New 55 gal and plants

[Mykayel]

I'm getting ready to set up a 55 gal and I have a few questions.

First off, I want to do a planted tank. One of the local pet shops I talked to said that they do not suggest them, mainly because of snails. Is there really a good chance that I will get snails if I do live plants? And if I do get them, are they really that big of a problem?

Secondly, she told me that I needed a lighter color rock. I don't understand why the color of hte rock would have anything to do with the plants, but then again what do I know.

Any suggestions or comments are greatly appricated.

 

[OrionGirl]

Yes, there is an excellent chance you will get snails with live plants--without specific measures taken to remove both live and eggs, it's almost assured. However, you can quarantine plants, and use various dips (ie, a dilute bleach dip is effective for most snails, and not harmful to most plants), and snails populations are not a bad thing. The most common snails don't eat plants, but instead graze on detritus and dead plant matter, helping maintain water quality. Nor do snail populations grow uncontrolled in a clean, healthy tank. If snails become too numerous, it indicates something else is wrong in the tank--the snail population is just a symptom.

Substrate for plants is a bit more complex than for just fish. But, you need to decide what kind of planted tank you want before investing heavily in a good planted substrate. If you want 3-4 plants, like some big swords, most any substrate will work, as long as you are willing to fertilize using tabs. If you want a 'jungle', with more plants than fish, it will pay to invest in the appropriate substrate--but color is only relevant in that some needed nutrients tend to influence color. Iron, for example, will result in substrates that are reddish orange.

The more important factor in planting a 55, IMO, will be lighting. 55's are deep tanks, and even a moderately planted tank will need upgraded lighting.

 

[the_dougie]

daveedka wrote a great article all about snails in the article corner -if you're up for a short read you should check it out. i personally have never had a snail problem. they arrise mainly when you overfeed and I'm actually quite cheery about the small amounts of snails roaming around in the tank.

 

[Mykayel]

Well, I don't think I want a jungle but I would definately enjoy a few plants. I've browsed through pictures and the planted tanks just looke better IMHO. This will be my first tank with plants so if its worth the extra effort (and money) up front to put in the proper gravel for plants then I'd rather do it now.

I was just worried about the snails because she made it sound like I should avoid them like the plage.

 

[OrionGirl]

If you think you might want to go with a full blown, heavily planted tank down the line, then yes, it's worth putting in a better substrate from the get go. However--if you think you might just want a few more plants, not the jungle, with care during purchases, many plants will be just fine in a smaller grain gravel. I have one tank with a laterite substrate, and the plants did just as well in my 40 with plain old gravel.

Many people do have problems with snails--because they don't clean the tank often enough, or as well as they should. I currently have 5 FW tanks, 3 with no fish that will eat snails. All of the tanks have some snail population, varying from very rare (heavy predation from fish), to always being able to find one or 2 (this is in a 5, with about 7 dime sized common pond snails). Control the food source, and you control the snail population.

 

[Mykayel]

Thanks for the help. I think I'm going to just go plain gravel.

 

[zazz]

I am all for live plants. Never had a special substrate, never had a problem with snails. Never fertilized for that matter. (At the time I thought the fish wastes would be all the plant would need to stay happy.)

I chose easy to grow plants tolerant of low light. They didnt thrive, i'll admit. but they survived and grew.
In future I will provide more light and learn about fertilizing.
It was explained to me once that when people talk about "planted tanks" they generally mean the 'jungles' OG was talking about. Tanks really designed around the plants. (Not to say they disregard the fish etc.)
But that doesnt mean that anything less has to have no live plants!
Live plants will consume some of the nitrate in your tank. If you use nitrates as a guide for water changes, you might notice that, but don't forget that there are other things to remove with water changes and you shouldnt lessen them just because you have plant.
hope that made sense.