Questions about live plants in a fresh water tank...?

Question

1. Which types of plants do well in a fresh water community tank (with neon tetras and cory cats)? and 2. Is it necessary to add supplements to a tank that has live plants?

Answer 1

Some plants require supplements, some dont. The fish you have will most likely not eat your plants, so I wouldn't be too worried about that. For just starting out with plants I suggest low light plants. Low light plants grow easily in low light conditions(duh :P), which is how almost all aquariums are set up if you bought your light from a store. Low light plants for the most part grow just fine without adding fertilizers to the water.

Plants that I have grown in low light with no extra ferts are hornwort, elodea, anacharis, java fern, java moss, wisteria, anubias.

Answer 2

It depends on your current setup. ALL plants need light, but some require more intense lighting like Swords. If you use fertilizers and CO2, you will greatly increase the types of plants you can keep. Some of the easiest low light plants are Java Moss, Java Fern, Cryptocorynes (susceptible to Crypt melt, just let them be for a week or two and you will see them grow back), Dwarf Sag, Water Sprite, Tiger Lotus, Anubias sp., Vallisneria, and Elodea. These will all tolerate lighting that comes standard with aquarium kits (but higher light is better). Email me if you have any questions.

Soop Nazi

EDIT: Be VERY wary at the pet store, many stores (Petco, Petsmart, Walmart, and even some local fish stores) may try to sell you terrestrial plants like Bamboo, Mondo Grass, Pine branches, or Plam fronds. All of these will soon rot in an aquarium though, fouling the water.

Answer 3

u need to talk to someone who knows fish. I have a ten gallon tank, and had all of what everyone has said before me, and has not stopped algae at all. I also tried these drops that can stop the algae but that, after awhile does not work. At least what I was using. Too many drops will kill the fish, so be careful. I have yet to find a good way to stop it but would suggest to clean the tank often, at least the glass and the stuff in it. I used bleach for the rocks and ornaments in a bucket with mostly water. In a hour its clean. Just a half cup of bleach with a gallon of water. Rince the rocks good and put them back. Clean the inside of the glass with a sponge that is not dirty. rinse it out. etc. Clean filter often, every few weeks. U should be good to go.

Answer 4

Go to a pet store that sells live aquarium plants. Any that are completely submersed in water are fine. You don't need to add any supplements, just be away that they may deteriorate over time and need to be replaced. Also, some fish like to eat the plants (mollies, algae eaters, some catfish). There are special lights and plant "food" you can add to your tank. Ask the people at the store!

Answer 5

Amazon sword, wisteria, nephytis. There are several that a good fish shop owner or manager could recommend. As far as nutrients, if you want healthy plants, then yes. Otherwise, you will probably need to replace them periodically.

Answer 6

Yes you'll need to get some fertilizer. Also if you have gravel in the tank, it will be harder to keep them alive. I tried it and I couldn't get anything to live very long because gravel just doesn't hold nutrients.

You can google for aquarium plants and a lot of the sites that sell them will tell you how easy or hard they are.
You might also consider a CO2 thing. You can find DIY projects for those online.

For example: http://www.aquariumplants.com

A really easy one and one you can find readily will be cabomba plants.

Good luck!

Answer 7

vist your local forist