Tropical Fish Forum

Think Fish Tropical Fish Forum => Introductions and hello's => Topic started by: greekgypsy on May 30, 2017, 08:04:23 PM

Title: Plants for beginner with new set up
Post by: greekgypsy on May 30, 2017, 08:04:23 PM
i am new to fish keeping, my tank is 71cm wide x 51cm deep and 65cm high and a new set up with 2 x L5 lights. I have kivu medium river sand as a substrate (hopefully this is ok as i want either corys or chain loach) and a very large piece of bog wood. Please can anyone recommend which plants will be best to start off with. thanks.
Title: Re: Plants for beginner with new set up
Post by: Sue on May 30, 2017, 08:43:47 PM
I don't have much expertise with plants but I do have lots of the kind that grow attached to decor - Java fern, anubias, bolbitis - all of which would go nicely on your large piece of bog wood. I also have water sprite as a floating plant. The water sprite grows very well, I have to throw some in the compost on a regular basis but the other types are quite slow growing.
I'll let other members talk about the kind of plants that are rooted in the substrate as I've never been able to grow them, they always die  :-[

As for the sand, rub a pinch between your finger and thumb. if it feels smooth, it is fine for cories and loaches.

By the way, have you seen how much dwarf chain loaches cost? That might be enough to steer you towards cories.......
Title: Re: Plants for beginner with new set up
Post by: Dominika on May 30, 2017, 08:58:02 PM
The problem with sand or gravel is that they don't have any nutrients the roots of the plants can feed off of. So plants might not really thrive in such substrate.

Personally, I'd go with Sue's advice and go for the plants you can attach on the wood, like anubias, java fern and bucephalandra. They look really good and are very undemanding.

You can also get various types of moss, like java moss, spiky moss or Christmas moss. They can be attached to wood, stones etc, they grow fast and can look really nice.
Title: Re: Plants for beginner with new set up
Post by: Sue on May 30, 2017, 09:06:31 PM
If you look at the first photo in this thread https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/gallery-showcase/sue's-fish-may-2017/ you'll see what can be achieved with plants attached to decor  ;D
Title: Re: Plants for beginner with new set up
Post by: Matt on May 30, 2017, 10:20:31 PM
Another plant that grows attached to wood is bucephalandra.

To grow plants in sand you can use root tabs which I ill provided the nutrients the sand is lacking. This is would mark an you could probably grow most 'easy' plants.

I would also consider getting some Malaysian trumpet snails which will bury into the sand during the daytime and ensure you dont get any stagnant areas which can produce a dangerous gas harmful to your fish. Another way to avoid this is to only have a thin sand layer.

Amazon Sword and other Echinodorus plants will likely grow well as they are very hardy indeed (some have success growing them attached to wood also but I would plant them as they are root feeders primarily).

As well as mosses there are also Marino balls (actually a type of algae) which will pretty much grow anywhere.

These are just quite few very hardy species, take a look at http://tropica.com/en/plants/ (http://tropica.com/en/plants/) for other easy plants.
Title: Re: Plants for beginner with new set up
Post by: Cod_only_knows on May 31, 2017, 08:27:08 AM
Hygrophila polysperma is a plant that is really unfussy when it comes to aquaria. It'll pretty much grow in anything. You could also try Rotala rotundifolia and Hygrophila difformis.

Java ferns, anubias and buces will all grow attached to decor and do well in low light. Java moss is another great option. You can either poke these plants into any nooks and crannies in your setup, or tie them on with cotton or fishing line.

If you want to grow plants that are root feeders, like Amazon sword or cryptocorynes, that generally don't do well in sand or gravel, one solution is to bury a small butter/margarine container filled with aquarium soil in the area you wish to grow the plants.
Title: Re: Plants for beginner with new set up
Post by: fcmf on May 31, 2017, 12:51:08 PM
I find moss balls, anubias and bucephalandra ‘wavy leaf’ the easiest to keep; the former sits on the substrate or can be placed on top of a tiny terracotta pot, while the latter two are attached to redmoor wood. I’ve tried a whole range of other easy/medium-care plants, leaving them in their pots, and all have done reasonably well, especially considering that I don’t put in anything to “help” them. Hygrophila polysperma, echinodorus martii and the red plants alternanthera reineckii/rosaefolia seem to do well. Floating plants seem to be faring much better since I bought a fish feeding square to contain them in – keeps them in one place rather than them getting pushed around the tank and caught behind/around the filter or heater.

I’ve always had difficulty with java moss (never lasts longer than a couple of weeks), vallis, dwarf hairgrass and water sprite (none lasted long on any of the 2-3 occasions when I tried them). Java fern has continued to live in the 10-11 months since I’ve been keeping live plants but never looks as though it’s thriving.

Hope that helps.
Title: Re: Plants for beginner with new set up
Post by: greekgypsy on May 31, 2017, 06:06:22 PM
Thanks to everyone for the info. I looked at some chain loach yesterday and yes, they are expensive in the shops. I may try buying some online or as Sue suggested perhaps i will stick to corys. Pauline