Aquarium Plant Question

[jasonG75]

What does playsand do that's different from his/her gravel? I don't think there's any "nutritional" value in playsand, lol.

Not a thing, it just looks better. Of course that's JMO

 

[jasonG75]

But almost all plants need fertilizer

Not true.

Read it CAREFULLY there Weed.... I didnt say ALL I said ALMOST ALL.

 

[jasonG75]

All Im saying is, in my experience, using only tap water and fish food and fish waste leads to deficiencies.

Though you may not need to add the quantities that a fully blown high tech planted tank needs, tap and fish waste/food does not contain all necessary nutrients for optimal plant growth. The more plant mass you have the faster they strip nutrients out of the water column.

OP stated they wanted a planted tank. Not a fish tank with a few plants. Anything with more than a few plants will need ferts. Starting off on the right foot will lead to a higher level of success in the long run. Besides, ferts are cheap and take all of a minute to add to the aquarium.

:iagree:


I have over 15 plants maybe a little more, one in particular takes up the entire left corner of my tank (Water Spite). I dose ones a week with micro and macro nutrients and ever other week with something else (forgot the name) The only thing that didnt take off was my mircosword. So I yanked it out lastnight. Now I am on an adventure trying to find some ground cover again.

 

[Star_Rider]

All Im saying is, in my experience, using only tap water and fish food and fish waste leads to deficiencies.

Though you may not need to add the quantities that a fully blown high tech planted tank needs, tap and fish waste/food does not contain all necessary nutrients for optimal plant growth. The more plant mass you have the faster they strip nutrients out of the water column.

OP stated they wanted a planted tank. Not a fish tank with a few plants. Anything with more than a few plants will need ferts. Starting off on the right foot will lead to a higher level of success in the long run. Besides, ferts are cheap and take all of a minute to add to the aquarium.

I'm glad you added IME caveat

actually the OP asked if there were plants that could be added that didn't need any special substrate or CO2 , low light etc..etc.

in actuality there are several that in a tank with plants and low light..will do quite well.
anubias, java ferns, and crypts can do well in a low maint tank with no ferts , low light and no CO2(added)

again tho is it important to determine if fish will be a part of this set up ..as they will need some source of ammonia/food.

 

[swinneyw]

get some hornwort and float it my planted aquarium always had a alge problem until i added horn wort now i have very little alge and the plants that are below are doing better don't plant the horn wort if you do the part thats in the gravel will turn brown

 

[user_name]

java moss is the bomb. The shipment I got last week has tripled in size!!!

 

[jpappy789]

I'm glad you added IME caveat

actually the OP asked if there were plants that could be added that didn't need any special substrate or CO2 , low light etc..etc.

in actuality there are several that in a tank with plants and low light..will do quite well.
anubias, java ferns, and crypts can do well in a low maint tank with no ferts , low light and no CO2(added)

again tho is it important to determine if fish will be a part of this set up ..as they will need some source of ammonia/food.

Agreed.

The OP said they want easy plants and IME I've kept all the above mentioned plants without adding anything on a regular basis. Some seachem comp and excel here and there and I only had .67 wpg of standard T12 lighting. Slow growth but it was easy to maintain and still looked 10 times better than plastic plants.

 

[fishycat]

Java moss, java fern - no ferts needed.
Anubias - may develop pinholes, if so weekly or bimonthly dose of flourish comprehensive.

Marimo balls also do need anything, but may not be considered "plants" to some.

I agree if you have some fish waste + weekly or bimonthly water changes (tap water quality will affect also) these plants should work for what you are looking for.

 

[ErikBirk]

as everyone has already mentioned. java ferns dont require a lot of work. my brother has one in his tank that is just the stock incandescent and nothing else. its just planted in regular gravel and has been growing very tall and green. it honeslty seems to be doing better than the one in my tank which is planted to a piece of driftwood, receives regular fertilzer, c02 and about 2wpg. go figure. i must just suck at plants lol.

dwarf sag has actually been growing very well for me and is turning into a ground cover -- better ground cover than my microsword lol.

 

[DavidZ]

nice post, also look at your PH, plus the water temp, some plants stated above do not do well at high temps.
What about weekly WTCs???