What are your personal goals w/Planted tanks?

[plantbrain]

What are your personal goal/s with planted tanks?

Regards,
Tom Barr

[mogurnda]

Big question. For the moment, the goal is to get all of the plants thriving and manage algae effectively. Ultimately, I want the one heavily planted tank to be an impressive little garden like I see in the books.

I feel like I'm getting there, but slowly. Many of the plants are growing like weeds, the aquascaping is starting to look less random, and I have defeated all the algae except some cyano. I'm trying to bring the macronutrients up (NO3 still not up to 5, PO4 still below 1), and have added a CO2 tank to keep levels more constant.

Life is simpler in the Tanganyikan tank, with low light, anubias and java fern. Looks pretty, and requires no extra work or thought.

[superjohnny]

I'm trying to throw my money away as fast as possible and a planted tank is great for that.

[OrionGirl]

For the three 'in the works' tanks:

40: New substrate, get rid of the UGF, expand into planted plants, in addition to the anubias, bolbitis and crypts. Goal is to a plant tank with a few fish, concentrating on the dwarf puffers (whiz bang if they'll breed!) and bristlenose (ditto, though this is a matter of providing a suitable cave for the bugger).

55: Fish tank with plants. Everything is recently planted, so I'm going to let it fill in and see how it looks before making any drastic changes. I'd love it if the java moss would take hold and cover the rock pile--previous efforts with java moss have proven futile--someone was eating it, I think.

55: Brackish tank, currently in conversion. If I can get the java ferns to take hold and be happy, I'll be thrilled.

[Andy16]

Start one:D

[GulfCstAquarian]

I finally feel that I've beaten algae into submission and the majority of my plants are growing prolifically. So right now I'm just in an experimental phase. My goal is to try and grow more challenging plants that I've had trouble with in the past (Hottonia palustris, Rotala wallichii, Diplidis diandra). The aquascape is a bit untame, though.

[anonapersona]

1 - To have breathtakingly beautiful tanks

2 - To manage these tanks easily, with moderate time for maintenance

3 - To have healthy fish

4 - To accumulate and share knowledge

[750t]

My major goal is to win over the algea. I am doing this very slowly. Then to be able to aquascape. This I think I have no talent for.I enjoy the work this tank requires but it can be frustrating also. Tim

[djlen]

For the future the goals are very similar to anonapersona's.

For now.........balance..........

At this immediate moment.....to bleed the friggin' air out of my filstar XP2 so that I can relax for just...........one..........moment!!!

Len

[RTR]

My goals are, on the positive side, to have attractive, low maintenence, healthy and secure homes for my fish and inverts.

On the negative side, the things I avoid are anything requiring frequent maintenance beyond weekly water changes and mechanical filter rinses - no routine prunings and replantings for me, no frequent dosing (especially after required testing), and the biggie - no Dutch style plantings. I don't do borders in the garden or routine florist's flower arrangements, so why should I want the same look in my fish tanks which happen to be planted?

[Tom.E]

To feed the bugs. :eek:



Tom

[carpguy]

I'd like to think my goals are similar to anonapersona's, but Superjohnny's post has a certain ring of truth to it. :rolleyes:

To provide a comfortable natural setting for the fish.
To wrestle with a consequenceless problem. For some reason this seems relaxing.
To be competent at a chosen craft, to be able to assemble a graceful system. After I get the plants thriving and the algae at bay, I'd like to square up against the aquascaping (approaching this stage).
To learn.


(Thats in no particular order).

And I think the give and take of the forums is invaluable, especially with regards to the last two.

[Booswalia]

To understand chemistry and the nutrient balance in my tank enough to troubleshoot my own catastrophes.

[CHINABOY1021]

make my tank look natural and nice

even though i got co2 line running, nutrious ferts, pearling plants. not even close to nature.

[Matak]

Originally posted by Booswalia
To understand chemistry and the nutrient balance in my tank enough to troubleshoot my own catastrophes. That's #1. #2 is to create a multi-teired, Amano-like aquascape with a groundcover type plant, a medium-large outcrop of granite and several medium-small filler plants of two species. Thank you Tom, I needed to write that down to consolidate my ideas. :)

[plantbrain]

Focused goals and setting out on a plan to achieve them is a good idea.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[punch]

I would like my plants to grow well, and have the tank looks like a nice little garden. keep algea down and have a fun, comfortable beuitifuk place for me and my fish to enjoy.

