# Planted tank ideas



## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

I finally found a cheap enough tank for me to start thinking about making my small 5.5 gallons planted tank like I wanted.

However I never successfully made a planted tank work, last time I tried I think I didn't have the right substrate for plants at all so they either all died, or my shark finished them off!

I plan to add snails and shrimp before a Betta to really cycle it well (because i'm lazy and I rather change the water less than not ) 

What kind of substrate should I get? Any plants that are the best? I do like the moss balls but I want more things too!

Can I add floating plants and control them, or it will just make my future betta confused for air in the end?

Any ideas are welcomed!


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Just a warning, shrimp will die in a tank that's not cycled so I really don't recommend using them to cycle until you're doing Fish-Less way with the raw shrimp. Snails will tolerate it but I still don't suggest it even if you are doing a NPT.

For substrates you can do pretty much any enriched substrate like Eco-Complete, Flourite, Flora-Max, things like those will be fine. or if you want to do a NPT there's a few different soils you can get and use a sand or gravel cap over it. I just sifted out Miracle Grow Potting Mix and used the finer soil that I got from sifting out the bigger chunks and then just threw the bigger chunks into the garden.

As for plants, at first you want things to soak up the ammonia and whatnot first like fast growing plants; water wistera, cabomda, hornwort, water sprite, duckweed, frog-bit, and basically any floating plant. Floating plants will really help get rid of the ammonia and start to balance things out for you so those are good. And no it won't confuse your Betta, they like the floating plants actually.


----------



## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

Don't mean to invade the OP's thread, but I have a quick question. Did you use the organic potting mix or just regular Miracle Grow potting mix, lilnaugrim?


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

RowdyBetta said:


> Don't mean to invade the OP's thread, but I have a quick question. Did you use the organic potting mix or just regular Miracle Grow potting mix, lilnaugrim?


Just the regular Potting Mix, didn't want to touch the organic stuff as I haven't done much reading on it but I remember that causing some people issues  So far the regular Potting Mix has been doing great, granted it's only been 3 day's but hey, all is well! I only had .25 ppm of ammonia as well which is good in relation.


----------



## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

Thanks so extremely much! XD I've been trying to find someone who's used it. I want to convert my 10 to a NPT and already have the potting mix out in the garage. Thanks again!


----------



## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

wont potting mix just make the water brown? 
And rowdy - invade away! i'm also curious


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

LurkerMom said:


> I finally found a cheap enough tank for me to start thinking about making my small 5.5 gallons planted tank like I wanted.
> 
> However I never successfully made a planted tank work, last time I tried I think I didn't have the right substrate for plants at all so they either all died, or my shark finished them off!
> 
> ...


Good luck with your planted tank!


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

LurkerMom said:


> wont potting mix just make the water brown?
> And rowdy - invade away! i'm also curious


Potting mix won't make it brown. Many planted tank experts use it. Usually people just wash it well, put it in and top it with sand or gravel. Then fill the tank up very slowly and carefully with water


----------



## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

I assume if I do that, I wont have to vacuum at all? or at least, very little?


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

You would still have to clean the substrate, just lightly vacuum the dirt and debris from the surface if the gravel/sand. But it'd be very little because of the snails cleaning it. The debris from the plants would make for quite a bit if cleaning. That's what I always hated about hornwort. All those needles coming off even when the plant was healthy, a stalk of Rotala would wilt and wether away, some duckweed would die here and there. Just those little things make more cleaning


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Just once a month or so, mostly it's just asethic purposes and then of course replenishing minerals as well. You'll need to top it off every now and then from evaporation as well.

And yes, using potting soil or some dirt is doing the Natural Planted Tank way NPT which is a soil base with a cap over it, usually sand but gravel can be used as well. What I did was use a collander to sort out the big stuff from the potting mix and then cleaned my tank out since it was already up and running. When it was completely empty I poured the dirt in and smoothed it and then pressed it down so to get more of the little air out if there were any, I only have like half an inch of soil though, too much substrate and you'll have issues with gas bubbles that can be poisonious. So 1 inch of soil and 1 inch of cap is a good guidline but can be changed of course.

Then after it was patted down nicely, I poured the gravel over top and patted that down a little, I used paper towels to set on top of the gravel and started to pour my water in with a cup. The paper towel allows for water to be poured in without disturbing the substrates and will lift up as the water fills up, continuously protecting the substrate. And then was planted and finished off.

We have some good stickies about NPT's in the planted tank section, you should read them


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Here's and old pic of one of my planted tanks. Not an NPT, thisis just to give you and idea... It's very messy though, lol


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Sorry about spamming but here's another one, it wouldn't let me post two pictures at once


----------



## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

I'm new to this as well, just a few months, (kept some really easy stuff alive in the tanks here and there, but only recently have started my first all planted tanks) but I've just been using plain small diameter gravel (however deep you need to anchor your plants), and regular flourish. The plants have been growing great, had to do the first trimmings a week later. 

Another really good fast grower is anachris. It will almost visibly grow while you're watching it, lol!  There are several different types of it, so you can get different looks from the same species of plant, just depending on what subspecies you buy.  

Only thing with anachris, do NOT use the flourish products like Excel, just *plain* flourish, otherwise the carbon or iron in them makes some people's anachris melt.  

