live plants in my fish tank?

Question

I have a ten gallon freshwater tank and was wondering if there were any live plants I could put in it? Obviously something that grows in or underwater and something preferably from a natural fresh water habitat?

Answer 1

Real plants are ok but you need to know what you are getting into. Go to your nearest pet fish store who specializes in fish. They usually have plenty of types of water plants. Places like PetSmart, Pet Paradise, etc. The big box stores usually have a great quantity of plants to choose from, as well as good advice.

Oh by the way, one disadvantage of water plants - they can introduce disease/parasites and snails. A good box of salt from the pet shop will do the trick. Follow the instructions, add so much salt to so much water, dip the plant and that usually kills the buggers.

1. The gravel should be a certain size and depth for the roots to grow.

2. Some plants grow insidiously and need constant pruning.

3. They will need some fertilizer to get them started. After they settle in, the fish feces should do the job. Just make
sure you feed them everytime you vacuum the bottom of the tank.

4. Plants do better with flourescent lights than incadescent ones. You can get great flourescents with the right radience quality for plants. If you have the incasdescent one, you can also get a bulb which is painted blue to give off the right rays. I've forgotten the technical terms!

5. If you have aggressive fish, good luck. For example, big fish will pull them out, cichlids will rearrange them. and some fish just love to eat them to death. If you have small gentle tropical fish - great.

6. Plants are a good way to oxygenate the water. However, you need to get rid of dead leaves or stems - the rotting action will take up precious oxygen and expel carbine dioxide into the water. Deadly for your fish.

7. You can buy special little pots for your water plants which have their own fertilizer and soil in it, as well as something heavy to get the pot to stay in the water (preferably surrounded by gravel).

8. With about five minutes a week to look after the plants, you should have a really nice tank. Very relaxing to watch fish swim between or behind the greenery.

Good luck.

Answer 2

There would be several choices, but what you could use will depend somewhat on your tank lighting. Some plants need more intense lighting than others. You'll also need to consider the fish you keep, as some fish like to eat or uproot plants. Some also have preferences/tolerances for pH and salt, so some may not be suited to your water chemistry. Here are a link to some info about the conditions for some of th more common plants: http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-list.html

Anubias, banana plants, java fern, and java moss will do well in most aquaria, so I'd suggest starting with one of these. I'd also recommend keeping the plants in a large jar where they'll get bright, but indirect lighting for about a week before you add them to your tank - this may prevent an unintentional snail infestation!

Answer 3

It really depends on the type of plant. You should do some research to see if you can match it up to any photos of live, underwater plants. There is also the possibility the plant is in the wrong type of water or around the wrong type of fish. What type of fish is in the tank, or are there any fish? The tank may be too hot or too cold for that specific plant, or if there are fish, they could have been eating/beating on it. There are some supplements you can find for underwater plants as well, if you want to pay the money.

Answer 4

Elodea (Anacharis canadensis, native to freshwater habitats in the united states), Java fern and java moss , are some of the best plants around! They don't require nutrient full substrate (as they get all there nutrients from the water), plentifull light or highly specific water conditions (although elodea can't be put under highly alkaline environments, the other two can! they can even be put with african cichlids!!!)

I have had all these plants and find them some of the easiest to grow, the elodea took over my tank, and my Java fern's growing baby java ferns off it's leaves.

Just remember not to overfilter, as that would starve the poor plants :). You may also want to add some "in water" fertaliser if you want your plants to reproduce rapidly.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

Many local fish stores (as well as the big chain stores like petsmart) sell live plants for freshwater tanks. As aquascaping being one of my specialities, i would recommend getting low light plants as a beginner. Do not just buy a plant just because it will look good in your tank because there are many plants that require certain conditions (light intensity, fertilizers, co2, etc.). I would recommend getting plants like java ferns, java moss, anubias and wisteria as i have had great results at even VERY low light levels and no proper fertilizers or maintenance for it. Try not to get plants directly from nature because you wouldn't know what organisms hitched a ride on it or disease-causing bacteria present.

Answer 6

Plants make fishtank to look much better and more natural. You should buy from fish-shops special tropical water-plants. There are a lot of varieties, what to buy depends on your tank size.

Answer 7

i've used various houseplants over the years. surprisingly, they fair just as well or better than actual freshwater plants. The fish will nibble on whatever grows in there. try it.

Answer 8

it should be better with some aquatic plants in the tank of yours. just to add some colour to the view. furthermore, is provides a more balanced ecosystem in the tank.

Answer 9

I have a 10g with Amazon Sword doing pretty well. Try Foster & Smith for some good examples.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pCatId=768&ref=3392&subref=AJ