# Which plants to buy to decrease ammonia?



## mattdocs12345 (Oct 13, 2014)

Okay so here is an idea im entertaining with.

I have 2.7 gallon tank. According to OFL I should do twice a week water changes....



Oldfishlady said:


> Tanks:
> 1-4gal without a filter or live plants
> Twice weekly-1-50% water only and 1-100%
> 
> ...


Filter or not filter still twice a week changes. However planted tanks, she seems to suggest that less is possible.

I have one anubia and one hairgrass. The hairgrass seems to be fast growing but I don't know if it removes ammonia or not. I know some plants don't remove as much as others.
So which plants are most effective at removing ammonia and also have low light requirement.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

The ammonia conumption is normally, to my understanding, linked to growth rate and light requirements. Slow growing low lights will use less than fast-growing low light plants. Things that are fast growing can get out of control pretty fast. Cambomba caroliniana will grow anywhere, its all but a weed (all be it a very pretty one in the aquarium, not a weed to me, but if released into waterways....)  

Anubias, Crypts and other low-loight plants are a bit more demaninding (crypts) or very slow growing (anubias). 

You will want it 'moderately planted' at least to cut down on W/C. I have a planted 3 gal that I do 25% and 50% on every week, and that one is about a third- to half-planted


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

All plants will remove ammonia, but faster growing plants are better at it than slow growing plants. So plants like Water Wisteria, Water Sprite, Anacharis (cold water and may not be available in your state), and all floating plants will be great at removing ammonia. Floaters: dwarf water lettuce, red root floaters, duckweed, giant duckwee, salivina, and frog-bit.

Dwarf Hairgrass is a good plant but it needs LOTS of root tabs or a soil based tank (NPT) and lots of light too at 6,500 Kelvin per bulb or LED.

With planted tanks, yes you'll want to decrease the number of water changes so that you are sucking out all the nutrients for the plants and causing nitrogen deficiencies. And if you only have one Betta in the tank, once the plants are growing well (and ONLY after that), you can start doing once weekly water changes around 50% and maybe to every other week if the tank is heavily planted and by heavily I mean, the fish can barely move around lol. It's healthy though, Betta's are made stream-lined so they can slip in between those plants and hide when they want to so no worries, you aren't taking his swimming space by adding plants. 

But in the beginning, the plants may melt or even fully die off so until they are growing well and you have at least 50% of the tank planted, I'd keep on with two 25-50% water changes per week just to keep ammonia at bay.

Do you have a filter?


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

If you aren't looking to totally plant, and want fast growers, look at floating plants. Dwarf water lettuce and amazon frogbit are both super fast growers that suck up huge amounts of ammonia. I have them in all of my tanks, and my 2.5 gallon that just has a CFL, does wonderfully.
However, if you are willing to fully plant, you could potentially go down to one 50% change a week. In my 2.5 gallon, half of it is very heavily planted, (the other half has a sunken ship he refuses to give up) and has both dwarf water lettuce and amazon frogbit. I never see ammonia. Even when I had to switch his filter out and removed most of the bb. I waited a week with no water changes, testing daily, just to see what would happen. No ammonia. 
I still do 2 water changes. I've decreased it to around 1 30% or so, and 1 50%, and could easily get by with 1 50% a week, but I do it when I do the 10 and when I do the 20 and I do those on different days. 
BUT, my tank has also been planted since May and I didn't decrease changes until the last month or so. So doable, for one betta, with both planted plants and good floaters.


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## mattdocs12345 (Oct 13, 2014)

Yeah I heard a lot about water lettuce being the top amonia consuming plant. I might give it a try if everything else refuses to grow.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Faster growing plants=consume more ammonia. Floaters are a good start like hornwort, anacharis, duckweed, frogtbit, dwarf water lettuce (or giant water lettuce if you don't have a lid.. because damn that gets big!) and salvia minimia. Many Hygrophila species grow fast and some are ok for low light tanks like combosa and tiger. Vals also work but they are root feeders so stuff 1 root tab deep in the substrate by them (1 root tab per 3 square inch area, replace every 6-9 months) vals can grow very long though, but they can be cut like grass. Once vals get established and use to your water (can take up to a month) they will be spitting out runners (new babies) along the substrate like crazy and can take over your tank in a few months (easy enough to remove excess plants though). Also don't use Seachem Excel (a 'liquid co2') as vals don't do well with the chemicals in it and die (know form experiences- tried using a 1/12th dose.. whole tank of vals melted by next morning x.x)