I rarely dose my plants with any sort of fertz, mostly because I forget, and the two bettas in the divided 20L seem to be getting them going at a good clip. I'd rather not add chemicals if I don't need to.  

I've also read that you can use all the fertz/substrate in the world, but your really big issue is *lighting*.  I've got two clip-on desk lamps going 12 hours a day on my 20L's (one on each end, clipped on the edge and then focused straight in over the acrylic tank lid) with 60 or 100 watt equiv compact flourescents in them, and it's been working really well, even for the high-light stuff like red ludwigia and camboda.  

Oh, and one more tidbit, Stone and Peachii use the miracle grow plant sticks (they're small and green, little sticks that come from walmart or any place that sells plants) broken into small pieces and then stuck way down deep into the substrate in place of root tabs for their crypts. Everything else pretty much gets their nutrients from the water column, but crypts will require some sort of in-substrate feeding.  

Everybody else has you covered, I thought I'd just add in a couple of tidbits I'd seen from around here that you might find interesting/helpful.


----------



## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Ooh, Mo, I like your tanks!  Lots of plants, more fun for fishies, lol! 

What is the wood/plant you used in there?


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks! The wood in the first tank was from a stream. I washed that very well too. The crazy looking spider wood is from our backyard that was from a dead tree, I just washed it super well and stuck it in there but be careful if doing that because many trees can have contaminants on them like fertilizers, fungus, etc. also about the floating plants question in the first post. As you can see I had a ton of floating plants covering the surface but my fish were fine, . Just leave a little bit of space for them. You can kinda see the fish in the first photo in the back corner. It's a 5 gallon tank BTW


----------



## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

What is that grass-like plant at the bottom of your tank in the first pic, Mo? I really like its looks.


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

@Rowdy looks to be Microsword :-D


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Umm, if I can remember correctly they are micro swords





lilnaugrim said:


> @Rowdy looks to be Microsword :-D


Lol, Yup


----------



## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

do I have to use fertilizer or I can just use the fishpoop?


----------



## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

Thanks! ^^ I'm making a list and researching some new plants to try since I'll be doing a NPT. Brown hair algae took out most of my once thriving water wisteria. XP


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Lol.. It's pretty much optional but I would use it if I were you  it always helped me. and maybe when you trim the plants When they overgrow you can send me some, lol. Just kidding


----------



## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

LurkerMom said:


> do I have to use fertilizer or I can just use the fishpoop?


Some plants require extra nutrients that they can get from ferts, but it's not always needed.
One thing though, don't get API's liquid ferts, they don't really do anything for the plants.


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

If you need any fertilizers I can send you some. I'm never going to end up using all of mine and its been sitting in the fridge for like 8 months now. I think I have seachem flourish


----------



## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

Alright, i'll keep that in mind
so I assume theres plants that need less nutrients , but let me guess, they dont look as cool?


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Hey. Plants look cooler with more nutrients and lights, my Rotala never turned red except for the few leaves that were near the surface. Lots of cool plants don't need as much nutrients but most of the awesome plants like the red plants need them. I used them with my micro swords BTW and I liked those plants


----------



## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

I LOVE water wisteria, looks awesome and mine haven't needed any ferts. They grow like crazy for me! XD


----------



## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

Another question, Mo, do you have any added CO2 for your microswords?


----------



## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Okay, another question for Mo, the wood from the backyard, does it not rot? 

I have a wooded lot, there's no sprays or anything on any of our trees...I will have to watch out for fungus though as it's pretty "natural" back there, so I know the wood is, on at least one part of this, safe. 

Did you use wood that had died and fallen, or did you take cuttings and use those? And if they were cuttings, did you do anything to dry them out? 
I've dried flowers and things for years, but never tried it with wood. Now I'm curious, lol!  

I like driftwood, but it's expensive, and I typically have trouble finding small pieces (because my tanks are divided 20L's) that are interesting in shape and not just a piece of a larger section cut down. 

Anyway, thanks for the information!!


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

RowdyBetta said:


> Another question, Mo, do you have any added CO2 for your microswords?


I never had any added Co2 for any of my plants. I always had relatively easy to care for plants and never found the absolute need for it. But it probably would have helped





Blue Fish said:


> Okay, another question for Mo, the wood from the backyard, does it not rot?
> 
> I have a wooded lot, there's no sprays or anything on any of our trees...I will have to watch out for fungus though as it's pretty "natural" back there, so I know the wood is, on at least one part of this, safe.
> 
> ...


I used wood from a dead tree that had been dead for a while I just washed it really, really well and it worked out. The branches kept breaking though. Make sure that you use hard wood and not soft wood so it doesn't break down in the aquarium.


----------



## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

Yea, I saw some driftwood in stores, those things are so expencive!! 
Can I just go get some in a lake or something?


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

I guess you could but you should probably boil the wood to get all of the tannins out and to clean it. I would personally, and this is what I did, get a few guppies and put them with the wood and see how they do and if they're fine after a month. Just bring them back to the store or give them up for adoption then you can put you're fish in but I'd still be careful if I were you. I was too cheap to buy the driftwood from the store.., I still regret it because of what could have happened to my fish


----------



## RowdyBetta (Feb 1, 2013)

Thanks, Mo!


I bought the mopani from the reptile section at PetSmart. I've been satisfied with it, but next time I might test run some driftwood from the River in an extra tank.


----------



## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Your welcome!


----------

