I have a 1 week old 26 gallon freshwater tank with gravel and several fake plants. Should I add real plants? What are the benefits? When should they be added? What would be some good plants to start with?
Plants
- Thread starter New_Fish_Guy
- Start date
Adding plants to an aquarium, will not improve the quality of your water...And I am sure not an expert on plants... but, there are many benifits... Sometimes, when you get plants that grow enough, you can make cuttings, and therefore, add more to the tank... With fake plants, you can't. Some fish are fond of specific plants, and if around them, makes them feel more secure/happy.
How many watts is your light? As you already know, the more the light, the better the growth...
CO2 is another thing that can make your plants healty... Although they are difficult to make, and expensive. CO2's for the more 'experienced ones'
Good plants to start out with: Anacharis, Hairgrass (foreground), Cabomba, Java Moss, etc... there are very many, suitible for a beginner aquarist.
It's basically up to you, whether or not you want to add live plants to your aquarium. IMO, live plants are way better than fake ones... Not sure why, I'm just more fond of them. Whatever you do, good luck, and keep us updated.
Post this same thread over in Aquatic Plants, you're sure to get more responses.
HTH
How many watts is your light? As you already know, the more the light, the better the growth...
CO2 is another thing that can make your plants healty... Although they are difficult to make, and expensive. CO2's for the more 'experienced ones'
Good plants to start out with: Anacharis, Hairgrass (foreground), Cabomba, Java Moss, etc... there are very many, suitible for a beginner aquarist.
It's basically up to you, whether or not you want to add live plants to your aquarium. IMO, live plants are way better than fake ones... Not sure why, I'm just more fond of them. Whatever you do, good luck, and keep us updated.
Post this same thread over in Aquatic Plants, you're sure to get more responses.
HTH
I'm sure this was just an oversight...but real plants (as long as they're healthy) DO naturally improve the quality of your water.
I've gotten into the habit of only using live plants in my tanks. They look better (imho), and they do help improve water quality.
There are plenty of plants that grow well without C02 injection, and if you are patient, and choose the right plants, you only need to buy one of each plant, and then propagate from clippings, etc. It can be much cheaper than plastic plants.
In addition, there are many fish that are herbivores or omnivoires that can benefit from having plants to munch on. I've also found that livebearer offspring are more likely to live to adulthood if they have dense plants to hide in, and there are many egglayers that like to spawn on specific types of plants.
There are plenty of plants that grow well without C02 injection, and if you are patient, and choose the right plants, you only need to buy one of each plant, and then propagate from clippings, etc. It can be much cheaper than plastic plants.
In addition, there are many fish that are herbivores or omnivoires that can benefit from having plants to munch on. I've also found that livebearer offspring are more likely to live to adulthood if they have dense plants to hide in, and there are many egglayers that like to spawn on specific types of plants.
erp, for some odd reason, I missed your post in the plant section.. I'll answer your question here and move the thread over.
Adding plants is a double edged knife. There are both pros and cons in adding plants, its up to you to decide whether or not the pros outweight the cons or visa versa.
Lets start with the pros:
1.) Plants _do_ indeed improve the quality of your water. They don't make water changes unnessessay, water changes are still important even with plants. However, plants unlike filters will actually absorb ammonia and nitrates as part of their metabolism. Biological filters only convert one thing into the other (ie. ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate) via bacterial metabolism. The product of biological filtration is generally nitrates, while the product of plant filtration is... more plant matter (ie. growth), and oxygen.
2.) It depends on the person, but imho, plants look better than fake plants if you can take care of them properly.
3.) Plants can provide a small alternative food source for your fish. My fish don't actively eat plants, but I do notice them picking at the plants here and there.
4.) You can trade in plant cuttings and such at your LFS to get store credit. I personally give them away to a store here. In return, they give me a nearly permanent store discount =)
The cons:
1.) Slightly more expensive on the startup. In fish only tanks, you can get away with having no lights and no substrate. Plants on the most part need a good amount of light, and some sort of substrate to root themselves in (minus the ones that can anchor themselves to rocks, driftwood, etc.). You can check out home depot or any other home centers for cheap shop lights. Plant substrates (ie. Seachem's fluorite/onyx sand, laterite/gravel mixes, etc.) can be costly. Their not needed, but can help a plant tank greatly.
