Dirted Ceramic Pots With Live Plants In Tank

I want to set up some bettas in new tank with some live plants. The only think is that I don’t want to dirt these tanks but was thinking of sitting ceramic pots instead. I know I would need something over the bottom to keep the dirt from falling out of the bottom hole, but has anyone done anything like this before? I am mostly thinking of just doing it for sword plants or crypts.

 

Yes, you can certainly try this.
I have my amazon sword in a small terra cotta pot, it works well.

 

Does the dirt stay in the pot? Are you submerging the pots?

 

I plan on submerging mine.
How do you keep the dirt from coming out the bottom of the pot?

 

Place some mesh, add a small layer of gravel/sand, add the dirt then cap it.

 

I've thought about doing the same! What I've been looking into is what would be the best material for the "pot" in a fw tank. Glass, ceramic, terra cotta, coconut, something like plastic canvas.... I'm just starting to dabble with the live plants, so I don't know if water flow through the pot needs to be taken into consideration. I've also seen some comments that dirt really isn't required, no matter the type of plant. Plain ol' gravel with root tabs and liquid supps supposedly works for some. But, how well will roots take hold in that set-up? I'm only about 6 weeks into researching options on this subject, and have absolutely zero experience. All I currently have are marimo balls and rhizome plants.

 

I have all my swords (amazon and rosette) dirted in glass candle dishes or low glass dishes send bury them. They've been that way for more than 2 years. When/if growth starts to subside, I add a root tab to the dish. They've been great for me. I also use glass dishes in bare-bottom grow out tanks.

Here's a pic of my 120 gallon with glass dishes dirted the swords


And an old pic of my grow out tank

 

Hi,
I have all my plants in my shrimp tanks in little terracotta pots. I use Fluval Shrimp Stratum aquasoil as my ph is a bit high and this buffers it down.
The soil stays in the pots just fine, although the Amanos throw the odd bit over the side when they're sifting through it! Sometimes I need to weight the plants a bit (I tie the roots to a bit of broken pot etc) before 'planting' it but the roots soon establish,
A bit if soil sediment (or whatever it's called!) can leak out of the bottom when taking a pot out of the tank, but I just put my finger over the hole at the bottom to stop it.
Here's some pics, hope this helps!

 

I have all my swords (amazon and rosette) dirted in glass candle dishes or low glass dishes send bury them. They've been that way for more than 2 years. When/if growth starts to subside, I add a root tab to the dish. They've been great for me. I also use glass dishes in bare-bottom grow out tanks.

Here's a pic of my 120 gallon with glass dishes dirted the swords View attachment 465705

And an old pic of my grow out tank
View attachment 465710

Thank you for the pics! Your tank is very pleasing to the eye. I've been leaning towards glass as it's not distracting, even if the top peaks out from the substrate. I've been concerned that a plant might suffer if the root system was contained in a small space, so I appreciate the grow out pics. It gives me a great idea of the size of containers, and is right in the size range at which I've been looking.

 

Hi,
I have all my plants in my shrimp tanks in little terracotta pots. I use Fluval Shrimp Stratum aquasoil as my ph is a bit high and this buffers it down.
The soil stays in the pots just fine, although the Amanos throw the odd bit over the side when they're sifting through it! Sometimes I need to weight the plants a bit (I tie the roots to a bit of broken pot etc) before 'planting' it but the roots soon establish,
A bit if soil sediment (or whatever it's called!) can leak out of the bottom when taking a pot out of the tank, but I just put my finger over the hole at the bottom to stop it.
Here's some pics, hope this helps!

Thank you for the pics! I have amano shrimp as well, so that's something I need to consider, too! I have one female that is just under 4" and she loves to carry stuff around. LOL. My ph is exactly where I want it, so I've also been looking for soils that will not raise or lower my ph. I'm at 7.4 currently.

 

I never thought about doing it in a glass dish! Those look very cool!
Do you guys put those in before you fill the tank up with water or after? I was planning on getting the bettas all set up this week, and then adding the potted and dirted plants after. I wasn't sure f the soil would come out into the water if I did the dirted pots after though....

