# Is THIS much plant matter normal? D: Tons of it everywhere



## LugiaChan (Mar 8, 2012)

So, I did post stuff about plant matter being a major problem before. I had to re-add my plant because my fish was having far too much stress without it, and got prepared to give it another go.... And these pictures are from a 1/2 tank clean pretty much .-. there is FAR too much left over plant stuff everywhere!


































;_; so many roots in the water.... It's supposed to be a Phillipine fern plant, but I dont like it! And I left the leaf in far too long, it barely caused any matter and I know what kind of plant matter it leaves behind and what it looks like- but this phillipine fern is just too much for me to handle. Do other plants have THIS much matter all the time for every cleaning? XD I clean weekly.... I ask because I want to ditch plants all together x_x

Eeeeh yeah, I had gravel in the past but the plant matter was too hard to clean with it in there and i'm working on getting acrylic borders and doing multiple types of gravel/sand. I need to figure out this plant problem first o.o


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## davyj0427 (Aug 1, 2010)

If you dont like it get rid of it and buy a silk plant. Your fish will like it and so will you. Or if you want the real thing grab some java moss easy to care for and no mess.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Your java fern doesn't look to be in the best of health, which could explain the amount of debris you are seeing. I would personally trim off any dead/dying leaves. 

I have found that my java fern tend to die back when first introduced to a tank. Once they adjust however, they regrow fairly quickly as long as the rhizome is still healthy and green.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

yeah the java fern is just getting used to your water. I like to trim off excess dying leaves/dead roots when I am doing tank cleaning, but now they don't give off much debris.


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## LugiaChan (Mar 8, 2012)

davyj0427 said:


> If you dont like it get rid of it and buy a silk plant. Your fish will like it and so will you. Or if you want the real thing grab some java moss easy to care for and no mess.


Eh I like really rare and uncommon plants, I was wondering if they'd give me the same trouble. I was considering...


Eleocharis ''parvula'' (hair grass)
Pink or orange water lily.
Echinodorus 'vesuvius' (AWESOME snake bamboo-like twirls!)
Fissidens splachnobryoides (the bottom moss)
Marsilea quadrifolia (water shamrock)
Anubias, Petite Nana (just big leaves)
APONOGETON ULVACEUS (large flat curvy)
Corkscrew Vallisneria (long snake twirls)
Onion Plant (Crinum thaianum) (long, stingy, spacious)
Dwarf baby tears


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## LugiaChan (Mar 8, 2012)

purplemuffin said:


> yeah the java fern is just getting used to your water. I like to trim off excess dying leaves/dead roots when I am doing tank cleaning, but now they don't give off much debris.


I've had it quite a few months now, maybe about 5 months or so.... I am wondering if these plants would give me the same trouble : (

Eh I like really rare and uncommon plants, I was considering...


Eleocharis ''parvula'' (hair grass)
Pink or orange water lily.
Echinodorus 'vesuvius' (AWESOME snake bamboo-like twirls!)
Fissidens splachnobryoides (the bottom moss)
Marsilea quadrifolia (water shamrock)
Anubias, Petite Nana (just big leaves)
APONOGETON ULVACEUS (large flat curvy)
Corkscrew Vallisneria (long snake twirls)
Onion Plant (Crinum thaianum) (long, stingy, spacious)
Dwarf baby tears


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

HC or dwarf baby tears really needs a nutrient rich substrate and high lighting with added CO2 to carpet like you see in a lot of pictures online. Hair grass will also carpet a lot more quickly if grown in these same conditions. 

Anubias of any species is practically indestructible. It is a slow grower but requires little to no care. Only thing to watch for is it can be an algae magnet because of its slow growth rate. 

Vallisneria is also a fairly easy plant to grow. Likes to have some nutrients in the substrate, and can tend to melt if you use a carbon supplement like Seachem Excel.

Edited to add I did some research, and there seems to be some disagreement as to whether your fissidens species is able to be grown submersed or not.