[SnakeIce]

I just like plants and I always seem to forget to water my house plants so keeping plants in the aquarium solves that problem.:D

I like my fish but plants has always been my want as far back as when I could only look at my dad's plastic plant ornamented tank. And that was a while that I could only do that as I had to move out on my own to be able to have my own tanks

[anonapersona]

Originally posted by anonapersona
1 - To have breathtakingly beautiful tanks

2 - To manage these tanks easily, with moderate time for maintenance

3 - To have healthy fish

4 - To accumulate and share knowledge

One more to add -- to be able to garden without getting mosquito bites!

[mogurnda]

to be able to garden without getting mosquito bites Don't forget the poison ivy. I want to go back to AZ, where the only hazards were cactus spines and rattlesnakes.

I really hope to create a tank that looks better and more natural than my yard. If I can't make a 12"X24" area look great, what hope have I got in a whole yard?

[Sumpin'fishy]

Originally posted by anonapersona
1 - To have breathtakingly beautiful tanks

2 - To manage these tanks easily, with moderate time for maintenance

3 - To have healthy fish

4 - To accumulate and share knowledge

This is definately a big part of it, but I'd also like to add some of my additional reasons. I don't want to sound preachy, but want to answer the question you asked honestly.

I have found that I have been learning quite a bit of patience from dealing with plants, and to my dismay, algae. I enjoy personal growth in this kind of way. It can be frustrating when you seem to solve one problem, only to start another, or have another spring up. In learning about this symbiotic balance between plants, fish, water, ferts, light, etc. I have learned quite a bit about my relationship with Jesus. Being a Christian, I like to find real-life (or practical) views of how I should be operating.

For instance, think of how we (the CREATORS of our aquatic environments) do everything we can to set all aspects of the tank together to work out to the best advantage of the tank inhabitants, while still pleasing ourselves with it's design! How many times do we provide "good" things for our fish, only to watch them react "poorly". I know that right now I'm going through great pains to get one of my fish to eat regularly. I've had him over a month now, and he only sporadically eats anything! I have added more than 10 different types of food to the aquarium in an attempt to get him to "do what's right", but he just isn't responding to my attempts to help him! I know that in his eyes, I'm probably bothering him (or not doing things his way!)....get the idea of the spiritual lessons?

I also get to see how seemingly small, insignificant things can completely alter an environment.......sometimes over a great deal of time, sometimes immediately! It's awesome to me how involved you can get into this hobby, including chemistry, artistic abilities, anatomy, disease treatment, a plethora of knowledge about fish and plants, and much more. To think I used to think that aquariums were boring!:rolleyes:

I also just enjoy the challenge, which is something that is sometimes hard to admit. If it were too easy, I would have already quit and moved on to something else! This is much more challenging than first impressions give.

My goals are summed up with personal, spiritual, and intellectual growth, overcoming new/different challenges, and the four that Anonapersona named. I also enjoy the ability to sit back and enjoy creation!

[Andy16]

I like the way you put the sumpin fishy. You could be my religion teacher, you talk about stuff i can actually relate with. ( and im really serious)

[jdwyz]

the satisfaction one gets from friends,guests saying thats the prettiest fish tank ive ever seen.this lets me know that my goals for an eye catcher have been accomplished

also i enjoy the challenge of balancing everything to the point of being like a well oiled machine.ive had alot of algae headaches and without the help all the people on the boards im sure one of my favorite pastimes would have been giving up on.

planted tanks just have a beauty that really makes a house a cool home to be in.id have all my walls and probably most other rooms filled with planted tanks if my wife would let me:D

[plantbrain]

Plants have had a very spiritual effect on my life.
All one has to do is stand beneath a rather large Redwood, see a kelp forest from 50ft down underwater, take a quite hike in the deep forest up to a mountain peak or snorkel/scuba down the Ichetucknee river.

It was blasphemy to add PO4 to one's tank in the past for fear of the vile hell wrath of algae. Brother Steve brought forth his exorcisim Hach and Lamott test kits upon my sinful tanks only to find the light. We had lost our way and not focus upon thy plants. God had punished us with algae. We added PO4 and the plants were fruitful and this was good. :)

I've asked this question a number of times and a number of folks have gone either spiritual or philosophical on me. So it can even save your soul as some personal opinions state.

Keep the personal goals with a planted tank coming.
Your vision of what you want is a key.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[TwoTankAmin]

I do plants for several reasons:

- Bio-filtration.
- Create fish friendly environment.
- Create cover for fry.
- I like the way they look.
- Its fun to do them.

I do not want amano type tanks. I do not mind some algae. I rarely test. I have tanks at 1 wpg and one at 3wpg w/ pressurized co2 and in between. I am the antithesis of TomB, though I respect that approach, it is just not for me.

I have had clown loaches actually transplant a crypt which is still thriving many months later.

I love sending a box of my excess plants and cuttings to somebody new to plants.

[TomFromStLouis]

Beauty.

Peace.

Health.