How Do You Add Live Plants?

Depending on the strength of your light (do you know what make/model it is?), anywhere between 5 to 10 hours seems like the norm.

If you have a really strong light, it'll promote algae issues if you leave it on too long. This doesn't have anything to do with plants. But your tank looks good and you don't have algae issues, so keep doing what you're doing. How many hours a day do you keep your lights on?

If you want to be more consistent, get one of these timers. It allows you to set the on/off period of your lights. This is the one I use.

Century 24 Hour Plug-in Mechanical Timer Grounded

But there are far more advanced timers out there that uses wifi. Those will allow you to set a schedule (just like the old school one I use) in addition to using your phone to control the timer when you're not physically at home.

Thank you everyone for all of the quick replies and encouragement! I really appreciate it!

I have a huge light from topfin. But I don’t know the make or model. It goes across the entire top of my 60 gallon tank. It has 2 different settings. I also have some clip on lights too. So plenty of light. I have been doing 12 hours on, 12 hours off since getting them a week ago. It’s what I was told to do at petsmart. But I know better than to trust them... which is why I asked you guys.

Should I not be worried about the dark brown roots? What about the roots out of water? Does that really not matter? I keep covering them... but they pop out easily. It’s driving me insane!

I would’ve bet money I was doing something wrong. They don’t look great to me. But I’m honestly clueless. A couple of the plants didn’t even have roots. They looked like a cut flower stem. I just shoved them in the gravel... but I don’t know if that was the right move? Why don’t they have roots? These are the plants that didn’t have roots...




What else am I supposed to be doing?

Does flourish hurt fish?

Should I put carbon back in my filters?

How do I clean waste around these plants without upsetting the root/plants?

Is there anything else I should know? I feel like I’m missing something

What does semi-aquatic mean? Is that bad?

I’ve been doing daily water changes... since I still have ammonia present. That’s probably why I have no algae.

It doesn’t look like my plants are being eaten by the fish... but since adding plants... my fish don’t seem to be eating the fry either. This is a huge problem for me. My tank is overstocked as is... and getting worse. Why is this happening? I usually have a few fry that survive. But it seems like I have 50 new babies that are being left alone. I’m in trouble if this doesn’t resolve itself soon...

 

Semi-aquatic plants will die after a few days or weeks underwater. They are better suited for vivariums and paludariums.

Adding more plants has given your fry more hiding places!

If stem plants lack roots, they will eventually grow some to anchor themselves to the substrate.

Flourish is fish safe even if overdosed a bit.

Start your lights out at 6-8 hours max. 12 will get you algae.

 

I think I will have to stop feeding the fish for a day or 2. Maybe that will help. It breaks my heart to let these baby fish get eaten. They are so sweet and nibble on my arm whenever i’m in the tank. I already love them. But my tank is already unmanageable and no one will take any fish. I have an ad up on Craigslist right now but I’m getting no responses. It’s been 4 days.

Maybe because I sound like a crazy person. I require them to answer all of my questions first. And no one wants to deal with the hassle, I’m sure. But I want to make sure the fish are going to go to someone who knows about a cycle and dechlorinator and will treat them humanely. Someone who understands how much is involved with having livebearers.

I can’t just look the other way and hand fish over to someone who is clueless about fish. Not after everything I’ve learned here.

Am I out of my mind? Probably. I just care too much now. I’m invested in them. I have no social life anymore either... lol. My friends tell me I’ve lost my mind. And maybe they are right. But I don’t even care...

This is a losing, uphill battle. That will continue forever at this point. *sigh

Any advice? That doesn’t involve me giving my fish to people who will treat them inhumanely? Or make them feeder fish? At least in my tank, they stand a fighting chance. That makes it easier for me somehow. But it took me awhile to even get to that point. And I still can’t watch it happen. If I see it, I have a bad habit of interfering to save the poor fry. Dumb... I know.

Sorry for the rant

 

Semi-aquatic plants will die after a few days or weeks underwater. They are better suited for vivariums and paludariums.

Adding more plants has given your fry more hiding places!

If stem plants lack roots, they will eventually grow some to anchor themselves to the substrate.

Flourish is fish safe even if overdosed a bit.

Start your lights out at 6-8 hours max. 12 will get you algae.

