I have a 55 gallon tank with 2 black tetras, 3 platies a guppy, a pecostimos and a chinese algae eater. I am wondering how much gravel rocks should be in the bottom of the tank. I have just enough to barely cover the bottom right now, it makes cleaning very easy. I also was wondering what kind of live plant can I have in there? What is the easiest to care for? Is it a pain to have live plants in the tank? I know they are good for some fish but cleaning a 55 gallon tank can be time consuming with one siphon hose and buckets. I don't want to add more problems. I would love for my fishy to have something real in there if it will help them and not be a BIG hassle.
2007-04-25 03:58:05 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
Given your current set up I would suggest some Java moss or a few floating plants. Either could do well with limited gravel and limited lighting. Water lettuce, riccia or figbit would be good choices for floating plants.
MM
2007-04-25 06:38:49 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The thing about live plants is that most of them need about equal care as your fish. You might not experience it now, but when you start buying live plants just for looks and not knowing their requirements they might start dying off in your tank. You can buy low light plants which seem to have no specific needs and can basically be maintenance free (no fertilizers or lots of light intensity for that matter). Java moss, java ferns (all the diff species) and java moss are the plants i know that can thrive in very low light conditions (i have them in my arowana tank where all the equipment in there is standard).
I also had a 55 gallon that i changed to a planted tank. I ended up putting a shoplight on top next to the standard strip light (112 watts total, about 2 watts per gallon), made my own co2 reactor (for plant photosynthesis) and been doing routine fertilizer doses every other day (to keep the leaves green and spot free.
Just do some research if you find a plant that looks nice. There are data pages for all aquatic plants, even on ebay.
2007-04-25 05:36:00 · answer #2 · answered by flipnotik 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
FOr gravel I would suggest 1-2'' of it.
2007-04-29 02:00:34 · answer #3 · answered by Chris 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