Soaking plants in something to prevent algae?

[stephpartin]

Good morning everyone I have had such bad luck with aquatic plants getting blue black beard algae. Is there something I can soak my plants in before putting in tank? I do not like to bury the roots of my plants in the substrate so I filled up very small candle holders with rocks in them. Will the cup and rocks work or ate there better suggestions out thete?

Thanks, Stephanie

 

[MacZ]

Take them out of the pots and plant them in the substrate. That's what the substrate is for and where they belong. In the glasses the roots can not grow unhindered and the rocks don't provide nutrients (your substrate neither, but at least there stuff like detritus can accumulate and work as a nutrient source.).

Also my best guess is, you got the BBA because you had too few plants.
A healthy tank should neither look clinically clean, nor should it be dirty but somwhere in the middle.

I guess my biotope tank would make you feel uncomfortable. Take away the plants on the driftwood and it comes close to the biotope my fish originated from.

 

[Flyfisha]

Hi stephpartin,
I respect your wishes. If you want to use containers to grow aquarium plants you can . You will however have to provide fertile substrate with added root taps of fertiliser. The fish poop will land in a pot just as well as on the floor.Yes containers are perfectly suitable to growing aquarium plants. An old photo of my wife’s tea pot. It’s well established now with shoots sprouting out the spout.A link to an Australian gentleman that may give you some help?

 

[stephpartin]

Take them out of the pots and plant them in the substrate. That's what the substrate is for and where they belong. In the glasses the roots can not grow unhindered and the rocks don't provide nutrients (your substrate neither, but at least there stuff like detritus can accumulate and work as a nutrient source.).

Also my best guess is, you got the BBA because you had too few plants.
A healthy tank should neither look clinically clean, nor should it be dirty but somwhere in the middle.

I guess my biotope tank would make you feel uncomfortable. Take away the plants on the driftwood and it comes close to the biotope my fish originated from.

Oh I love your biotope!! I am afraid I will create a slimy, fuzzy. moldy mess if I go that route. lol I am just going to keep adding more plants and see how it goes. I really want to get it right this time. I do over clean a bit and maybe that also has something to do with the BB algae?

Take them out of the pots and plant them in the substrate. That's what the substrate is for and where they belong. In the glasses the roots can not grow unhindered and the rocks don't provide nutrients (your substrate neither, but at least there stuff like detritus can accumulate and work as a nutrient source.).

Also my best guess is, you got the BBA because you had too few plants.
A healthy tank should neither look clinically clean, nor should it be dirty but somwhere in the middle.

I guess my biotope tank would make you feel uncomfortable. Take away the plants on the driftwood and it comes close to the biotope my fish originated from.

If I could have a tank like this I would!! Doesn't it costs a lot to set up a biotope?

 

[MacZ]

If I could have a tank like this I would!! Doesn't it costs a lot to set up a biotope?

Actually not very expensive. I'd go as far as saying it costs less than a standard scaper tak or community tank. The plants I got from other aquarists for free, mostly. There is only one I paid money for in there right now. 3,99€. Sand cost me about 5,-. Rocks are almost exclusively collected from the river, the leaves and alder cones that are in right now I had to buy because I ran out of self-collected ones from last autmn. Only thing moderately expensive was the driftwood, which I altogether paid 30€ for. Other "expensive" stuff pays off soon as one usually only buys certain things once. I'm going to get a small RO unit soon, which will pay off within three months according to my calculation.
Monthly upkeep is at about 5,- as soon as the RO unit is in place, right now I have to mix in distilled water because of super high nitrates from the tap, which pushes the costs to 25€ a month.
But alltogether... The decorations and plants that are in there right now... 40 bucks?

The really tricky part: Weeks and months of Research. For a biotope tank you research everything around a certain species of fish or a biotope type and you don't stop. It goes on and on. Substrates, plants, fish, microorganisms, ecology, seasons, water parameters, water chemistry... and so on.

 

[stephpartin]

Actually not very expensive. I'd go as far as saying it costs less than a standard scaper tak or community tank. The plants I got from other aquarists for free, mostly. There is only one I paid money for in there right now. 3,99€. Sand cost me about 5,-. Rocks are almost exclusively collected from the river, the leaves and alder cones that are in right now I had to buy because I ran out of self-collected ones from last autmn. Only thing moderately expensive was the driftwood, which I altogether paid 30€ for. Other "expensive" stuff pays off soon as one usually only buys certain things once. I'm going to get a small RO unit soon, which will pay off within three months according to my calculation.
Monthly upkeep is at about 5,- as soon as the RO unit is in place, right now I have to mix in distilled water because of super high nitrates from the tap, which pushes the costs to 25€ a month.
But alltogether... The decorations and plants that are in there right now... 40 bucks?