 

I have a low ph problem in my 40 long. And I knock my plants hither and yon when cleaning. I didn’t want to but pots so I used mason jars. Put crushed coral in. Then sand cause I still can’t make up my mind about which soil. The “crown has to stay above the substrate” plants have gravel on top. The ph has come up to 6.4. The jars are beautiful I’m told. Root tabs are helping the plants. The banana plant hasn’t been uprooted in several weeks.
You’ll notice a couple photo bombers I’m sure. Nosy corys mostly.
One thing on ceramics, know exactly what glaze was used. Some leach toxins.

 

Thank you for the pics! Your tank is very pleasing to the eye. I've been leaning towards glass as it's not distracting, even if the top peaks out from the substrate. I've been concerned that a plant might suffer if the root system was contained in a small space, so I appreciate the grow out pics. It gives me a great idea of the size of containers, and is right in the size range at which I've been looking.

Thank you for the compliment! Also, as far as growing out goes, yes, these swords did grow in these pots. Here's a pic from Aug 2016


You can hardly see the rosettes and not as many yet. The amazon swords have doubled in size.

Here's a more recent pic of the tank, one of my oriental rosettes have split into two and the new green ozelots are establishing themselves. This is a month later from the original posted pic.


I thought the glass pots might dwarf the swords, but only the rosettes in the front are planted in pots. The others look tiny and compact like the ones in pots, so I think it's the strong 10000k light on the foreground. I even have two rosettes sharing a tiny glass pot in some places. I think the trick is to make sure sure each pot has enough nutrients, the root tab ensures this and with soil's high CEC, it holds the tab in place nicely and re-absorbs the nutrients from it. I'm petty sure that oriental rosette split after a added a root tab.

 

I never thought about doing it in a glass dish! Those look very cool!
Do you guys put those in before you fill the tank up with water or after? I was planning on getting the bettas all set up this week, and then adding the potted and dirted plants after. I wasn't sure f the soil would come out into the water if I did the dirted pots after though....

That is a great question haha. I did it that way because I transitioned this tank from non-planted with artificial DW while keeping fish in there the whole time.

I planted the bowls/dishes out of the water. I used tank water to moisten the soil, plant, add a top layer cap to hold these dirt down. I use moistened sand and pea gravel. Then I slowly lower my pot down, and wiggle into the substrate. Done!
This keeps everything contained and easy to change around. Have you looked at the root system of an established Amazon sword in a dirted tank? It took up the whole bottom footprint of my 46g!! You can't move a sword like you can when it's all contained in a pot. I am also able to keep my substrate cleaner, since the soil is 100% contained. I haven't had any trouble with anaerobic bacteria, but I believe it would be better to be filled with roots to aerate. Perhaps adding gravel or small rocks to the bottom of the pots helps?

 

I used ceramic Cichlid stones - guaranteed aquarium safe, and lots of room for roots. I filled the bottoms with filter foam and then topped and planted with Flourite so they wouldn't be super heavy. We're supposed to be moving soon (feel like I've been saying that forever) and between that and wanting sugar sand for my kuhlis to filter feed, having 'potted' plants made the most sense. Easy to move around, and since the kuhlis can get underneath and inside it's really increased the area they have available.

 

So, wrs2, have you tried to plant in a container, yet? I'm curious if you encountered any issues.

 

Not yet. I’m going to get them today though so we will see how it goes!

 

Yay! I'll be watching for your posts to see how it goes! Good luck!!

 

It’s microsword and a stem plant so it was probably pointless haha. Tank is a bit messy as I just took the plants out and put them in the pots!

 

View attachment 467914

It’s microsword and a stem plant so it was probably pointless haha. Tank is a bit messy as I just took the plants out and put them in the pots!

I’m loving potted plants! So are my fishes!

 

View attachment 467914

It’s microsword and a stem plant so it was probably pointless haha. Tank is a bit messy as I just took the plants out and put them in the pots!

Sounds simple enough! No problem with the soil in the pots trying to 'escape' when you submerged them in the tank?

I have wanted microsword!! That is one of the ones I think I might try in a pot, too! I'll admit I'm kinda jealous! I'm not ready to jump in, yet, and you're actually doing it! I'm so anxious to see how it goes for you! Yay!!!

 

Sounds simple enough! No problem with the soil in the pots trying to 'escape' when you submerged them in the tank?

I have wanted microsword!! That is one of the ones I think I might try in a pot, too! I'll admit I'm kinda jealous! I'm not ready to jump in, yet, and you're actually doing it! I'm so anxious to see how it goes for you! Yay!!!