I had a lot more fake plants that I took out when adding the live ones. It seems like a huge decrease in hiding places... from what I can tell. But maybe these protect them more somehow? Even though they are a lot smaller and there’s a lot less to them?

Ok, so I should take out the semi-aquatic plants? Which ones are those? How can you tell?

I’m upset that they sold me plants for my aquarium if they didn’t even belong. I already threw away money on other plants that didn’t work out. Or I broke by mistake. I don’t know what I’m doing here at all! I barely have a grasp on everything else I’m supposed to be doing for fish just in general. So there’s that...

You used words that were over my head... but I don’t think they are relevant. So who cares. Lol.

Can you tell me which plants need to come out, please?

Should I use stability since I still have a small amount of ammonia? Or is that a bad idea with plants?

 

Semi-aquatic plants will die after a few days or weeks underwater. They are better suited for vivariums and paludariums.

Adding more plants has given your fry more hiding places!

If stem plants lack roots, they will eventually grow some to anchor themselves to the substrate.

Flourish is fish safe even if overdosed a bit.

Start your lights out at 6-8 hours max. 12 will get you algae.

See... not a lot of places to hide. This tank looks dumb now. I was hoping these plants would grow a lot faster and get big... but you guys are saying it’s a slow process. Right? That’s disappointing.

 

I just got a few smart plugs last week and they're awesome!



Same as that mechanical timer (do you have to wind that up? ) but wifI and smart phone controlled. Can also play with Alexa or Google for voice commands. The phone app (SmartLife) can set schedules.

 

I had a lot more fake plants that I took out when adding the live ones. It seems like a huge decrease in hiding places... from what I can tell. But maybe these protect them more somehow? Even though they are a lot smaller and there’s a lot less to them?

Ok, so I should take out the semi-aquatic plants? Which ones are those? How can you tell?

I’m upset that they sold me plants for my aquarium if they didn’t even belong. I already threw away money on other plants that didn’t work out. Or I broke by mistake. I don’t know what I’m doing here at all! I barely have a grasp on everything else I’m supposed to be doing for fish just in general. So there’s that...

You used words that were over my head... but I don’t think they are relevant. So who cares. Lol.

Can you tell me which plants need to come out, please?

Should I use stability since I still have a small amount of ammonia? Or is that a bad idea with plants?

The white ribbon is definitely semi-aquatic. Not sure about the others. Stuff sold as aquarium plants but don't do well underwater include "white ribbon", "mondo grass", and "El Niño fern".

My advice? Don't buy plants from box stores unless they're already in a tank. The stuff in plastic tubes is either not a true aquatic, or was grown above water and will melt back. Look for reputable online sellers like Dustin's Fish Tanks, or Amazon sellers like Aquarium Plants Factory.

Vivarium = Terrestrial setup with high humidity and live plants, for critters such as forest frogs and scorpions. Paludarium = half land, half water setup, often recommended for frogs or crabs.

You can keep using Prime and Stability with live plants.

Judging by your plant selection, you got a bunch of slow-growers such as swords and anubias. Aquatic weeds and stem plants, such as hornwort and rotala, are the faster growing varieties, as are floating plants.

 

View attachment 416552
See... not a lot of places to hide. This tank looks dumb now. I was hoping these plants would grow a lot faster and get big... but you guys are saying it’s a slow process. Right? That’s disappointing.

Try Anacharis and Hornwort. They grow fast and good for fry to hide in.

Stability is fine with plants.

 

Correct. Anubias are VERY VERY slow growers. I've had mine for a few months and it hasn't grown larger at all. The "root" you mentioned that pops itself up from under the gravel...are you talking about the anubias plants? If so, that big chunky "root" is called a rhizome. The rhizome connects the roots to the leaves.

The rhizome can NOT be buried. Not sure why. But if buried, the plant will die. The roots under the rhizome can be buried or it can be left out. That's up to you. See the picture below. The part he is holding is the rhizome.




Looking at your pictures, you did everything correctly. You buried the roots and left the rhizome above the gravel.

Most people either tie the anubias to a piece of wood or rock using fishing line, or use super/crazy glue to glue the plant onto a rock or a piece of wood. And don't worry, super glue is safe for fish. Here's a video showing this:

 

The white ribbon is definitely semi-aquatic. Not sure about the others. Stuff sold as aquarium plants but don't do well underwater include "white ribbon", "mondo grass", and "El Niño fern".