The really tricky part: Weeks and months of Research. For a biotope tank you research everything around a certain species of fish or a biotope type and you don't stop. It goes on and on. Substrates, plants, fish, microorganisms, ecology, seasons, water parameters, water chemistry... and so on.

So is a biotope tank an all species aquarium? I really like the biolotope look the best and it looks just right for the fish to feel comfortable. But for now I think i need to gain more knowledge before heading in that direction

 

[MacZ]

A biotope can be a species tank, but doesn't have to be. In my case I keep two species of fish from the same continent and the same type of biotope. Even the same (gigantic) drainage system of the Amazon. But while my Apistogramma ortegai (a species of dwarf cichlid) is originally from Peru, the cardinal tetras come from Brazil. With the plants I didn't really care at first, but will do some adjustments to fit the continent, too. I keep the water chemistry relatively close to where the fish come from. Lately I'm slowly tweaking the looks more and more towards what the biotopes look like.

That means my tank is a blackwater biotope tank, but not a t.

 

[stephpartin]

A biotope can be a species tank, but doesn't have to be. In my case I keep two species of fish from the same continent and the same type of biotope. Even the same (gigantic) drainage system of the Amazon. But while my Apistogramma ortegai (a species of dwarf cichlid) is originally from Peru, the cardinal tetras come from Brazil. With the plants I didn't really care at first, but will do some adjustments to fit the continent, too. I keep the water chemistry relatively close to where the fish come from. Lately I'm slowly tweaking the looks more and more towards what the biotopes look like.

That means my tank is a blackwater biotope tank, but not a t.

Awesome!! I want a black water tank!! I ended up purchasing three plants plus i already had one. Really not sure of the type. I attached a pic of them hoping you would know what they are since the g I rl at the fish store didn't know either and her boss was not there. Thanks again

 

[MacZ]

Oh, I'm really bad at plant identification. And you might want to do the research, before you do any changes towards blackwater. Because for that the water chemistry is super important.

 

[stephpartin]

Oh, I'm really bad at plant identification. And you might want to do the research, before you do any changes towards blackwater. Because for that the water chemistry is super important.

Thanks for all of your help!! I posed the plant question in the plant ID section. Im not getting into black water with a 16 gallon. I am going to wait for my 40 long. )

I am going to have to rig my plants somehow. I have tried burying them in gravel and sand before and it just never works for me or I vacuum up the roots!! Any suggestions please ?

 

[MacZ]

Easy as that: Don't vacuum too close to the roots and not too deep. Leave an area of maybe 10cm around the plants. As I have sand and not gravel I don't vac anyways and if I do I only hover over certain areas where detritus tends to collect on top of the sand.

 

[stephpartin]

Easy as that: Don't vacuum too close to the roots and not too deep. Leave an area of maybe 10cm around the plants. As I have sand and not gravel I don't vac anyways and if I do I only hover over certain areas where detritus tends to collect on top of the sand.

Ok I can do that. I am going to have to put down more sand first. I have an inch if I'm lucky. I have another bag to use so I don't have to fo to get it. I really think that one more tall plant to go in the right back corner should be enough plants . Right?

 

[MacZ]

Ok I can do that. I am going to have to put down more sand first. I have an inch if I'm lucky. I have another bag to use so I don't have to fo to get it. I really think that one more tall plant to go in the right back corner should be enough plants . Right?

As I said in the other thread (we should probably focus on one): As many plants as you like, though there can be much more in your tank. Plants help stabilize water quality.

 

[Flyfisha]

Something I added to a tank today.
and another
Its up to you how many plants you want to have. I guess the fish will tell you if it’s starting to be a little thicket.

 

[ElysiumPlants]

As Macz pointed out, plants help to stabilize water quality. They also do a lot to make your critters feel safer, which can actually result in them being more active and more willing to venture out into the open, and can help to limit squabbles between tankmates. A heavily planted tank also tends to have less algae issues, and the plants and algae are competing for the same resources.

Personally, I tend to plant my tanks as densely as I can manage.

 

[stephpartin]

As Macz pointed out, plants help to stabilize water quality. They also do a lot to make your critters feel safer, which can actually result in them being more active and more willing to venture out into the open, and can help to limit squabbles between tankmates. A heavily planted tank also tends to have less algae issues, and the plants and algae are competing for the same resources.

Personally, I tend to plant my tanks as densely as I can manage.

I'm glad one of us is an under water Gardner. I love your pots!! I know all of this stuff but silly me just washed my plants with water and one of them had ich!! I don't know how much longer I'm going to do this for. I'm so tired of stores selling sick fish!!

But also can give you parasites and Ich which is what i got on one of my plants yesterday but the symptoms didn't show up until this morning!! Nice....I have had two bouts of sickness right in a row and I don't think this is worth it anymore