I got some at one LFS that I planted in sand and it did okay, but another one had one, a bigger clump and for once they weren't charging $8.99 a plant so I had to try it! And nope, no dirt coming out! I have some stones that I get at the craft stores that I usually sprinkle around my other rocks so it looks semI natural and I just put one that was large enough to cover the hole over the hole and that did the trick!

 

I got some at one LFS that I planted in sand and it did okay, but another one had one, a bigger clump and for once they weren't charging $8.99 a plant so I had to try it! And nope, no dirt coming out! I have some stones that I get at the craft stores that I usually sprinkle around my other rocks so it looks semI natural and I just put one that was large enough to cover the hole over the hole and that did the trick!

Sounds easy! (... At least to get it started!!)

 

I use terra cotta pots from home depot to grow my plants. First put a small stone over the hole. River rocks work really well for this. Then I fill them up with dirt and cap them with pea gravel. It works really nice.

 

I am fascinated by the idea of growing the tank plants in pots. I particularly like the idea of glass dishes which can more or less hide in the substrate. Will they eventually have to be divided and repotted, and how long might they be able to stay in the original dishes, given plants of average vigor and size under average lighting?

 

I use terra cotta pots from home depot to grow my plants. First put a small stone over the hole. River rocks work really well for this. Then I fill them up with dirt and cap them with pea gravel. It works really nice.View attachment 468134

Koiman , what kind of container are your pots in? One thing I've been thinking of is having a plastic tote to start plants off in before adding to my main tank. Currently I only have 2 aquariums, my main and a QT. For obvious reasons, I don't want to have them in my QT for later planting in my main, but I don't want to set up another actual aquarium right now. I ask because it looks like they are in some sort of black container. Thanks so much!

 

Koiman , what kind of container are your pots in? One thing I've been thinking of is having a plastic tote to start plants off in before adding to my main tank. Currently I only have 2 aquariums, my main and a QT. For obvious reasons, I don't want to have them in my QT for later planting in my main, but I don't want to set up another actual aquarium right now. I ask because it looks like they are in some sort of black container. Thanks so much!

The pots are in a rubbermaid 100 gallon stock tank.

 

I use terra cotta pots from home depot to grow my plants. First put a small stone over the hole. River rocks work really well for this. Then I fill them up with dirt and cap them with pea gravel. It works really nice.View attachment 468134

I love this. I was trying the same thing in my gf pond. Now I have a ton of gravel to get out. Finpigs!
If it weren’t one more thing for me to tend, I’d use one of our stock tanks.

I am fascinated by the idea of growing the tank plants in pots. I particularly like the idea of glass dishes which can more or less hide in the substrate. Will they eventually have to be divided and repotted, and how long might they be able to stay in the original dishes, given plants of average vigor and size under average lighting?

When the roots start coming out of the top of the container, it’s time to repot. I found an old butter dish I’m going to use the lid part of to make a long planter for my wisteria.

 

wrs2 Just curious how the plants are doing! Seem to be working well in the pots? Anything you wish you had done different / are really glad you did the way you did?

 

I am fascinated by the idea of growing the tank plants in pots. I particularly like the idea of glass dishes which can more or less hide in the substrate. Will they eventually have to be divided and repotted, and how long might they be able to stay in the original dishes, given plants of average vigor and size under average lighting?

I have glass dishes hidden in the substate to grow a bunch of rosette swords, and deeper pots for my Amazon swords. The plants are doing amazing after 2 years like that. All I have to do is add a root tab every 8 months or so. The amazon swords are currently almost doubled in size after an osmocote tab. It seems as long as the pot has enough nutrients and roots still have enough room, they are ok. I haven't had the pots overfill yet but they are full and doing well. Btw, I can see the roots in a glass pot which is really cool!

 

I did this too in one of my tanks, and I just looove the look. Like a minI under water garden. But all I have is pretty ruff plants that grows anywhere, only sand as a substrate and fish/snail poo for fertilizer ahaha.. I used white and black sand to give it a more 'natural' look. To set the sand in the clay pots, I put maybe half of my water in, then scoop sand with a small glass and slowly submerge it, and then gently let it fall from maybe an inch to the pot. Water was 'cloudy' for less than 10hrs before it clears up.