# Mopani Wood & Indian Almond Leaves



## kschill83 (Jun 30, 2015)

Just wanting to hear what others think about mopani wood and indian almond leaves. I hear a lot of people use almond leaves. Trying to make my 2.5 gallon tanks more natural with plants to give my bettas the best life. Having to travel to college makes this slightly difficult.


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## dannifluff (Jul 5, 2015)

Haven't used wood as my pH is quite high and I would rather not have to faff about with pH matching during water changes, however I am a huge fan of IAL. I float half a new leaf in there a week. My Betta uses it as a bed when it softens up, or a canopy when it's still crisp... he seems very healthy and has dealt with some cycling/planting issues and the resultant ammonia spikes with aplomb...I'm not sure if the IAL has helped with that at all, but at the very least he seems to visibly appreciate it.

Also, there's no reason you can't just float or weight your plants in the water column rather than anchoring/planting them, which will make removal and bagging for transport much easier, plus your Betta will love the 'jungle' look. Plants in nature don't plant themselves all neat and pretty, and I think Bettas have a really strong instinct to tuck themselves away in tangles of stems etc, so it will make a nice environment for him 

In my low light tank I have floating elodea densa and bacopa monnieri, they would be pretty easy to just scoop out, bag and transport!


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

I have a Mopani wood in one of my tank. Although it is definitely beautiful, it grows driftwood fungus. It's been four month and it still grows fungus...could be a kind of algae though. On my water change day, I take out the wood and scrub with a toothbrush. Well, the white fuzzy stuff grows back faithfully. I have moss attached on the wood, so I can't boil or try a bleach method...

IAL would be a better choice for you. You are busy traveling to the college, so I don't think you would like to deal with driftwood with fungus. Also your tanks are 2.5 gallons. Adding IAL will give the fish more room to swim than adding driftwood.


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## Gariana (Jul 22, 2015)

+1 for the IAL. My betta seems to love his too. I change it to a fresh piece once a week and also add a tiny bit of black water extract every water change to keep the water slightly tinted.

I have two small pieces of bogwood in the tank, both have a java fern attached. Only few plants are actually planted in the substrate, most are tied to wood or rocks, so they are easy to take out and rearrange.


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## kschill83 (Jun 30, 2015)

dannifluff said:


> Haven't used wood as my pH is quite high and I would rather not have to faff about with pH matching during water changes, however I am a huge fan of IAL. I float half a new leaf in there a week. My Betta uses it as a bed when it softens up, or a canopy when it's still crisp... he seems very healthy and has dealt with some cycling/planting issues and the resultant ammonia spikes with aplomb...I'm not sure if the IAL has helped with that at all, but at the very least he seems to visibly appreciate it.
> 
> Also, there's no reason you can't just float or weight your plants in the water column rather than anchoring/planting them, which will make removal and bagging for transport much easier, plus your Betta will love the 'jungle' look. Plants in nature don't plant themselves all neat and pretty, and I think Bettas have a really strong instinct to tuck themselves away in tangles of stems etc, so it will make a nice environment for him
> 
> In my low light tank I have floating elodea densa and bacopa monnieri, they would be pretty easy to just scoop out, bag and transport!


Thanks for the advice! I would love to give my betta plants. I seen some people just leave their live plants in the pots that they come in from petco. Could I do that then just bury part of the pots in my rocks? Or what are some other ideas for weighing them down? Can all live plants float? Or just specific plants that are floaters? Sorry for all the questions, just new to adding live plants to my tanks :-D 

I've actually been looking into salvinia minima. Do you know much about it?


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## kschill83 (Jun 30, 2015)

ryry2012 said:


> I have a Mopani wood in one of my tank. Although it is definitely beautiful, it grows driftwood fungus. It's been four month and it still grows fungus...could be a kind of algae though. On my water change day, I take out the wood and scrub with a toothbrush. Well, the white fuzzy stuff grows back faithfully. I have moss attached on the wood, so I can't boil or try a bleach method...
> 
> IAL would be a better choice for you. You are busy traveling to the college, so I don't think you would like to deal with driftwood with fungus. Also your tanks are 2.5 gallons. Adding IAL will give the fish more room to swim than adding driftwood.