2.) Slightly more maintenance depending on what kind of setup you go for. More light generally means more maintanence. However, low light means less plant choice... its a fine balance of what you want to do in terms of maintenance. Initially my high light tanks comprised of at least an hour of maintanence once a week.. if not more. But as it settled down and I replaced the fast plants with slower growing ones, my maintenance time has dropped to only 10 minutes more than a fish only tank. Maintenance also includes nutrient dosing, and such (depending on setup type). Again, its not a big deal once you get used to is... no more different than feeding your fish.
3.) Potential for algae and snail outbreaks. There is a real potential here for algae and snail outbreaks... but if you start your tank off right from the beginning, and feed lightly (as you should in fish only tanks as well) you won't get algae outbreaks nor snail outbreaks.
4.) Slightly limiting on fish selections. There are fish that will actively eat your tanks (ie. the common pleco, certain cichlids, etc.). There are fish that plants will not work with (ie. many cichlids, since they like to rearrange things and thus might uproot plants).
IMHO, the pros outweight the cons. If I could, all of my tanks would be planted.
If you can tell us what sort of maintenance you are looking at and how much you are willing to spend, we can advise you at what sorta plant setup you should look into.
HTH
-Richer
Adding plants is a double edged knife. There are both pros and cons in adding plants, its up to you to decide whether or not the pros outweight the cons or visa versa.
Lets start with the pros:
1.) Plants _do_ indeed improve the quality of your water. They don't make water changes unnessessay, water changes are still important even with plants. However, plants unlike filters will actually absorb ammonia and nitrates as part of their metabolism. Biological filters only convert one thing into the other (ie. ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate) via bacterial metabolism. The product of biological filtration is generally nitrates, while the product of plant filtration is... more plant matter (ie. growth), and oxygen.
2.) It depends on the person, but imho, plants look better than fake plants if you can take care of them properly.
3.) Plants can provide a small alternative food source for your fish. My fish don't actively eat plants, but I do notice them picking at the plants here and there.
4.) You can trade in plant cuttings and such at your LFS to get store credit. I personally give them away to a store here. In return, they give me a nearly permanent store discount =)
The cons:
1.) Slightly more expensive on the startup. In fish only tanks, you can get away with having no lights and no substrate. Plants on the most part need a good amount of light, and some sort of substrate to root themselves in (minus the ones that can anchor themselves to rocks, driftwood, etc.). You can check out home depot or any other home centers for cheap shop lights. Plant substrates (ie. Seachem's fluorite/onyx sand, laterite/gravel mixes, etc.) can be costly. Their not needed, but can help a plant tank greatly.
2.) Slightly more maintenance depending on what kind of setup you go for. More light generally means more maintanence. However, low light means less plant choice... its a fine balance of what you want to do in terms of maintenance. Initially my high light tanks comprised of at least an hour of maintanence once a week.. if not more. But as it settled down and I replaced the fast plants with slower growing ones, my maintenance time has dropped to only 10 minutes more than a fish only tank. Maintenance also includes nutrient dosing, and such (depending on setup type). Again, its not a big deal once you get used to is... no more different than feeding your fish.
3.) Potential for algae and snail outbreaks. There is a real potential here for algae and snail outbreaks... but if you start your tank off right from the beginning, and feed lightly (as you should in fish only tanks as well) you won't get algae outbreaks nor snail outbreaks.
4.) Slightly limiting on fish selections. There are fish that will actively eat your tanks (ie. the common pleco, certain cichlids, etc.). There are fish that plants will not work with (ie. many cichlids, since they like to rearrange things and thus might uproot plants).
IMHO, the pros outweight the cons. If I could, all of my tanks would be planted.
If you can tell us what sort of maintenance you are looking at and how much you are willing to spend, we can advise you at what sorta plant setup you should look into.
HTH
-Richer