Plants and Fishes?

Question

Do you know what plants I should buy for my aquarium?

I was thinking of buying plants from Petco or the aquarium near me

Answer 1

The very most important thing is to be sure that you are getting true aquatic plants. Don't assume just because they are in a tank in the fish section that they are really aquatic plants. Don't expect the employees to know for sure either unless you are shopping in a store that really specializes in plants. I would suggest investing in a decent plant book. Yes, the web is a good source of info on plants, but it's hard to take it to the store with you and look plants up before you buy them. Hope that helps a bit.

MM

Answer 2

As far as I know, it doesn't matter what plants you buy, but I absolutely say real plants. Live plants feed off of the waste from your fish which reduces amonia in the water. There arre many things oyu can do, live rock (even in freshwater tanks) and plants which will help keep PH and amonia, nitrate levels in you tank at a steady level. If you build your tank right, you don't even need to do a 25% water change every two weeks. But you have to know you have the right balance before that. When you're buying plants there are a few things to look into. I don't suggest buying if the plants are in a tank with fish. Plants can carry diseases into tanks. And definalte y not walmart. Get plants that look healthy, no dying leaves. Amazon sword plants are nice, as is lucky bamboo. Hope this helps

Answer 3

As long as your not doing saltwater or brackish and don't have cichlids in the tank then anything will be fine. Some plants are more picky than others.

Here's what I had in my tank to get rid of the extra waists in my tank: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=780

I did buy this from petco and it was cheep. You will need to keep it groomed. Pull it out and put it in a clean bucket of declorinated water and shake it around slightly and this will remove any loose dead pieces. You will see new shoots from these plants and they are usually healthyer looking than the parent plant. Keep them trimmed when they start to look long and they are easy to keep.

Also if you do have cichlids in the tank buy a couple more plant clips while your at the store. Sometimes you can just float these with cichlid tanks. Otherwise you can put them in grouped bunches in the gravel.

Only buy one grouping. You will soon have enough to cover the tank.

Goodluck

Answer 4

You should base your choices on the lighting you have for your tank - unless you plan to upgrade. For live plants, you want 3-5 watts of light per gallon. So if you have a 30 gallon tank, you need at least a 90 watt fixture for low lighting plants, 120w for medium, and 150 for high intensity light plants.

The pH, and use of salt in the tank can also be something for you to consider.

Here's a link with conditions preferred by common aquarium plants, plus a list of ones not to get as MM mentioned: http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-list.html

And one for pictures of the plants - I think Cammy had a site as well: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/cat/info/23204/category.web

Answer 5

I would say u should by fake plastic plants not real ones.If you go into st.Albert theres a place called Paradise pets go in there they have tones of things for pets and fish.

Answer 6

i bought the cheapest plants at petsmart and petco. i bought mine for 1.99

Answer 7

well if you ge them from petco you are going to want to identify them (aquariacentral.com)
cause they often sell terrestrial plants as aquatic

Answer 8

nice robust healthy ones. Ask at the store which are best.
Small leaved ones will get eaten quite quickly.

Answer 9

yeah I bought mine at petsmart for 1.99 each or 1.29 for the small ones