when can i add live plants into my fishtank?

Question

i have a 55 gallon freshwater fishtank. there is gravel, water, 2 15 watt lights, and a filter. i have already added the aquasafe dechlorinator. it has been up and running forabout three days now. the water is crystal clear and it doesnt smell at all. when is it safe for me to add plants? when can i add fish?

Answer 1

Anytime!!!

Why live plants? Live plants are among the most beautiful and natural aquarium decorations available. They also are natural filters, adding some oxygen and removing fish waste from the aquarium. Those are ample reasons for many aquarists to consider them, but live plants have a charm of their own as well; caring for them and observing their growth, development and reproduction can be just as fascinating and rewarding as fishkeeping. In fact, there are numerous aquarists who keep fish primarily to provide carbon dioxide and fertilizer for their plants!

Here are some practical suggestions for success with aquarium plants:

Choose the right plants. Aquatic plants do not all have the same requirements for survival. Certain lighting, temperature, hardness and pH conditions will allow some plants to survive and thrive while others perish. If you are unwilling to match your aquarium conditions to those required by a demanding species, stick to the varieties that will do well under your conditions. Plants that usually do especially well in Milwaukee water and standard lighting and temperatures include Amazon Swordplants, most Vallisnerias, some Cryptocorynes, Banana Plants, Apongetons, Hygrophila, Water Wisteria, Anacharis (Elodea) and Hornwort.

Plant them carefully. Aquatic plants are much more fragile than their terrestrial cousins. Rough handling can cause damage to leaves, stems and roots. Plant them in two to four inches of fine or medium aquarium gravel. Well-rooted plants like Swords and Vallisnerias should be planted so their "crowns" (where the roots end and the leaves begin) are visible just above the surface of the gravel. Stemmed plants like Anacharis and Hygrophila should simply have an inch or two of stem pushed gently into the gravel. Any rubber bands, lead weights or plastic pots are meant to be temporary and are best removed if the plants have enough roots to hold themselves in place.

Give them enough light. The above-mentioned hardy plants should survive under 10 to 12 hours of light per day from the standard fluorescent light that came with your tank (less than 1 watt/gallon). Many other species may require two, three or more full-length fluorescent bulbs for normal growth. (And no, you can't just leave the light on longer; the plants need the brightness rather than the hours.) Special plant bulbs are a good investment, especially if you can't get as many bulbs on the tank as you'd like. Change the bulbs frequently (every 8 to 12 months) for best results, as fluorescent lights lose much of their intensity and spectrum with age. Finally, keep the light's reflector and the tank's cover clean, so as much light as possible finds its way into the aquarium.

"Feed" them. As plants grow, they absorb many chemical nutrients from the water and gravel bed. Some of these chemicals, for instance nitrogen and phosphorus are usually abundant in fish waste and need not be added separately. Others, especially iron and potassium, need to be added regularly in tanks with lots of well-growing plants. If you're setting up a new aquarium especially for plants, adding laterite clay to the lower layer of gravel is highly recommended as a slow release iron source. In addition, liquid and/or pellet plant nutrients should be added routinely. In thickly planted, well lit aquaria, adding a carbon dioxide generator (either a commercial or do-it-yourself model) is worth considering.

Beware of toxic chemicals. Even many of our common chlorine neutralizers, water conditioners and aquarium salts have adverse effects on some plants, especially if they are dumped in concentrated form right on the plant leaves. More dangerous are many of the fish medications. "Ich" cures containing malachite green and some of the antibiotics seem safe enough, but others can turn plants to mush almost overnight. It's best to move sick fish to another aquarium for treatment rather than treat a planted tank.

Avoid vegetarian fish. Some fish, notably silver dollars, Buenos Aires tetras, severums and tinfoil barbs will devour most plants to the roots in no time at all. Others, like most larger cichlids, will keep plants uprooted and mangled. Bristlenose plecostomus leave most fine leafed plants alone, but demolish the wide leaves of sword plants in particular. Many common community fish, such as mollies, swordtails and tiger barbs may also browse occasionally on plants, but seem to do little damage. Supplementing their diet with a good vegetable food will help satisfy their needs.

Change water often. Plants, like many fish, prefer frequent (once per week) but smaller (20% or less) water changes. As with any water change, make certain the new water is dechlorinated and of a similar temperature to the aquarium.

