Beginner Plant Guide?

[Whitelightning]

Hi, I have a 5 gallon tank for a betta and am wondering how to care for live plants (I don't have any yet). Where do I start? How do I care for live plants? What do I need? How do you put them in the tank? Is there anything else I should know? Thanks!

 

[Chanyi]

Usually your setup determines what species of plants you can keep.

Lighting type, water parameters, substrate and maintenance schedule are all factors in what types of plant you can likely get to thrive.

What type of lighting do you have?
What is the KH and GH of your water?
What is your maintenance schedule like?

You'll need some fertilizer and some plants. I would suggest an all in one such as Thrive.

I usually rinse mine under room temp tapwater to get rid of most dead material / snails / algae etc. You can often treat plants with a bath in water + H2O2, or Water + Seachem Excel, or water + Fenbendazole to kill any hitchhikers. From there, trim the plants and put them in the tank.

For more quality information, check out

 

[Whitelightning]

How do you plant plants in an aquarium? If I were to get some live plants I'd have no idea what to do. Thanks!

 

[ChrissFishes01]

It depends on the plant!

For some, like Amazon Swords or Cryptocorynes, you just bury the roots and maybe 1/2" of the bottom of the plant itself. From there, I usually put a root tab right under the plant, and leave it alone.

For stuff like Anubias and most ferns, they have a Rhizome - a little fleshy bulb that the leaves grow out of. If you bury the rhizome under a substrate, the plant will die. So, you can either superglue it to a decoration, rock, or piece of wood, or you can get plant weights to sink them to the bottom to give them the appearance of being planted. You can also just wedge them into places and hope that they stay there long enough to attach themselves.

 

[Whitelightning]

Sorry I'm posting so many questions. I just have a lot of questions about plants since I've never cared for them before, plan to get some at some point, and would have no idea what I'm doing. Anyways, I'm wondering if once you plant plants, can you later move them, or are they stuck in the spot you decided to plant them in? Thanks!

 

[Passionfish]

Sorry I'm posting so many questions. I just have a lot of questions about plants since I've never cared for them before, plan to get some at some point, and would have no idea what I'm doing. Anyways, I'm wondering if once you plant plants, can you later move them, or are they stuck in the spot you decided to plant them in? Thanks!

Depends on what kind of plant, and depends how long you've planted them for.
If you give specifics, I could help you some more about what type of plant you are trying to move.

 

[Whitelightning]

Depends on what kind of plant, and depends how long you've planted them for.
If you give specifics, I could help you some more about what type of plant you are trying to move.

Thank you so much for your feedback! I was actually just wondering in case I were to get plants if they'd be permanently "stuck" in the spot where you placed them or if you could move them if you needed to. Just wondering how careful I need to be when deciding where to place them because if I can't move them once they are placed, then I really need to be careful!

 

[StarGirl]

You can move them later on. They will take a pause in growing for a bit but you can.

 

[Passionfish]

Thank you so much for your feedback! I was actually just wondering in case I were to get plants if they'd be permanently "stuck" in the spot where you placed them or if you could move them if you needed to. Just wondering how careful I need to be when deciding where to place them because if I can't move them once they are placed, then I really need to be careful!

Ok. Well a general rule of thumb is if it has been in the tank for less than a month, then you can move it, after that, I wouldn't. You can't let the plant get established if you want to move it after you plant it. If you keep moving a plant, it will stop growing, because it doesn't have enough time to start anchoring itself. A bit too much moving will make the plant melt. If you want to move it, move it quickly after seeing it planted. I would just leave it alone after one moving.

 

[Fisch]

I would be carefull as it depends. My established Amazon is giant, I would not dare to move it unless half of the substrate in the tank is supposed to move. Crypts are known to be allergic to moving, so most likely not such a good idea. Otherwise, if everything is still small, some roots may break, and plants may struggle a bit, but should take hold again.

 

[Whitelightning]

Ok. Well a general rule of thumb is if it has been in the tank for less than a month, then you can move it, after that, I wouldn't. You can't let the plant get established if you want to move it after you plant it. If you keep moving a plant, it will stop growing, because it doesn't have enough time to start anchoring itself. A bit too much moving will make the plant melt. If you want to move it, move it quickly after seeing it planted. I would just leave it alone after one moving.

Oh boy, it'll melt? I'll keep this all in mind when I eventually get my plants, thank you!

I would be carefull as it depends. My established Amazon is giant, I would not dare to move it unless half of the substrate in the tank is supposed to move. Crypts are known to be allergic to moving, so most likely not such a good idea. Otherwise, if everything is still small, some roots may break, and plants may struggle a bit, but should take hold again.

Wow, that's interesting that they are allergic to moving! I'll keep all this in mind when I get my plants, thank you!

 

[StarGirl]

I would be carefull as it depends. My established Amazon is giant, I would not dare to move it unless half of the substrate in the tank is supposed to move. Crypts are known to be allergic to moving, so most likely not such a good idea. Otherwise, if everything is still small, some roots may break, and plants may struggle a bit, but should take hold again.

I have moved my Crypts all around and none have melted or looked worse for ware. I think it depends on your water at all turns.

 

[2fishinabowl]

Sorry I'm posting so many questions. I just have a lot of questions about plants since I've never cared for them before, plan to get some at some point, and would have no idea what I'm doing. Anyways, I'm wondering if once you plant plants, can you later move them, or are they stuck in the spot you decided to plant them in? Thanks!

Sure. No worries. They might lose a few leaves but will recover and start growing again. Try not to move them all at once.

 

[Whitelightning]

Sure. No worries. They might lose a few leaves but will recover and start growing again. Try not to move them all at once.

Thank you so much for your response, I greatly appreciate it!