My advice? Don't buy plants from box stores unless they're already in a tank. The stuff in plastic tubes is either not a true aquatic, or was grown above water and will melt back. Look for reputable online sellers like Dustin's Fish Tanks, or Amazon sellers like Aquarium Plants Factory.

Vivarium = Terrestrial setup with high humidity and live plants, for critters such as forest frogs and scorpions. Paludarium = half land, half water setup, often recommended for frogs or crabs.

You can keep using Prime and Stability with live plants.

Judging by your plant selection, you got a bunch of slow-growers such as swords and anubias. Aquatic weeds and stem plants, such as hornwort and rotala, are the faster growing varieties, as are floating plants.

Every single plant in my tank was from a tube. So does that mean I’m going to have a problem? El Niño fern actually sounds right. I remember it now that I’m hearing it. So I’ll take it out. But again, I don’t know which one that is or how I tell which one shouldn’t be in the aquarium. ? They all look the same to me.

I don’t want floating plants that grow fast and give fry more hiding places. That is honestly the exact opposite of what I need to do. I want some big plants. But not bushy floating stuff that will allow more fry to survive. I’m trying to work on population control. So please keep that in mind.

So what do you guys suggest based on that?

And most importantly, I still don’t know what plant needs to come out... can you please help? How can you tell?

 

I appreciate all of your help! Thank you everyone! But a lot of my questions have still not been answered.

If someone doesn’t mind, can you please go back and help me with the questions no one has responded to yet?

Thank you!

 

You could get some cryptocoryne undulata from Petsmart. It's a fast growing rooted planted.

If you have the tubes the plants came in, they indicate if they're fully aquatic on them.

If you want to get rid of your fish, you could try posting on the Ohio Fish Rescue facebook page. There are a lot of people in the Midwest on there, and I'm sure someone would be willing to give them a home.

 

You could get some cryptocoryne undulata from Petsmart. It's a fast growing rooted planted.

If you have the tubes the plants came in, they indicate if they're fully aquatic on them.

If you want to get rid of your fish, you could try posting on the Ohio Fish Rescue facebook page. There are a lot of people in the Midwest on there, and I'm sure someone would be willing to give them a home.

Thank you for the advice! I will look into that facebook page.

I didn’t save the tubes... so that won’t help me.

 

The white ribbon and gold ribbon (the plant on the left with the white stripes on the leaves and the plant to its right that looks like a completely green version of it) are semi-aquatic and should be removed. The other ones look like anubias to me and should be fine - if one of them happens to be another semi-aquatic that I missed, it will start to rot, but as long as you keep an eye on them you should be able to spot it and remove it in time. If it doesn't say on the package you just tell after some experience with plants, it's hard to tell just by looking which ones are semi-aquatic and which ones are fully aquatic. You will likely experience some melting, but all of my plants have also come from tubes and have recovered.

If you don't want places for the fry to hide, it's going to be hard to get large plants in there.

 

I'm always late to the party being on the other side of the world.

As others have said, you planted the anubias perfectly, keeping the rhizome above the gravel, they will be pretty indestructible and I've never had them melt, but they are slow. Get rid of those others that are not fully aquatic. It's annoying that a lot of these non-aquatic plants are not labeled correctly. We all get some at one stage or another.

For timing I go anywhere up to 8 hours or down as low as 6 in a particularly algae-prone tank.

I don't fertilise, my plants do great with just light and nitrate shoved straight in the sand or even floating free. If you are finding the ferts a bit confusing I really doubt anything will die if you ignore that for now.

Some plants WILL melt even if you do everything right either just because of Sod's law or because they were grown on the farm allowed to come out of the water, so they shed their airborne leaves and grow better adapted underwater leaves. So if you know it's a true aquatic species, don't panic if it looks on death's door, just pluck off the brown leaves and give it a few weeks. Only if it's truly sludge all the way through the stems and roots will I give up. Just try a different species in that case.

If you feel there isn't enough cover, stick the plastic fantastics back in until the others grow more, they won't interfere.

Sorry I can't remember all the questions and they are 3 pages back now, lol. Will go have another look and make a second post. Great steps forward!