Thanks for the advice! I agree, it's beautiful, but if it has a chance of growing white fuzzy stuff, then I"ll pass. Looks like IAL is what I'll probably go with  I know it tints the water. Is too much tinting bad for bettas? I know water changes will keep the color tint light.


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## kschill83 (Jun 30, 2015)

Gariana said:


> +1 for the IAL. My betta seems to love his too. I change it to a fresh piece once a week and also add a tiny bit of black water extract every water change to keep the water slightly tinted.
> 
> I have two small pieces of bogwood in the tank, both have a java fern attached. Only few plants are actually planted in the substrate, most are tied to wood or rocks, so they are easy to take out and rearrange.


IAL it is! I've been online looking into purchasing it, any suggestions about where too look? I've mainly have just been on amazon and ebay. I think I'm definitely going to invest in live plants. With a 2.5 gallon tanks, what sort of things do I need to add to the water to keep the plants healthy? Is LED lighting okay?


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## dannifluff (Jul 5, 2015)

I get my IAL from eBay, whoever is selling them cheapest lol.

As for weighting plants, you can get lead plant weights (also from eBay) to wrap (gently) around the root base, which will make them sink. If you weight stem plants, always remove them from the cotton/ceramic ring they come bundled in and weight them gently with a lead strip instead. This will prevent rotting roots. Or, they can just float around at the surface. Plants that are rhizome based like anubias or java fern can either be left potted or tied around wood/rocks with bits of string... for transport I imagine potted would be easier.

I have salvinia minima in one tank, it's very nice. It would be easy enough to scoop out with a cup for transport, so give it a go if you fancy it. With most plants it's a case of sticking them in and seeing how they do  I use ferts but I honestly don't think most of the easy plants need them, they'll make do with what your fish produces. When you put plants in, it may appear as if some (particularly softer ones) are struggling. This is normal as they get used to your water. Unless they completely start to disintegrate just give them time.

If you don't already, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your ammonia when adding live plants... if one of them really doesn't take and starts to rot/melt/die, often you'll get a spike, which means it's time to take that one out.

Most live plants can be floated, as far as I'm aware, and it's especially beneficial to keep them above the gravel until you see healthy roots developing, in case you need to take a dying one out or do any trimming. I have no experience with swords/grasses etc as I find them a bit cumbersome, but certainly stems and rhizome-based plants float just fine, mosses too.

LED lighting should be fine, too. I get most of my plants from eBay, and usually they have a difficulty rating or seller notes... just choose ones rated easy or that don't require any special ferts/high lighting. If you wanted, you could get a bottle of Seachem Flourish Comprehensive (not Excel), which provides micro nutrients... this will really pep them up!

I quite like just weighting the ones I want at the bottom and floating the ones I want near the top.

I would also highly recommend QTing your plants for a couple of weeks, with several water changes, in a spare bucket or tub. Use conditioned water. This will help prevent any transfer of unwanted critters. You could stick a blanched lettuce leaf in the bottom of the bucket to encourage snails away from the plants, then remove them if any appear.

Hope that helps!


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

kschill83 said:


> Thanks for the advice! I agree, it's beautiful, but if it has a chance of growing white fuzzy stuff, then I"ll pass. Looks like IAL is what I'll probably go with  I know it tints the water. Is too much tinting bad for bettas? I know water changes will keep the color tint light.


I don't think too much tinting is not bad for bettas. I have never tried IAL, so I can't be 100% sure. But I don't think I've never read someone complaining about too much tinting do bad on bettas. If it tints too much, you can cut leaves and use smaller pieces for next times 

Anubias and Java Fern are the easiest. You can float in the tank. I have them in my 2.5 gallon that gets indirect sunlight. The plants were from my other tank. To be honest, I kind of dumped in the 2.5g thinking it's OK even if they die. It's been two or three months and they are surprisingly thriving. No fertilizer at all. They are just fine with ammonia and nitrate from a single betta. They are the best and easiest and effortless beginner plants for busy people.


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