Planted tanks are a mess.

So, in the few year I’ve been fishkeeping, I’ve tried a lot of different setups. I’ve had gravel, sand, walstad, bare bottom, etc. and planted tanks are alway the messiest things in the world.
Cracks, crevices, driftwood, bushy plants, thick substrate all end up with fish poop build up and tons of mess. In all of my planted aquariums, no matter how much I clean, trim, clean again, day after day, it always feels messy.
The only time I ever felt like I had a tank that was truly clean was my bare-bottom.

I have a divided 10 gal that I’ve been struggling with for a while now. I have decided to just give it up and go bare bottom. Problem is, I’m not ready to ditch plants in this tank. I love plants.
I think the only way to get around this is pots for my root feeders (crypts, rotala and vals). I’ve never seen plants do well in pots long term though. Is there any way I can pot my plants in a way that will sustain them long term for a cleaner setup?

I was thinking about maybe tays or medium size hydroponic pots, filled with stratum or something, but I’m not sure. I don’t have much experience with potted aquatic plants.

 

If you want a planted tank that you can have bare bottom you've got a few options I guess.

I'm just throwing my thoughts out there as I keep planted tanks that look like a whirlwind- literally, just stuff thrown in and we see what happens.

1) I know aquarium co-op has easy planters. You put plastic planted plant in and boom, done. Just add root tabs to pot and water column ferts.

2) Make your own planters? Maybe use some gravel and put it into some terracotta pots? Haven't tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

3) Floating plants. Dwarf Water Lettuce, Frogbit, riccia (it floats in my experience), water sprite.

Just curious, why are you trying to keep your tanks spotless? What is your ideal fish tank I guess.

 

I had an Amazon sword in a terracotta pot that did okay. I filled the bottom 2/3 with organic potting soil and the top 1/3 with inert substrate to keep the dirt from floating everywhere. Every few weeks I'd push a root tab down into the dirt.

What kind of fish are you keeping? Some of them really need substrate to mimic their natural environment. Also, as long as your water parameters are okay, most natural environments are messy. Do you think I can use that excuse with my spouse to get out of house keeping?

 

I solved this poop problem by removing some of my snails and shrimps and placed them to my pond. there was too much poop.

 

I'd think just clay pots with dirt under inert substrate like wateriswet said would be your best bet for keeping root plants in a bare bottom tank. I've seen plenty of pics of submerged potted plants in the hobby.

You're right natural tanks are messy, but hey, that's nature

 

I dont have poop in my main planted tanks....I only have poop in the tank where java moss covered the substrate so poop kinda just sits there.

We must be doing something different....

 

It's normal for a tank to accumulate mulm. May look like poop to some and there definitely is some mixed in, but it is not just fish waste. It's all the organic waste of the tank, including food, biofilm, plant parts...

Trying to keep it all visually clean is imo a Sisyphos task. And there will still be buildup to a degree if using pots.

So maybe it's better to embrace the mulm.

 

Agree with all that is said. Planted tanks make "messy" substrates, which makes the hobby all the more interesting. If you let substrate run its course, the build-up is really, really slow as recycling takes place continuously.

I take great pleasure in observing life on substrate and have not regretted a single moment of investing in sand substrates that costs 20-fold the costs of play sand, to enhance the naturalness and to allow the substrate to "breathe". Sand can be re-used forever.

Many plants species grow excellent in high quality sand (having different grain sizes, not just uniform), such as the crypts in the image above.

 

If you want a planted tank that you can have bare bottom you've got a few options I guess.

I'm just throwing my thoughts out there as I keep planted tanks that look like a whirlwind- literally, just stuff thrown in and we see what happens.

1) I know aquarium co-op has easy planters. You put plastic planted plant in and boom, done. Just add root tabs to pot and water column ferts.

2) Make your own planters? Maybe use some gravel and put it into some terracotta pots? Haven't tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

3) Floating plants. Dwarf Water Lettuce, Frogbit, riccia (it floats in my experience), water sprite.

Just curious, why are you trying to keep your tanks spotless? What is your ideal fish tank I guess.

I had an Amazon sword in a terracotta pot that did okay. I filled the bottom 2/3 with organic potting soil and the top 1/3 with inert substrate to keep the dirt from floating everywhere. Every few weeks I'd push a root tab down into the dirt.

What kind of fish are you keeping? Some of them really need substrate to mimic their natural environment. Also, as long as your water parameters are okay, most natural environments are messy. Do you think I can use that excuse with my spouse to get out of house keeping?

This tank is divided, with two male bettas and a few nerite snails. I’m torn wether or not to take the substrate out entirely, or just remove some decor and clean up the scape a bit. This tank has a thick layer of pool filter sand with established crypts that I’m afraid to uproot.
It’s a low-flow betta tank with duckweed, which makes the mess appear worse. I also struggle with hair algae blooms. It’s very natural and my betta boys are happy, but it’s more work to keep clean than my 29 gal.

I have think I have a little ocd and staring at a messy tank bothers me. I don’t like the way bare bottom tanks look, but dang, they easy to keep clean.

 

One person's mess is another's work of art. "Dirty" tanks drive you crazy just as "clean" tanks look sterile to me. As MacZ said "embrace the mulm". In the end, the priority should be for what is best for the fish, so if you can get your fish to thrive in the tank esthetic you like then I don't see a problem.