 

I think these might be unanswered still? My answers in brackets, I can't work out fonts on my phone here

Should I not be worried about the dark brown roots?

(Only if they are sloppy rotted sludge, if they are firm they just might be a normal part of the plant, or a more mature part of the growth)

What about the roots out of water? Does that really not matter? I keep covering them... but they pop out easily. It’s driving me insane!

(Just relax, lots of plants can grow just fine floating around the tank, a few roots popping out is no issue for them)

What else am I supposed to be doing?

(Relax and give it time, truly! It can take some weeks or even months to really look great)

Should I put carbon back in my filters?

(Carbon acts to get certain chemicals to stick to it. So if you want to pull something like meds out of your water or you have concerns about anything else in particular being present, then by all means stick some in. I haven't used carbon for most of the past year and things have been fairly dandy)

How do I clean waste around these plants without upsetting the root/plants?

(Just use your gravel vac as normal and just be a bit gentle so you don't knock the plants out or squash or break off the roots by sticking it all the way down to the glass bottom. Once they are established in a few months you can afford to be more vigorous and they will cope fine)

Let me know if we still missed anything.

If you can separate the genders of your fish it's going to take a lot of pressure off you. 50 fry! Crikey!

 

I recommend green temple plant, it grows quickly for me and I have trashy lighting. It isn't very bushy either so it won't provide many hiding places for fry either.
I know this thread isn't about your overpopulation but could you separate male and females as Hill Dweller said? You could move all the males to your 40 gallon and have the shark and females in the 60 gallon. The females will keep on giving birth for a while but eventually they will stop, the shark will help keep population down and the bigger tank would be better for it, the recommended minimum for them is a 55 gallon.

 

I recommend green temple plant, it grows quickly for me and I have trashy lighting. It isn't very bushy either so it won't provide many hiding places for fry either.
I know this thread isn't about your overpopulation but could you separate male and females as Hill Dweller said? You could move all the males to your 40 gallon and have the shark and females in the 60 gallon. The females will keep on giving birth for a while but eventually they will stop, the shark will help keep population down and the bigger tank would be better for it, the recommended minimum for them is a 55 gallon.

No I’ve been through this many times before...

But let me explain again:

Males fight each other and become quite aggressive without females. I started this process a few months ago. I only took out 6 males to start. Put them in a 40 gallon with plenty of hiding places. But they were still fighting horribly and really hurting each other. Biting off scales and fins. It was too awful for me to watch, so I put them back in the main tank. The fighting completely stopped.

My shark isn’t a killer either. He won’t eat fry. He used to be in the tank with the livebearers. Always kept to himself. The mollies would eat their own. But the shark would only chase them away if they got too close to his cave.

And I understand the shark is supposed to be in a bigger tank, from what I read. However he barely moves throughout the one he’s in now. He is literally always hiding in his log. He comes out occasionally if the lights are off and if I’m completely away from the tank but spends most of his time in one spot.

The shark is really starting to like me. I’ll put my arm in the tank and get him to come out of the log eventually... and then he toes back in the log, and then he comes back out to my hand again. And again. Lol. It’s hilarious. He’s quite shy. He doesn’t try to bite or hurt me. Just nudges my hand gently. But he stays hidden for the most part. Maybe because he’s scared of predators? Even though there are none. I don’t know. I think he’s always been this way. But truthfully, I can’t remember.

I don’t have any other fish in there with my shark now because I don’t know what my best move is. The red velvet swordtails are out, because you aren’t supposed to put red tail anything with the red tail shark. Males fight with only males. And females would just create a second overcrowded tank pretty quickly. So I have no good options.

I was thinking of purchasing fish for the shark tank. Just so he wasn’t lonely. And to maybe get him to come out more. But I don’t know for sure that he wants other fish in there? And it really seems like a bad idea to buy more fish when I already have too many to begin with. I don’t even know anymore… it’s like every move I make would be the wrong one.

I don’t believe in netting fish. No need to get into an argument about it, because everyone here does it. But it’s just the way I feel. Personal preference. Let’s leave it at that, please.

I have moved fish and fry from different tanks more times than I can count. Never really a problem. I scoop them out with a cup or a large dish or something and that’s that. Sometimes it’s harder than others, but nothing too difficult. Nothing horrible for the fish.

