Freshwater Hobbyists - Do You Keep Live Plants?

For the freshwater hobbyists, do you keep live plants in your tank? There are some great benefits with keeping live plants in your aquarium... I'm curious about those that don't keep them. Do you think it is too difficult? Too time consuming? Your fish not compatible with plants? Or something else keeping you from having live plants?

 

I do and wouldn't be without them. Keep my nitrates at 5 and my fish seem to like them. Makes it look more natural too. Fake decor just doesn't do it for me - so naturally I have two pieces of fake decor in my tank.

 

Dont even need to say a answer everyone already knows

Aaahhh, live plants....

 

My fish hate live plants in 2 out of 3 of my larger tanks (50g and 60g), so I just set up my tanks with lots of rock (similar to african cichlid setup) for cover. I don't bother with fake plants, as a result it looks oddly marine, ha. As for nitrates, 50% weekly changes and an algae turf scrubber helps keep down levels to 5-10..

 

we are in 2k19, right? xD

 

I use plants but only ones that require very little effort to have grow. Namely Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss, and Marimo balls. I have no luck with rooted plants partially because my Mystery snails keep bulldozing them out of place before they get a chance to root. I just removed the Windelov Java Fern from my Betta tank because it was looking pretty bad. What did I replace it with? A nice looking river rock.

 

I don't have a fish tank with plants. I have a plant tank with fish.

 

actually got into the hobby for the plants (not a joke), fish were just a bonus

 

I can't stand the look of fake plants, everything is all real in my tank.

 

I don't know anyone wouldn't have live plants in their tank unless its an African cichlid tank and even then I would get some really hardy species.

 

I was into plants before fish, so it is natural for my only tank to have plants.

 

Planted for sure. Tons of benefits, not really any downsides. I love the jungly look

 

I can't stand the look of fake plants, everything is all real in my tank.

Mine too. One big chunk of petrified wood, one semi-round bluish-gray rock, and about 6 different kinds of plants (and some fish).

 

Planted tanks? Absolutely! I have 7 of em... Check out my video in my signature. Even Salami the gourami appreciates his planted 55.. He is right in sync with the YouTube music

 

I do keep some, but the area I'm a bit lonely in is having issues keeping them alive and well in my discus tank.

 

I don't have a fish tank with plants. I have a plant tank with fish.

Lol, I'm on the same boat.
I pick my plants that I wanna keep and scape first, before choosing the fish/shrimp to compliment them.

 

I have two very active and curious GOLDFISH... I had some Marimo balls to start with and all was well until the visually impaired one figured out she could pull little pieces off it... then I was cleaning Marimo out of my filters every week! Haha... Later I rescued a tank that had clumps of water wisteria so I tried to give that a go... Everything was fine for a couple of months until she got bored and started pulling those apart too! So I moved the plants to a bowl of their own. Later, I tried some pretty fake plants made from feathery string and yep... SAME THING! I AM STILL vacuuming stringy bits out of my substrate and picking them out of my filters.

What I have now is a gorgeous, textured blanket of dark algae across the back wall of my aquarium that my fish love to nibble on all day. I have one big plastic (ugh) fake plant that grows algae on it too so they also pick at it, but it's too big/tough to get their mouths on.

I give my fish leafy greens as a food/snacktivity... so anything that can be pulled apart eventually WILL BE! Ha

 

My one tank has a piece of wood and 8 different plants in it. Two kinds of Anubias, a large Java Fern, 6 or 7 stems of Myrio Filigree, a few small stems of Bacopa that are neither growing nor dying, some sprigs of Java Moss, a small piece of Windelov Java Fern, and a small piece of Marimo I cut off of a ball. It's a 3.5 gallon tank and the gravel is only fully visible in the very front. The Guppies and Endlers love swimming through it and it looks like a jungle of stems, roots, and rhizomes.

