Real Plants Hard To Look After?

are real plants hard to look after?

 

Yeah they are and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. =__= Especially if you have an antI green thumb like mine, ugh.

As far as I can tell, they're easiest if you put dirt under the gravel. Did that with a 5.5 and it's growing effortlessly.

 

what kind of dirt do you put in there? I don't think I would be confident putting normal garden dirt into my fish tank. XD

 

I'm just starting out on a planted tank, the best way I would say to go about it, it research the plants first, their CO2 requirements, and go with very easy to grow plants. I started mine without a substrate in mind, so I just have plain aquarium gravel, but so far so good.

 

Some plants are hard to grow. However I just have sand in my tanks and used to just have gravel and I just threw java fern, anubias, crypts, java moss, salvinia and water lettuce in and they grew and lived. I did nothing for them and no research and put them in my tank. I bought all the plants I could and most died but these ones have survived even though I'm pretty good at killing plants. I don't use soil or any fertilizers.
Don't let people tell you that those amazing aquascapes and carpeting plants are easy, but definitely don't let people tell you plants are hard.

 

are real plants hard to look after?

It really depends on the plant - its like fish - some are very easy and others are not.

Generally good lighting (and a consistent day/night cycle) suitable substrate and some aquatic plant fertalizer to help it get established.

They are a great addition to a tank and really help your tank manage nitrogen better as well as giving your fish a buffer against some of the more harmful nitrogen componds like ammonia.

what kind of dirt do you put in there? I don't think I would be confident putting normal garden dirt into my fish tank. XD

I use a small amount of potting mix under a thin layer of gravel in the locations where my plants are and have never had a problem associated with the soil. Not sure about dirt from the garden, but the reason for potting mix is that it usually contains some good amounts of nutrition for the plant to get going.

 

My plants are doing well and are fairly simple to care for. I used ecocomplete substrate and put my gravel over top of it. I have Anubias which is a very hardy plant. I add liquid CO2 and fertilizers every few weeks.

 

My plants are doing well and are fairly simple to care for. I used ecocomplete substrate and put my gravel over top of it. I have Anubias which is a very hardy plant. I add liquid CO2 and fertilizers every few weeks.

Anubias will grow without any of those things. Just gravel and water with some nitrates are all you need. You don't even need the gravel since Anubias are not root feeders.

 

I added this substrate because I had amazon swords. I may still have one in the tank but need to get better lighting before I put them back in. They died off due to not having enough light.

 

Is LED lighting good, or not for plants?

 

Is LED lighting good, or not for plants?

As long as it’s specifically made for planted tanks. But even if it’s not some LED lights will be good enough to grow basic beginner plants.

 

Honestly its not that hard to keep plants. You just have to plan what you want and what the plants will need.

I wouldnt recommend getting an inert substrate if you want plants it just adds trouble. Aquasoil is great imo and I have used it in all my tanks for years.

You also need to decide how you want to dose ferts and if you want to add co2. If you add co2 will you use pressurized or diy.

Your lights should be the last thing you buy and depend on everything else that you decide on.

 

Depends on the plant. I have an anubias, java fern and some other plant I can't remember the name of growing in gravel. No CO2, only cheap aquarium fertilisers and LED lights. They're so easy! I practically neglect them and they've grown so much!

 

Some plants are literally as easy as dropping them in your tank lol

java moss, anubias, java fern, wisteria (in my experience), duckweed (careful here), frogbit

Others are just as easy but need a bit of reading to make them thrive

 

Anubias: tie them onto a piece of driftwood. Make sure the rhizome is not buried. I put a capful of Seachem "flourish" with every other water change, and Floron multI with the other water change weekly changes since the tank has been running for 5 years. (I just started using the ferts-- they did not get any fertilization for the last 5 years) I just put the capful into the change water with dechlorinater, and usually a little of something with more BB's and some blackwater stuff because the fish like it, and they are South American.

The only negative part of anubias, is that you need to have some snails. Algea grows on it because it grows slowly and needs low to moderate light. This will happen to any plant. The algae will suck out all the nutrients from the water column to feed itself and this will lead to the anubias having less to use. So the way to reduce that is to get some nerites (if you do not want pest baby snails) or if you don't care get some other kind. I have 15 nerites in a 75 gallon tank. They keep the anubias perfectly clean.

There are other algae eaters, but none have worked for me as well as nerite snails. I have had plecos, otos, SAE's and they are all lazy and don't do a good enough job.