However, I had to move the shark out of his tank once and it was the most horrible experience ever. I’ll never forget it. He freaked out and kept trying to jump. I had to use my hand to keep him from jumping. He literally turned white and seemed so incredibly stressed out that I thought for sure he was going to die. Barely moved for 2 days after. I felt awful!

I wanted to buy a bigger tank just for the shark. But from that experience I’m too terrified to do that again. You don’t understand. The shark literally never comes out of his log, except for a couple seconds at a time. Sometimes when he’s playing with me. Other times when he’s hungry and the lights are out. And if I take the log out of the tank, even for a second he flips out. He becomes frantic and terrified. He’s really very weird and unlike anything I’ve ever read about. I don’t know how I would move him. Unless u have any ideas?

For the overcrowding issue, I’ve been posting free fish to good home ads online. But again, I won’t just hand them over to anyone. Even though I desperately need to get rid of them. So I haven’t had any luck yet. Not this time anyway. Because I’ve done this a few times before.

I just know that an overstocked tank is better than giving them to someone who doesn’t know anything about aquariums. Someone who doesn’t understand cycles, or know about dechlorinator, etc. Am I wrong?

Plus, another mistake I make is that I am honest with everyone. I’ve had a lot of illness in my tank. And I feel morally obligated to let them know that the fish may possibly be carrying something and that they should be quarantined first. That has lost me potential homes a few times already. But I don’t feel right not letting them know the truth about the situation I’m in. So there’s that.

I’ve already re-homed well over 300 fry. But it just never stops. I never get a break. And I don’t see an end in sight or an actual solution. At least not one I can justify.

I never thought I would like fish keeping, and I could see how it would be enjoyable. There’s many aspects that I love. But I’m not enjoying myself here. I just have too big of a heart to take the easy way out here. It’s a curse, really. Costing me a lot more than money.

And remember, I didn’t choose any of this. My horrible ex left me with these fish. It’s been almost a year now. But when it happened, I literally knew nothing. Never heard the word cycle. Didn’t understand even the very basics, including what a dechlorinator was or even did. I knew fish lived in water and ate flake food. That was literally the extent of my knowledge.

So I started reading and teaching myself the day he left. I’ve been doing everything possible to make the best of a really bad situation ever since. And it has been one nightmare after another. More than anyone even understands.

I don’t think many people who didn’t even want fish in the first place, would have the patience to do large water changes every single day, month after month. I’ve spent so much time and a ridiculous amount of money on all of this. And I refuse to give up, for the sake of the fish. I just wish I had help. Even the littlest bit. Or an actual solution to my problem. Because so far, I don’t have one. And it really sucks.

I think these might be unanswered still? My answers in brackets, I can't work out fonts on my phone here

Should I not be worried about the dark brown roots?

(Only if they are sloppy rotted sludge, if they are firm they just might be a normal part of the plant, or a more mature part of the growth)

What about the roots out of water? Does that really not matter? I keep covering them... but they pop out easily. It’s driving me insane!

(Just relax, lots of plants can grow just fine floating around the tank, a few roots popping out is no issue for them)

What else am I supposed to be doing?

(Relax and give it time, truly! It can take some weeks or even months to really look great)

Should I put carbon back in my filters?

(Carbon acts to get certain chemicals to stick to it. So if you want to pull something like meds out of your water or you have concerns about anything else in particular being present, then by all means stick some in. I haven't used carbon for most of the past year and things have been fairly dandy)

How do I clean waste around these plants without upsetting the root/plants?

(Just use your gravel vac as normal and just be a bit gentle so you don't knock the plants out or squash or break off the roots by sticking it all the way down to the glass bottom. Once they are established in a few months you can afford to be more vigorous and they will cope fine)

Let me know if we still missed anything.

If you can separate the genders of your fish it's going to take a lot of pressure off you. 50 fry! Crikey!

Thank you! Every single plant I put in there was from a tube and all of them said aquatic on them. That I know for sure. Doesn’t mean they were labeled correctly... but that’s what they said.

I have had all of them in there for a little over a week now. So shouldn’t the semI aquatic plants be rotting by now? If they aren’t, is it really doing any harm to keep them in the tank until that happens?

Also, I really don’t know how to tell if something is brown and slimey on the roots. That may sound stupid… But they all seem kind of slimy at the bottom and I still don’t understand how I can tell. Can you please try to explain that in another way? I’m really just not following. Sorry about that!