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## LugiaChan (Mar 8, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> HC or dwarf baby tears really needs a nutrient rich substrate and high lighting with added CO2 to carpet like you see in a lot of pictures online. Hair grass will also carpet a lot more quickly if grown in these same conditions.
> 
> Anubias of any species is practically indestructible. It is a slow grower but requires little to no care. Only thing to watch for is it can be an algae magnet because of its slow growth rate.
> 
> ...


Great! Let me know if you find any more info on Fissidens species... Do you think i'd have this same problem with plant matter everywhere if I get plants such as these? If they will I will hope to revert to fake plants and maybe one kind of moss.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

You are going to get debris, dead leaves, mulm etc. any time you use live plants. Plants like hair grass and HC also require regular trimming and maintenance to look their best. 

If you want a very clean looking tank that requires little time or effort to maintain, than I would probably go with silk plants. I personally like having real plants in all my tanks so that is what I choose to go with.


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## LugiaChan (Mar 8, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> You are going to get debris, dead leaves, mulm etc. any time you use live plants. Plants like hair grass and HC also require regular trimming and maintenance to look their best.
> 
> If you want a very clean looking tank that requires little time or effort to maintain, than I would probably go with silk plants. I personally like having real plants in all my tanks so that is what I choose to go with.


Ok. I like real plants, but I think fake plants will make me happier for less cleaning. Do you think that moss would create any algae problems, because its a live plant? :0 heck I might not use live plants at all... I love my tank being clean, plants were just to keep it clean and reduce the amount of cleaning, to look nice and be nice hiding spots for my fish XD but its a maintenance problem! <3

thank you so much for helping me with this


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Moss tends to collect a lot of detritus, but all I do with my java moss (mine just floats around in my tanks) is just give it a swish around in some clean water when I do my water changes. 

I like java moss since it is low maintenance, slow-growing (which equals less maintenance also) and doesn't need any special fertilisers or lights to do well. Plus my fish enjoy hiding in it and swimming through it. 

It all comes down to personal preference in the end. I don't think a betta can tell the difference between a silk plant and a live plant and I don't think they care either way.


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## LugiaChan (Mar 8, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Moss tends to collect a lot of detritus, but all I do with my java moss (mine just floats around in my tanks) is just give it a swish around in some clean water when I do my water changes.
> 
> I like java moss since it is low maintenance, slow-growing (which equals less maintenance also) and doesn't need any special fertilisers or lights to do well. Plus my fish enjoy hiding in it and swimming through it.
> 
> It all comes down to personal preference in the end. I don't think a betta can tell the difference between a silk plant and a live plant and I don't think they care either way.


I agree.... Are any of the plants on my list incredibly low on plant matter it leaves behind and nearly no lighting conditions required? 

Eleocharis ''parvula'' (hair grass)
Pink or orange water lily.
Echinodorus 'vesuvius' (AWESOME snake bamboo-like twirls!)
Fissidens splachnobryoides (the bottom moss)
Marsilea quadrifolia (water shamrock)
Anubias, Petite Nana (just big leaves)
APONOGETON ULVACEUS (large flat curvy)
Corkscrew Vallisneria (long snake twirls)
Onion Plant (Crinum thaianum) (long, stingy, spacious)

I mean, likely hardly anything left over to clean up XD this was a disaster with one plant that i'm now wanting to sell/give away.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Anubias species tend not to make a lot of mess. I used to use them in my bare-bottom tanks and the mess they made was hardly noticeable. They are extremely slow growing so don't need a lot of pruning or special care.


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## LugiaChan (Mar 8, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Anubias species tend not to make a lot of mess. I used to use them in my bare-bottom tanks and the mess they made was hardly noticeable. They are extremely slow growing so don't need a lot of pruning or special care.


Okay! Anything else you'd recommend that i'd like? XD Sorry to say I cant stand common plants so much <3 Anubias, Petite Nana <3 and i'd assume moss should be fine.... thank you so much for everything!


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