New To Plants But Thinking Of Trying

HI everyone,

I have a 10G tank (with heater, factory lights, thermometer, filter) for my betta fish Epsilon and am interested in introducing a plant or two to his tank, but have never worked with live plants beforehand and need all the help I can get.

Over the past two weeks, Epsilon has been pretty sick (dropsy, bloating, fungal infection and fin rot) that I've been diligently working to fix. So far, I've cured everything but the fin rot and he seems to be in great spirits with a mighty appetite. My interest in plants began when I mentioned I have a small ammonia problem in my tank and someone recommended adding a plant (Anubias or moss balls) to his tank to bring the ammonia down. My local water system adds ammonia to the water, but despite regular water changes with the regular addition of Seachem Prime, my ammonia levels linger between 0-0.25ppm.

I've read around Anubias seems to be the best plant for first-timers. Any recommendations for plant placement, size, and species for my tank? I'll include an below.

Since I'm totally new to live plants, I wanted to know the risks of introducing plants, care needed, and any other cautionary notes you guys can think of. From what I've read, it seems like plants can get sick and may require specific lighting needs. What types of disease are Anubias susecptible to? How would I cure them? If I decide to get some Anubias, I'd like to get some basic preventative medicine/supplies. Do I need to add some type of supplement/plant food to my water to sustain the Anubias?

My biggest hesitations with adding live plants to my tank is I'm afraid it'll make things a lot more complicated. I'm a college student who moves around a lot and am thankful Epsilon is such a tank. If plants prove to be high maintenance, I'd rather forgo them and get something else for Epsilon's tank (i.e. more hiding places/interactive pieces). For example, if a plant gets sick (i.e. algae), do I need a whole quarantine tank to treat it? I don't exactly have the space for a quarantine tank.

I'd love to make plants work because I think they'd be a beautiful addition to Epsilon's environment. While running everywhere getting various medications for Epsilon, I came across this amazing LFS that had whole bowls/tanks set up with betta + plants for sale that were gorgeous. I wouldn't buy one, but they've definitely been inspiration for making Epsilon's tank full of plant life. Plus, I love seeing Epsilon thrive and think I would get a lot of joy from seeing plants thrive with him, as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

Sure that isn't 10 liters? Perhaps since it is difficult to compare the size of the tank in the photo relative to other objects I am mistaken... but a 10 gallon standard is 20" x 10" x 12"

If you want to get ammonia down, slow growing plants like Anubias are not the answer. Anubias is slow-growing and needs to be attached to driftwood, stone, or other decor.

The way to get water under control is stuff that grows fast and preferably requires no substrate. Floaters such as duckweed, Amazon frogbit, dwarf water lettuce, hornwort, anacharis, and water wisteria are the answers to your problem.

 

Well anubias is super easy tie it to a rock and put it in the tank just don’t bury its rhizome. There are lots of types of anubias narrow leaf, petite and... the hardest anubias to keep is maybe anubias white and even that doesn’t require special conditions but you must buy it from trusted seller. The only disease that anubias might have is something called anubias Disease it is almost impossible to cure so make sure to check anubias rhizome and roots, it must be green and solid if it was brownish and mushy don’t buy them. There are other easy plants as well moss ball, java moss are another options also since you have ammonia problem try floating plants frogbit is great for sucking ammonia and nitrate and it won’t reproduce crazy like duckweed. Plants dose require fertilizers but not sure anubias needs them. And for last plants aren’t complicated at all of course if you want you can go to high tech planted tanks( those are complicated and expensive) but a low tech is easy and it doesn’t require lots of work.

 

Anacharis is very fast growing and a floating plant bettas love to hang out in. It grows so fast that if one part gets algae or something, just cut it off and throw it away (don't flush it). It'll definitely help with ammonia.
The only maintenece is trimming, since it grows fast, but how much and how often is up to you.