 

I think these might be unanswered still? My answers in brackets, I can't work out fonts on my phone here

Should I not be worried about the dark brown roots?

(Only if they are sloppy rotted sludge, if they are firm they just might be a normal part of the plant, or a more mature part of the growth)

What about the roots out of water? Does that really not matter? I keep covering them... but they pop out easily. It’s driving me insane!

(Just relax, lots of plants can grow just fine floating around the tank, a few roots popping out is no issue for them)

What else am I supposed to be doing?

(Relax and give it time, truly! It can take some weeks or even months to really look great)

Should I put carbon back in my filters?

(Carbon acts to get certain chemicals to stick to it. So if you want to pull something like meds out of your water or you have concerns about anything else in particular being present, then by all means stick some in. I haven't used carbon for most of the past year and things have been fairly dandy)

How do I clean waste around these plants without upsetting the root/plants?

(Just use your gravel vac as normal and just be a bit gentle so you don't knock the plants out or squash or break off the roots by sticking it all the way down to the glass bottom. Once they are established in a few months you can afford to be more vigorous and they will cope fine)

Let me know if we still missed anything.

If you can separate the genders of your fish it's going to take a lot of pressure off you. 50 fry! Crikey!

Also, is it weird that I’ve been having my lights on for 12 hours every day but literally no algae whatsoever? Not sure what that means or if it even matters… Again keep in mind I do water changes every day. Because even after months, I still have ammonia present in my tank and nothing has helped. Literally nothing. I feel like I’ve done everything I could’ve.

The last thing I wanted to do was have more work on my hands and spend a bunch more money than I already have… So trust me when I tell you, these plans were an absolute last resort.

 

No I’ve been through this many times before...

But let me explain again:

Males fight each other and become quite aggressive without females. I started this process a few months ago. I only took out 6 males to start. Put them in a 40 gallon with plenty of hiding places. But they were still fighting horribly and really hurting each other. Biting off scales and fins. It was too awful for me to watch, so I put them back in the main tank. The fighting completely stopped.

My shark isn’t a killer either. He won’t eat fry. He used to be in the tank with the livebearers. Always kept to himself. The mollies would eat their own. But the shark would only chase them away if they got too close to his cave.

And I understand the shark is supposed to be in a bigger tank, from what I read. However he barely moves throughout the one he’s in now. He is literally always hiding in his log. He comes out occasionally if the lights are off and if I’m completely away from the tank but spends most of his time in one spot.

The shark is really starting to like me. I’ll put my arm in the tank and get him to come out of the log eventually... and then he toes back in the log, and then he comes back out to my hand again. And again. Lol. It’s hilarious. He’s quite shy. He doesn’t try to bite or hurt me. Just nudges my hand gently. But he stays hidden for the most part. Maybe because he’s scared of predators? Even though there are none. I don’t know. I think he’s always been this way. But truthfully, I can’t remember.

I don’t have any other fish in there with my shark now because I don’t know what my best move is. The red velvet swordtails are out, because you aren’t supposed to put red tail anything with the red tail shark. Males fight with only males. And females would just create a second overcrowded tank pretty quickly. So I have no good options.

I was thinking of purchasing fish for the shark tank. Just so he wasn’t lonely. And to maybe get him to come out more. But I don’t know for sure that he wants other fish in there? And it really seems like a bad idea to buy more fish when I already have too many to begin with. I don’t even know anymore… it’s like every move I make would be the wrong one.

I don’t believe in netting fish. No need to get into an argument about it, because everyone here does it. But it’s just the way I feel. Personal preference. Let’s leave it at that, please.

I have moved fish and fry from different tanks more times than I can count. Never really a problem. I scoop them out with a cup or a large dish or something and that’s that. Sometimes it’s harder than others, but nothing too difficult. Nothing horrible for the fish.

However, I had to move the shark out of his tank once and it was the most horrible experience ever. I’ll never forget it. He freaked out and kept trying to jump. I had to use my hand to keep him from jumping. He literally turned white and seemed so incredibly stressed out that I thought for sure he was going to die. Barely moved for 2 days after. I felt awful!

