Live plants?

Bobho

Bobho

AC Members
Feb 15, 2010
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Seattle, WA
I'm patiently waiting for my tank to cycle though it's like watching grass grow.

In the meantime I'm researching the numbers and types of fish I'll eventually get, and see "heavily planted" in many articles.

Do plastic plants count? Is it for the live nutrients and nitrate removing qualities of live plants or only for their presence as something for the fish to hide behind?

I figure I'm having enough troubles with a fishless tank, getting it cycled, that I'll be practically in overload when I actually get some fish in there. The thought of worrying about fish AND live plants at the start is too much.

BTW, when/if I get brave enough down the road to try live plants, does the light that comes with a new aquarium (I got a 26 gal Aqueon bow front) have the UV or whatever it takes for live plants?

Thanks.
 
live plants are not hard at all. the light will probably not be enough.

how are you cycling? why are you having problems cycling?

hevily planted tanks just means a lot of plants. you dont need to have a planted tank, but many people like it, plants can be very calming and make the tank look more natural. it does help the water quality a little to have plants, but they are mostly for show. if you want to see some great plants, go to the photo forum, there are many great photos, and many great great tanks!

the nice thing about fishkeeping is you can control how hard or how simple you want your tank to be. live plants arnt that hard to take care of, so i would highly recommend them!

good luck!!!
 
Thanks for the info on plants!

My cycling is only in it's third week, I'm using shrimp as an ammonia source. Since I wasn't able to seed my tank this is a lengthy process. I'm still in the ammonia going up stage, am looking forward to nitrites - which will mean I'm on the right track.
 
Live plants are better for the reason of they can suck up nitrate and make the water I guess chemically cleaner. And they give off oxygen. But It's not going to be a make or break difference. You can heavily plastic plant your tank and get the same safety effect to your fish. This helps keep fish happy as they like to hide in plants and stuff. When I decided what to do I figured the money I spent on a better light would outweight the fact that I can get small plants that will grow huge. You ever price out a realistic looking huge plastic plant, they ain't cheap. Plus live plants are softer. I just prefer live and like others have said it really isn't hard, some stuff needs to be trimmed every once in a while but other then that no biggy.
 
-live plants aid in cycling a tank
-they give off fresh oxygen for the fish
-they use-up the fish wastes as fertilizer to keep the water quality cleaner and healthier

their benefits are much more than something for the fish to hide in and the appearance. there are many low-light plants that will grow great for beginners & even reproduce plentifully; try floating plants like hornwort or mosses and ferns like java moss and java fern and they'll make such a huge difference in your overall tank experience!
 
I'm new to plants also. I just made sure to use a plant substrate like flourite have a decent light and plants that can handle lower light. it's been 3-4 weeks and the tank is still cycling but the plants seem to be growing in now. I haven't really had to "do" anything but plant them.
 
I'm pretty convinced now that live plants are the way to go.

So, is it okay to plant them in my tank with my shrimp still in there and the ammonia so high (it's around 4 now). Will the ammonia kill the plants and/or is the shrimp still necessary or will the plants finish the cycle without the shrimp? (I'm guessing I still need the shrimp to keep on giving out ammonia.)

I'll check out my fish store and ask them about low lights for plants. I'm assuming that means not real bright lights but still UV?

Sorry for so many questions, but obviously I don't know what I'm doing and am concerned about having a good environment for fish.

Thank you!
 
No expert here but it has been my experience that live plants are the way to go. I have a great looking tank with hardly any problems since I went planted, even when I just had a few swords in there. Since then I got a low light package for my tank (55 g) from a member here and it was a fantastic buy at a great price and the plants were awesome. Look in the classifieds and I am sure you can do the same. Good luck!
 
UV is useless for planted tanks, what you want to look for if you go with a low light planted tanks ia a fixture in the 1 to 2 watt per gallon range. the bulbs them selves should be within 6,500K (kelvin) to 10,000K.
 
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