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## mattdocs12345 (Oct 13, 2014)

Okay so I have the following plants:
- Hairgrass
- Anubias 
And in mail I have the following coming in 1-2 weeks:
- Moneywort
- Red Ludwiga
- Cabomba x2
This is a 2.7 gallon tank and Im going to put all of the above plants into one of those:
- It's a glass attachable pot, I may fill it with gravel or some kind of soil, not sure yet.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ID1ZZ6M...UTF8&colid=3G54U3ZRJGGJC&coliid=IADAE6YKHRJCE


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

mattdocs12345 said:


> Okay so I have the following plants:
> - Hairgrass
> - Anubias
> And in mail I have the following coming in 1-2 weeks:
> ...


Depends how big it is, but not sure if tehy will all fit. Or if the hairgrass will do well sharing the pot.  They do look handy though... Might get a few of those for my big tanks 

Oh, worth noting, make sure the Anubias' rhizome isnt in any substrate. The cabomba will grow anywhere but will easily reach 30+cm. Will need trimming if it is potted.


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## mattdocs12345 (Oct 13, 2014)

BettaMummy87 said:


> The cabomba will grow anywhere but will easily reach 30+cm. Will need trimming if it is potted.


 My tank is 2.7 gallon, filtering that tank mechanically is something I ethically oppose. So I need fast growers and I will probably remove any plants that don't grow fast enough for those that do.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Well Anubias doesn't grow fast but it's still a great plant to keep, just because it doesn't grow fast doesn't mean it's not a good plant. Betta's specifically love the large leaves to rest on, the Anubias can also just be floated as well or you can tie it to a rock/driftwood/ornament for easy removal when you need to.

It's actually good to have a mixture of plants anyway, not just for the ammonia removal but just for your fishes entertainment as well and it honestly looks really good too.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

mattdocs12345 said:


> My tank is 2.7 gallon, filtering that tank mechanically is something I ethically oppose. So I need fast growers and I will probably remove any plants that don't grow fast enough for those that do.


Any particular reason you are opposed. I'm curious XD


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## mattdocs12345 (Oct 13, 2014)

BettaMummy87 said:


> Any particular reason you are opposed. I'm curious XD


In a small tank it pulls the fish around or creates area where fish will refuse to swim due to the current. It reduced swimming area by 30% in already small tank and added additional stress due to tiny vibrations caused by the little motor in the filter. 

In a bigger tank it might work but not something of 2.7 gallons and not my betta. 

And i keep his water clean and always with prime.

I want to add filtering plants to filter his tank naturally. With no stress and less water changes and less prime.


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## TerriGtoo (Jul 2, 2013)

I envy you guys that have cabomba growing like a weed. It's one of the few plants, along with anacharis that alway die / disintegrate on me. Go figure!


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## TerriGtoo (Jul 2, 2013)

mattdocs12345 said:


> In a small tank it pulls the fish around or creates area where fish will refuse to swim due to the current. It reduced swimming area by 30% in already small tank and added additional stress due to tiny vibrations caused by the little motor in the filter.
> 
> In a bigger tank it might work but not something of 2.7 gallons and not my betta.
> 
> ...


That's not always true. With the correct filter, such as a nano filter that is flow adjustable, or even a sponge filter you can have a low flow tank that is not stressful to your fish. I have a dozen or so 3g tanks with Deep Blue Biomaxx adjustable flow nanos on each. Not a single betta struggles against the filter flow.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

I have a sponge filter in a 2.5 gallon with a very poor swimmer. It's the only filter he hasn't hated. I had to get an adjustable valve though to dialdown the airflow so even it wasn't too strong


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

aselvarial said:


> I have a sponge filter in a 2.5 gallon with a very poor swimmer. It's the only filter he hasn't hated. I had to get an adjustable valve though to dialdown the airflow so even it wasn't too strong


I have something like this in my 2 gal... i have an airline clamp for the tubing to dial it down. thinking of getting an adjustable airpump though.  For my 3gal I have a nano filter with spraybar, which is pointed at the glass right nxt to it. My male in there lives by it, the weirdo. :/ Then again he doesnt have long fins (trad PK). The one going in the 2 gal is a longfin hm though. 

while its not a small tank (80-100L long community) I am not allowed to turn the outflow down on the filter. The male in my avatar surfs on it. He waits til it is pointing the right way (it moves) the swims infront of it and flares... sends him to halfway down the tank easily, the he swims back for another go.... pmsl. 

So long as it is clean and warm though, not filter is fine. Thanks for explaining your reasons!


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