I wanted to buy a bigger tank just for the shark. But from that experience I’m too terrified to do that again. You don’t understand. The shark literally never comes out of his log, except for a couple seconds at a time. Sometimes when he’s playing with me. Other times when he’s hungry and the lights are out. And if I take the log out of the tank, even for a second he flips out. He becomes frantic and terrified. He’s really very weird and unlike anything I’ve ever read about. I don’t know how I would move him. Unless u have any ideas?

For the overcrowding issue, I’ve been posting free fish to good home ads online. But again, I won’t just hand them over to anyone. Even though I desperately need to get rid of them. So I haven’t had any luck yet. Not this time anyway. Because I’ve done this a few times before.

I just know that an overstocked tank is better than giving them to someone who doesn’t know anything about aquariums. Someone who doesn’t understand cycles, or know about dechlorinator, etc. Am I wrong?

Plus, another mistake I make is that I am honest with everyone. I’ve had a lot of illness in my tank. And I feel morally obligated to let them know that the fish may possibly be carrying something and that they should be quarantined first. That has lost me potential homes a few times already. But I don’t feel right not letting them know the truth about the situation I’m in. So there’s that.

I’ve already re-homed well over 300 fry. But it just never stops. I never get a break. And I don’t see an end in sight or an actual solution. At least not one I can justify.

I never thought I would like fish keeping, and I could see how it would be enjoyable. There’s many aspects that I love. But I’m not enjoying myself here. I just have too big of a heart to take the easy way out here. It’s a curse, really. Costing me a lot more than money.

And remember, I didn’t choose any of this. My horrible ex left me with these fish. It’s been almost a year now. But when it happened, I literally knew nothing. Never heard the word cycle. Didn’t understand even the very basics, including what a dechlorinator was or even did. I knew fish lived in water and ate flake food. That was literally the extent of my knowledge.

So I started reading and teaching myself the day he left. I’ve been doing everything possible to make the best of a really bad situation ever since. And it has been one nightmare after another. More than anyone even understands.

I don’t think many people who didn’t even want fish in the first place, would have the patience to do large water changes every single day, month after month. I’ve spent so much time and a ridiculous amount of money on all of this. And I refuse to give up, for the sake of the fish. I just wish I had help. Even the littlest bit. Or an actual solution to my problem. Because so far, I don’t have one. And it really sucks.


Thank you! Every single plant I put in there was from a tube and all of them said aquatic on them. That I know for sure. Doesn’t mean they were labeled correctly... but that’s what they said.

I have had all of them in there for a little over a week now. So shouldn’t the semI aquatic plants be rotting by now? If they aren’t, is it really doing any harm to keep them in the tank until that happens?

Also, I really don’t know how to tell if something is brown and slimey on the roots. That may sound stupid… But they all seem kind of slimy at the bottom and I still don’t understand how I can tell. Can you please try to explain that in another way? I’m really just not following. Sorry about that!

I understand! I've heard that keeping all male livebearers can be problematic sometimes as it was in your case. I hope someone in your area comes up who will take some of your fish. Have you tried posting on here? Keep up the great work!

 

Regarding the shark, I don't have personal experience with them but I've seen fishkeepers on YouTube say that sometimes adding more hiding places all around the tank can help with skittish fish in general. It could help them feel more secure knowing that they have a place to dart into as soon as they get scared. On the other hand, some fish will just disappear into these hiding places and never leave them because of their security. I guess it might be worth a try? Many fish, if they're supposed to live in an environment with lots of cover, will freak out if introduced to an environment that doesn't have as much cover (many tetras, for example) but will come out a lot more and show their true personalities if they have more cover/slightly dimmer lights because that's the environment they naturally live in.

I do think that an overstocked tank is better than giving the fish to someone who doesn't know anything at all about aquariums and isn't willing to learn before getting new fish, because there are ways that you can help remedy the situation (as long as it's not ridiculously overstocked, but I don't think yours is). Assuming the tank is big enough for all the fish to have adequate space to swim around, the main issue will be bioload. You can alleviate the stress of that by adding more filter media to the filter so the BB have more space to grow and can grow to populations large enough to support the ammonia production from the fish, and live plants will help take up the nitrates that the BB eventually produce so you don't have to do water changes as often as you would without live plants. If you're really struggling that much with fry, though, I really think separating your males from your females is your best option. Slightly overcrowding the males and adding lots of hiding places should help alleviate aggression issues.