 

Sure that isn't 10 liters? Perhaps since it is difficult to compare the size of the tank in the photo relative to other objects I am mistaken... but a 10 gallon standard is 20" x 10" x 12"

If you want to get ammonia down, slow growing plants like Anubias are not the answer. Anubias is slow-growing and needs to be attached to driftwood, stone, or other decor.

The way to get water under control is stuff that grows fast and preferably requires no substrate. Floaters such as duckweed, Amazon frogbit, dwarf water lettuce, hornwort, anacharis, and water wisteria are the answers to your problem.

It's funny that you mentioned his tank size as I've started to become very skeptical of the tank being a 10 gallon. I originally bought it off a guy from Craigslist who claimed it was 10 gallons and have just gone with it ever since. While I was treating Epsilon over these past couple weeks, however, I found my measurements to be off. I was giving him daily salt baths and was told to take a gallon of tank water from his tank for each bath. I did some number crunching and calculated that to be 16 cups and noticed that after removing 16 cups, his tank was around 1/3 of the way empty. So would that make this a 3 gallon tank? 3.5? How can I check to be sure? That'll definitely affect everything I do from now on and it kind of scares me if I've been mistaken all along. All the medication and Prime dosages for the past year and a half have been based on a 10 gallon tank. How badly have I screwed up this poor guy with my faulty measurements?

And wow! That is a lot of recommendations on plants and I hope you don't mind if I parse through them all here because I'd really appreciate opinions/corrections on what I have to say.

Duckweed looks cool, I like that it's got small, uniformed leaves. Idk, that's just very pleasing to the eye. After browsing through Anubias species, I really had my eye on the petite form since it was so small and cute so duckweed could be a great alternative that satisfies that desire for something minI for my minI fish.

I love the frogbit! It's dangling roots could be hours of fun for Epsilon! Or a giant pain in his butt, I'm not sure. He is partially blind and I don't want something that'll hinder his movement throughout the tank. The roots don't look too dense though? A question that pops to mind is can I trim the roots if they grow too long? Will that harm the plant? I wouldn't want the roots to grow all the way to the gravel. Maybe keeping them in the top third of the water column would be a nice aesthetic?

Dwarf water lettuce's leave's are great! They remind me of Himalayan plant leaves which is a big plus, but I'm not as big of a fan of their root dangling roots like frogbit. Same question as frogbit: would I be able to trim the roots if they grow too long?

Hornwort looks really cool! It reminds me of a conifer, but in water. I like that it's so bushy, but do you guys think that'd be hard on Epsilon? I used to have a silk plant in the tank in the past next to the side and he often got pinned and confused. I removed the plant and have kept his tank mostly barren since then (except for the PVC pipe).

Sadly, I'm not super impressed by the anacharis. It seems like it's the rounder, pudgier cousin of hornwort. As a single plant it could be cute, but it also reminds me a lot of Epsilon's old silk plant that he'd get pinned between.

I like the crazy look of the water wisteria, but I'm afraid it'd be too crazy for Epsilon. If he were to get too lost in the leaves, I feel he could get badly caught and confused. My thinking with floating plants like dwarf water lettuce and frogbit is that the roots are thin and not so clustered. So he may bump into them, but he won't get caught.

How often do plants need fertilizers? Are there various kinds each plant needs or is there a generic fertilizer that works for most plants (or at least the ones listed above)?

 

I'd strongly consider upgrading his tank. 3 gallons is fine, but it's the shape of the tank. Most fish prefer horizontal space over vertical. That, and the filter takes up considerable space.

Anubias nana "petite" is one of my favorite varieties. I have several growing on some small bits of driftwood.

Duckweed grows insanely fast, as do most floating plants. Trimming the roots is not advised but you can periodically thin them out and leave behind the plants with shorter roots. In my experience, bettas really like the roots hanging down. Word of warning on duckweed: once added, it is difficult to get rid of completely.

Hornwort does not possess roots and grows best floating, but can be anchored down in your gravel and grow perfectly fine. It's a soft plant and your betta would probably enjoy swimming through it and possibly sleeping on it.

