"potting" plants?

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redbucket

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Dec 1, 2004
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I'd like to add more plants to my 50g (110watts). Unfortunately I didn't plan on this tank being planted (didn't realize how easy it was to buy a shoplight from home depot and set it up in a DIY hood, thought I would only have the 30watts [!!!!] of lighting that came with the tank). For that reason, I put in gravel instead of sand. How do I put plants in there without changing all my gravel to something more suitable for plant growth? Can I create "pots" for each plant out of tupperwear with sand or the such in there? Any other ideas?
 

Harlock

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Dec 15, 2004
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You could try adding sand to your substrate. If you have a way to remove the fish temporarily, you could always add pre-rinsed sand and mix it with the gravel. Sand would fill in the gaps between the gravel pretty easily. Also, a lot of plants will do just fine in gravel. Many plants take nutrients right out of the water column!
 

geoffgarcia

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Apr 22, 2004
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the difference in normal gravel and "plant special" gravel is minimal at best IME.
Its just another way for marketing/sales people to get into your wallet.

The only reason you might have trouble is if your gravel is large and not very porous.
 

redbucket

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Dec 1, 2004
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Harlock said:
Also, a lot of plants will do just fine in gravel. Many plants take nutrients right out of the water column!
Any suggestions, keeping in mind I have just over 2 w/g?
 

Blinky

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Plants should be fine, as Harlock said they can absorb nutrients through their leaves. I have some Crypts doing really well in plain gravel with some peat underneath (Len's suggestion, seems to be working really well) - you might be able to get some peat (it sometimes comes in a sort of pressed 'cake' that you can cut/break to size) and move some of the gravel aside, place a little peat, and cover it back up. That would help the plants get a head start, but it's not essential.
2WPG is fine for lots of plants - you could try Hygro, water sprite, Java fern, Java moss, some Cryptocorynes... try searching Google for low - moderate light plants and see what you come up with. If in doubt, just post possiblities here and someone can probably tell you if they'll work :)
 
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