 

Heyo, so when I say it's sludge I literally mean it's rotten through and breaks off at the slightest touch. Of course everything in the tank will feel slimy on the outside, that's healthy biofilm which is good. I have had some plants where the roots are in the sand then the stem turns brown and at the slightest bump the top breaks off leaving just the rotted stem in the sand and a healthy piece of plant floating away in the tank. I've sometimes had success sticking the healthy part back in the sand but if it keeps doing that I give up and get rid of the whole plant.

No harm in hanging onto the ones that are suspected of being not true aquatic until you actually see any die off.

Enjoy your plants, they always add to any tank after a little bit of time

 

I understand! I've heard that keeping all male livebearers can be problematic sometimes as it was in your case. I hope someone in your area comes up who will take some of your fish. Have you tried posting on here? Keep up the great work!

No, I haven’t. Do you think I should just create a thread for it? Or how does that work?

I still don’t understand what plant I was supposed to take out because it was only semi-aquatic... can you help with that?

Or if no plants are dying, does it really matter?

Someone please clarify. Thank you!

 

If they don't die or don't turn brown, just keep them in the tank. But let me see if I can find the semI aquatic ones for you. On the tubes, it should say either aquatic or semi-aquatic. Let me search for you.

Also, if the semI aquatic plants begin to die, but you really like them and really want to keep them, I thought of an idea. Let me do some googling for you. Hold on a sec.

 

This plant you have is called White Ribbon (I think). Can someone verify? If so, it is semI aquatic as you can see from the tube.






If it starts to look bad or starts to die, you can possibly still keep it if you're willing to plant it high enough to allow the leaves to stick out of the tank. To plant it that way, you can always use something like this and suction it up high in the tank.




If the plant starts getting really large, you can start drilling holes on the bottom of that plant holder thing to allow the roots to just hang down.

 

No, I haven’t. Do you think I should just create a thread for it? Or how does that work?

I still don’t understand what plant I was supposed to take out because it was only semi-aquatic... can you help with that?

Or if no plants are dying, does it really matter?

Someone please clarify. Thank you!

You can post a thread here: Buy, Sell, Trade, Free
I think Cadd explained the semi-aquatic plant pretty well but if you have more questions I'll try to answer them.

 

This plant you have is called White Ribbon (I think). Can someone verify? If so, it is semI aquatic as you can see from the tube.
View attachment 417576

View attachment 417577

If it starts to look bad or starts to die, you can possibly still keep it if you're willing to plant it high enough to allow the leaves to stick out of the tank. To plant it that way, you can always use something like this and suction it up high in the tank.

View attachment 417578

If the plant starts getting really large, you can start drilling holes on the bottom of that plant holder thing to allow the roots to just hang down.

I think you are correct in your identification. It doesn’t look like it’s dying. But there is a weird brown shaped area on it. Is this something to be worried about? Here’s another picture. It’s been in the tank for almost 2 weeks. Do you think it’s doing harm in my tank? Would you remove it?
Honestly, none of my plants look like they are doing great. Some look bad.
And the roots keep coming out, more and more. No matter how many times I cover them. So I’m not sure if these plants are doing well or not. Here are some pictures I just took. Thoughts anyone? I’m probably doing more harm than good with these in my tank.

I will have to post a second time to add all of my pictures. So look below this post as well.

 

 

Your plants look great! Especially the anubias plants. They are definitely doing more good than harm for your fish. And don't worry about the roots of the anubias coming out of the gravel. Unlike root feeder plants (like vals or swords that NEED their roots buried), anubias do NOT need their roots buried. Heck, you can even float them if you like.

As for the semI aquatic plant you have, it doesn't look bad. If it starts to turn brown or start to die, then take it out. If not, just leave it in the tank.

All plants will have dying leaves. But then a new baby leaf will replace the dying ones. With my livebearers, they enjoy eating decaying plant leaves.

I'm also a complete noob. I just started getting into live plants a few months ago. What I found works for me is just leaving the plants alone. If I keep messing with them (either moving them around, replanting them, or disturbing them often when I gravel vac, they don't grow as nice).

I don't really gravel vac close to my plants. The logic I use is the poop and stuff around the plants will decay and turn into plant food for the plants to absorb.