Anacharis grows very fast and looks reeeeally nice in dense clusters. I used to have a high tech setup with injected CO2 and daily fertilizers... I would watch it grow in real time, and it would put on 6-7 inches of growth PER DAY in those conditions. In your average tank, that would take over a week.

Water wisteria grows big and bushy. The more you trim, the bushier it becomes. It can grow floating as well, but looks better planted IMO.

In a low tech, moderately planted tank, dosing once or twice a week is fine. Most low-maintenance plants will do fine with a weekly dose or two of Seachem Flourish, though a more comprehensive fertilizer like NilocG Thrive would be better.

 

Also, some of the plants listed probably wouldn't require fertilizer (the anacharis, hornwort, duckweed, and most anubias)

 

I'd strongly consider upgrading his tank. 3 gallons is fine, but it's the shape of the tank. Most fish prefer horizontal space over vertical. That, and the filter takes up considerable space.

Anubias nana "petite" is one of my favorite varieties. I have several growing on some small bits of driftwood.

Duckweed grows insanely fast, as do most floating plants. Trimming the roots is not advised but you can periodically thin them out and leave behind the plants with shorter roots. In my experience, bettas really like the roots hanging down. Word of warning on duckweed: once added, it is difficult to get rid of completely.

Hornwort does not possess roots and grows best floating, but can be anchored down in your gravel and grow perfectly fine. It's a soft plant and your betta would probably enjoy swimming through it and possibly sleeping on it.

Anacharis grows very fast and looks reeeeally nice in dense clusters. I used to have a high tech setup with injected CO2 and daily fertilizers... I would watch it grow in real time, and it would put on 6-7 inches of growth PER DAY in those conditions. In your average tank, that would take over a week.

Water wisteria grows big and bushy. The more you trim, the bushier it becomes. It can grow floating as well, but looks better planted IMO.

In a low tech, moderately planted tank, dosing once or twice a week is fine. Most low-maintenance plants will do fine with a weekly dose or two of Seachem Flourish, though a more comprehensive fertilizer like NilocG Thrive would be better.

What's the concern about his filter? I've recently been debating on getting a new tank for him so I'm more than happy to take your advice and look around, I just wanted to understand your thinking. I'm relatively new to fish keeping, but I've never heard of the filter size playing a role in the quality of a tank before.

If things go (relatively) well with a first plant, maybe I'll consider buying some Anubias petite. I really liked the look of it and feel Epsilon would appreciate some foliage in his tank. For now, I'm heavily considering frogbit or dwarf water lettuce.

I really like the idea of Epsilon sleeping on hornwort as he lays around a lot. Since his fins are in rough condition and being partially blind, I'm not concerned with how much he bums around, but would love to provide him some comfortable spots. Is it common for people to buy plants, try them, and return them if they don't like them? If so, I'd be more than happy to try hornwort to see how Epsilon does with it. I'm even thinking of recording a short video of his first interactions with live plants

I'm thinking of stopping by my LFS tomorrow to window shop for plants and Seachem Flourish. Before committing to plants, do you guys mind answering some last minute questions? Can any fish diseases be spread to a plant or vice versa? If Epsilon is sick, do I need to quarantine him from the plant or vice versa? I've heard plants can bring unexpected "guests" (i.e. snails, worms, shrimp) and I don't want to introduce any other animals to the tank. When buying a plant, what signs should I look for to prevent this from happening?

 

The size of the filter isn't in regards to it's quality, but the fact that internal filters take up quite a bit of swimming room. I also had an issue around a year ago where I lost a betta because his tail was sucked into the intake at the bottom of the filter...

I don't know if most stores will let you return live plants after you'd taken them for a test drive.

Some diseases can be spread, as well as pest snails, hydra, and flatworms. The best thing to do with new plants is to dip them in a 1:20 bleach solution, or a potassium permanganate solution. This will disinfect them while also killing any unwanted hitch-hikers.

 

Okay, I'll look into a wider tank. At least with this new one, I'll know how many gallons it is lol.