Watch out for algae. Some algae growth is normal in any aquarium, especially one with extra lighting. This natural amount can be kept in check with the addition of a few algae-eating fish like otocinclus, Siamese algae eaters, stone lappers or certain plecostomus. Rapid algae growth, however, is a warning that something is amiss. Overfeeding of fish is the most common cause of algae blooms, followed by inadequate water changing, too much yellow light, and poor quality plant fertilizers.

Watch out for snails, too. While snails pose little threat to aquatic plants, they can multiply to the thousands in a few months and affect the overall appearance of the tank. Many snails and eggs come into the tank on the plants themselves, and the best defense against them is to inspect all new purchases thoroughly before adding to the tank. A clown loach or two in the aquarium will help polish off any snails you missed, but they key is to address the problem before it gets out of hand.

Read about them. This brief article is by no means all there is to know about the care and maintainence of aquatic plants. Invest in a couple of good plant books, or at least look up the names of any plants you are considering adding.

Answer 2

WRONG DONT ADD THE FISH JUST YET

Wait about 2-4 weeks of your filter on with gravel and decor, so your tank cycles. The ammonia will spike and your fish tank might get cloudy and some fish will die while other fish are a little "tougher".

Also if your water doesnt smell or looks crystal clear that can mean a BAD thing since no organisms live their, try adding a little crushed up fish flakes or feed. Then remove them they will help bacteria grow in your tank.

Please dont be fooled and add fish right now and then the tank gets cloudy and bye bye to the fishes.

Wow i hate when people give wrong answers and it ends up killing some pets.

Answer 3

I would hold off on adding the plants because your lighting is very low for growing them (two 15 watt bulbs/55 gallon tank = 0.55 watts per gallon).

As far as the fish, if you aren't planning on doing a "fishless" cycle, you could add one or two hardy types anythime. But since ther's no bacteria in the tank to process their wastes (including ammonia, which is toxic to fish), you'll need to do more frequent water changes. If you aren't familiar with the term cycling, please see this website for an explanation: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Until you get enough bacteria to convert the ammonia and nitrite to nitrate, you should only add fish a few at a time - 2-3 per week at most, and each time you add a fish, you're going to experience an ammonia spike, followed by a nitrite spike because each additional fish is going to increase the overall amount of ammonia produced. And ammonia is the main reason why fish in new tanks die: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/ammoniapoison.htm

The plants you may eventually get need the end product of this conversion - nitrate - as a "fertilizer", along with phosphate (small amounts in your tap water) to grow.

Answer 4

are your 15 watt lights fluorescent?
do you know the color temperature? if you have fluorescents you should educate yourself on color temps -- you can get fluorescents just for growing plants. you still won't have enough light of high light plants but most easy plants will grow fine.
i would add a couple small fish and lots of plants early. plants help the cyclcing process as they will keep ammoniia from building up (they won't reduce already existing ammonia though) and if you get hungry plants like water sprite or mosses they will make the nitrite part of cycling a breeze.
a couple hardy fish will provide the ammonia and nitrites needed to cycle the tank and in a big tank there won't be enough build up (if you do gravel vacs and water changes weekly) to effect the fish adversly.

check out fishgeek.net for low light plants

Answer 5

You can add the fish & plants 24 hours after the water has been filtered to be safe from chlorine.

Answer 6

I never make it 3 days. :) Sounds like you are good to go to me, add them both but don't forget to let them, yes plants too :) float in the purchase bags for about 15 minutes to adjust to the water temperature of your tank and then just sit back and enjoy.

Answer 7

Goldfish like to nibble and consume flowers. I positioned elodea/anachris in my tank. considering that they nibble them down particularly rapid, I develop those flowers in my back backyard in enormous buckets, and positioned across in small quantities at a time for the fish. I positioned tank water into the buckets from my universal water differences so the flowers get "fertilized". I additionally develop hair algae in a bucket for them. i do no longer relatively difficulty to attempt to maintain stay flowers interior the tank that they won't consume, they'll dig them up with their scavenging besides. The tank is for the good of the fish, so I do what keeps them happy.

Answer 8

Fish can be added in now, but not all at once, to avoid ammonia spikes. So the plants can all be put in now.

Answer 9

you can start adding things already, buy a cheap fish and see how it fairs before investing in expensive ones. daniao's cost about 1.00 and are a good tester fish.

Answer 10

You can add both anytime you want (plants first) I had the same thing and they were all fine.
Hope I could Help!

Answer 11

You can add both the water is cycled enough.