some will die almost immediately.

In either case, it is best to check at the place you are buying the plants.