That's a bummer, but I guess I'll just stick to dwarf water lettuce or frogbit for now. When I have the money, I'll look into introducing plants that I may just end up tossing out in the end. While I'm at the store, I'll ask about their return policy so tossing the plants out will be a plan B.

Thank you! I'll ask around if friends have bleach (as I'd rather not buy a bottle since I don't use it that often) and try that. Out of curiosity, can hydra become a problem in a freshwater tank? I've never heard of freshwater forms (I'm studying marine biology so that's how I'm familiar with them) so that's cool that they exist. Can bettas eat hydra?

 

Thank you! I'll ask around if friends have bleach (as I'd rather not buy a bottle since I don't use it that often) and try that. Out of curiosity, can hydra become a problem in a freshwater tank? I've never heard of freshwater forms (I'm studying marine biology so that's how I'm familiar with them) so that's cool that they exist. Can bettas eat hydra?

Make sure it is splashless bleach with no added scents. Just plain old chlorine bleach.

Hydra are indeed found in freshwater, my cousin has some in his betta setup. They are green as they are a variety that house symbiotic algae in their tissues. Hydra can sting, though most larger fish won't be bothered. Small fish and invertebrates can be stung and possibly killed, but a betta won't be bothered. Some fish do eat hydra as well as some snails, and a betta might nip at them, but they are nothing to worry about.

 

Okay, I'm sure someone has to have some.

That's pretty cool, I can totally see Epsilon just casually eating them or laying on them if I were to accidentally get some hydra. I love him, but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed lol.

 

I stopped by my LFS today and ended up with some water lettuce lol. I was talking with a guy there, told him I was thinking about it but only wanted a couple plants (2-3) and he just said he'd give them to me! I didn't anticipate on buying live plants so now I have 3 new water lettuce plants sitting in tupperware with tank water. I don't have bleach yet so I can't get rid of any potential pests. How risky would it be to just toss them in the tank? I'm really excited to see how Epsilon reacts to them, but don't want a sudden snail/worm infestation.

I also wanted to check with you guys to see how I take care of water lettuce. The guy said the store didn't carry dwarf water lettuce, but just water lettuce. It looks an awful lot like the pictures of dwarf water lettuce, but I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. He said I don't need to add any Seachem Flourish since I'm hoping for plants to take care of my ammonia problem and that they should do just fine with the minerals in the water. Does that sound about right?

He also said since my tank is near the window, the plants should be fine. I generally keep the blinds closed so the tank's temp doesn't get too high. Will the plants be fine if I leave the blinds up for a couple hours in the evening when it is cooler? They'd get anywhere from 3-5 hours of sunlight.

Lastly, I had a chance to look at the tanks and found a 4.8 gallon tank that was really long and I'm so excited! The tank was ~$100 which is way more than I can afford right now, but come the end of summer, I'll probably be able to afford it. The brand name was something like Nuva, but I can't quite remember. Here's a pic of what it sort of looks like:

 

Honestly a desk lamp with a CFL bulb would grow most low light plants. You never want -too- much direct sunlight on an aquarium. Your water lettuce should do fine and, honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about pests. Mix a 1:20 bleach solution (splashless chlorine bleach with no added fragrance or boosters), dip it, rinse well, and then dip it again in a container with dechlorinator. Make sure it has no chlorine odor.

Rimless low-iron glass tanks look really sharp, if you decide to get one make sure to really make it look good! I have a 2 gallon cube from Ultum Nature Systems and am in love.

 

Okay, I'll be able to pick up some bleach from a friend on Wednesday so I'll hopefully be able to move the plants into Epsilon's tank that day. I'm really excited and hope he loves them! They're already so bushy and have like 8 leaves on them, I was amazed when I took a good long look at them for the first time! How does water lettuce propagate? I was wondering if the three free floating plants I have will eventually form other free floating plants or if each plant will continue to grow leaves to have a bushy appearance?

I just got my first apartment lease for a year and a half so I'll finally be settled in a place relatively more permanently and hopefully have the time/space to make it flawless <3 It'll be a lot of trial and error, but I'm sure it'll turn out well in the end.