My other 3.5 that houses my Betta and 2 snails started out with a piece of river rock, a cave/tunnel decoration, and 3 fake plants. Then a Marimo ball, an Anubias Nana and a Windelov Java Fern were added. Just the other day, the Fern was removed because it had become very ugly and ragged. It was replaced by another piece of river rock and a very small sword plant that I have no idea if it will survive or not. The 3 fake plants are all in there still. The Anubias has grown over a dozen new leaves in the 18 months it has been in. The Marimo is pretty much the same size and still deep green.

Numerous attempts have been made to grow rooted stem type plants like Hornwort, Wisteria, and Anacharis with no success. Partially because, in the Betta tank, the Mystery snail always uproots them or, together with the Nerite, eats the stems just above the gravel line. I also only have regular type cheap aquarium gravel in both tanks and have never used any kind of fertilizers. I don't like any kind of floating plant in my tank either.

The amazing thing about the Betta tank is that I have never vacuumed the gravel since setting it up 19 months ago and when I was digging a spot for the sword plant to go, absolutely no detritus or anything else was stirred up. I went right to the tank bottom and there is nothing.

 

For many many years all my plants were silk and/or plastic. A couple of years ago I decided it was time to switch to real plants. First few plants were a total fail for me. I killed hornwort, dwarf water lettuce and red root floaters. All of the jungle val didn't die but it wouldn't grow either. I started with beautiful long flowing plants and ended up with plants no taller than a couple of inches.

I have very soft water with very low mineral content. It was determined that my very soft water may have been why I was having no success no matter which plants I tried. I was using Flourish ferts but nothing would grow and almost every plant I tried would wither and eventually melt away. Now I am adding Equilibrium and also switched to Thrive liquid and root tabs and I am finally seeing some forward progress.

The left side of my 55 has hornwort growing a thick mat from the bottom all the way up to the top and is a beautiful deep bright green. The right side has an Amazon sword plant that is at least 8 inches tall now. It took a while for it to settle in and start growing but fortunately it is growing and looking very healthy. I expect it will eventually fill in that side of the tank. I have water wisteria growing behind it. I started with just a few stems and now that it is used to my water it is growing like a weed and needs to be trimmed quite often.

I do have lots of other plants in there to help balance everything out but can't think of all the names right now. I know there are a couple different crypts and some various Anubias. I am still struggling to get my jungle val growing. I have it planted across the back and seem to be having some success with it now but not as much as I am having with other plants.

 

I love my planted tank. I have as many different types as I can find. The only one that doesn't want to grow is the jungle val. My water is warm and acidic, so that may be part of the problem. Recently I acquired a 10 gallon and my daughter said I only wanted it so I could have more plants!! LOL It is partially true since I love plants and also grow orchids among other things.

 

For the freshwater hobbyists, do you keep live plants in your tank? There are some great benefits with keeping live plants in your aquarium... I'm curious about those that don't keep them. Do you think it is too difficult? Too time consuming? Your fish not compatible with plants? Or something else keeping you from having live plants?

I dont, simply because I don't know how to care for both plants and fish. all my plants mushed and died, switched to fake plants. though I did use liquid ferts and stuff

 

I dont, simply because I don't know how to care for both plants and fish. all my plants mushed and died, switched to fake plants. though I did use liquid ferts and stuff

Get Anubias and/or Java Fern. Both are virtually guaranteed to grow in low light with no ferts needed. Anubias Nana especially does well.

 

Jungle val and wisteria are fairly easy as well

 

I would have to disagree with the Wisteria after 3 abject failures. The Val I have never tried.

 

Well I think the thing with wisteria is after it melts leave that root crown floating in your tank. Like many other plants that melt it just has to adjust to your water. I thought the same thing when I first bought wisteria. But now after it’s adapted to my tanks it’s like a weed I can’t stop growing. Let me know if you’d like some I’ll mail it to you .
Yes I grow plants in all my tanks. My tanks are varied so different species and temps in tanks. It’s fun finding out what will grow where and what grows everywhere. My shrimp tank grows almost everything and when algae starts growing on plants in other tanks I drop them into the shrimp tank for a day and the shrimp clean them all up.

 

I have 2-55 gallon tanks that have all live plants. I hope in a week to get 125 gallon tank to startup with a ton of plants and fish. Love this hobby