# Do I have a planted tank? Also...snails?



## BettahBehBeh (Oct 18, 2013)

Hi,
I have two tanks (5.5 and 2.6 gallons). I have a gravel substrate and these plants:
anubias
mint charlie
brazillian pennywort
water sprite

After trying so many different plants that weren't aquatic (not that I'm bitter, Petco) I ordered these online. Since I don't have an eco complete substrate, I wasn't sure if this counted as a planted tank.

I recently bought two snails and have kept them in their own tank while mine finished cycling. THEY POOP SO MUCH. I change the water every day but OH MY GOD THE POOP. I'm not sure if they're worth it. I had heard somewhere that their poop was good fertilizer for plants, but would this be true in my case? Will they just throw off the balance I've created? Thoughts?


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## Nothingness (Oct 11, 2012)

I see it as a tank with plants. To me a NPT (natural planted tank) is done with soil or some type of soil substrate that supplies nutrients to the rooted plants of your tank with out having to rely on root tabs to supply the plants. Any method you choose is good, as live plants do so much good for the tank. Just be mindful of the roots when your vacumning the gravel.

Make sure the anabus is not in the gravel but attached to some driftwood or rock so it does not rot on you.

Any chance you have some pictures of your new tank?


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## frankiefire (Feb 26, 2013)

I agree with Nothingness. I have three tanks with gravel and root tabs and I consider them all planted.


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## BettahBehBeh (Oct 18, 2013)

Thanks. That makes sense. Here's a pic of my tank (and thanks for asking to see it!):








So would a snail just cause way too much waste or would it help with plant debris and poop as fertilizer?


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## Nothingness (Oct 11, 2012)

Looks great. You betta must be happy. Be sure to get that anibus outta the gravel though. When u bury the rizomes like that it can cause it to rot. Tie it to a rock or the driftwood and it will eventually attach itself to it


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## BettahBehBeh (Oct 18, 2013)

I was told as long as the rhizome is out of the gravel that I could put the roots in the gravel? When I upgraded tanks I moved the anubias and the roots had grown all around the gravel and there was no separating the two.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

frankiefire said:


> I agree with Nothingness. I have three tanks with gravel and root tabs and I consider them all planted.



so would you have to use co2 tablets to keep the plants alive since they are living in gravel? I am doing the same thing with white gravel and want to know if I should add anything to help the plants out. ^^


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

You can use Seachem Excel instead of CO2.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> You can use Seachem Excel instead of CO2.



so I would need that for my plants to grow? (sorry new to live plants in tanks XD)


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Not absolutely necessary but it helps; just like root tabs and fertilizer for plants that feed from the water stream. For the latter, I use Seachem Flourish.

BTW, IMO, no matter the substrate, if it has plants, it's "planted."  And Bettahbehbeh, yours is a beautiful planted tank.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

thanks so much RussellTheShihTzu <3 I may end up getting some, not sure yet. I will see how my plants do first. ^-^


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## BettahBehBeh (Oct 18, 2013)

Thanks so much for the compliment on the tank! Since this is new to me, I'm still having trouble figuring out if my plants are healthy. I've been using tiny amounts of Flourish because the gallons are small; can you overdose it? It's hard to measure out that small.

My main question is about the roots of my water sprite:
are they supposed to be this color? They look really, really dark to me. Is the healthy or am I doing something wrong?


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## BettahBehBeh (Oct 18, 2013)

Wow, okay. I just went back and looked at the pictures of my tank from two weeks ago. Nevermind, the water sprite must be healthy, it's almost doubled its size. Glad I took those pictures! Now, about the snail poop....any benefit at all to plants?? It's everywhere, UGH.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

BettahBehBeh said:


> Wow, okay. I just went back and looked at the pictures of my tank from two weeks ago. Nevermind, the water sprite must be healthy, it's almost doubled its size. Glad I took those pictures! Now, about the snail poop....any benefit at all to plants?? It's everywhere, UGH.


Hahaha! good thing you took a picture of it.  I take pictures of my boys and tanks all the time and that is how I find some issues, like fin rot or tail biting. =)

And Hmmm I cannot answer that question with the snail poo. I sure hope so cause I have nitrite snails that poo a lot!


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## Nothingness (Oct 11, 2012)

clean the poop out. If you had a soil substrate you can leave it as it breaks down properly but with gravel I say clean it out as you would with your regular water changes and just be careful when vacuuming to not disturb the roots


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## frankiefire (Feb 26, 2013)

Tree said:


> so would you have to use co2 tablets to keep the plants alive since they are living in gravel? I am doing the same thing with white gravel and want to know if I should add anything to help the plants out. ^^


My three tanks are all "low light" tanks. I dose flourish comp once a week. No co2 and it's been fine.


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