# My first plant! Help please!



## Gen2387 (Oct 13, 2011)

Hi everyone!
I've had betta tanks for a long time and I never ventured into plants because I've always been kind of bad with the. The only kind of plant I've had in my tanks are moss balls because they are incredibly easy to take care of.  

Anyway, I went to the pet store to buy a new moss ball and a couple of decorations (boxing day sales are still going... yay!) AND I couldn't help myself but look at all the pretty plants. I asked the guy in the fih section (i know i know... not always the best sources, but that's why I'm here right now) and I asked him what was a plant that was really easy to take care of and didn't require a whole lot of sunlight. He told me to get an anubias. So I chose the one that looked the best and that was a little smaller and I bought it.

The guy told me to be careful because there might be snails hidden in it so I put it in a quarantine tank for the time being. 

MY QUESTIONS:
1. Up to now I've rinsed the plant a couple of times and found 2 tiny snails. I haven't seen anymore snails for the past 2 days. How long should I leave it in quarantine?
2. For my moss ball I put them in untreated water for 4 days for their time in quarantine so it kills anything bad. Up to now, I've treated the water of the quaratine tank for the anubias. Should I not treat it?
3. When I bought the plant, at the base of it, the roots are wrapped in a kind of spongy-like material (that's how they were in the tanks over there). SHould I undo that? 
4. I have gravel in the tank I want to put it in. How should I proceed?


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## WhiskeyHands (Dec 2, 2012)

you're from montreal, where exactly in montreal?
and idk much about the questions you asked but i bought 2 live plants and i planted it with the sponge thingy and my plants are growing, i just put them beneath the gravel covering the roots


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## Gen2387 (Oct 13, 2011)

Hi!
I'm actually near Montreal, on the south shore.


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## WhiskeyHands (Dec 2, 2012)

Im on the West Island!


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

You can treat anubias with un-treated tap water as well. No issue there and I would actually do it for another day or two before you add it to the tank.

If it were me I'd try to remove the spongy material if possible, if not then it should be fine to plant like that.

now for the tricky part, Only the roots of the anubias can be planted. This plant is actually supposed to be tied to driftwood or lava rock or some other decoration. BUT it is okay to plant as long as you only have the roots covered. The rhizome is the part that connects all the leaves together, that has got to be above the gravel able to see the light or else the plant will rot away.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I think the sponge material might be whats holding the plant down. Marimo if you want you can add aquarium salt to quarintine.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Thanks aemaki09, I was worried about the sponge part and nobody knew it can be harmful. All my hygrophilia died because it had grown into a sponge for the store and the only way it could keep growing was if I took off the sponge, which dmaaged all the roots. 
Your new anubias should be tied to something, though mine was fine for months just held down with the gravel (rhizome out). I tied it to a small weight yesterday. Mine grows a leaf every week and a half or so. I love my anubias.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I suggest tying it too driftwood.


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## WhiskeyHands (Dec 2, 2012)

Laki said:


> I was worried about the sponge part and nobody knew it can be harmful. All my hygrophilia died because it had grown into a sponge for the store and the only way it could keep growing was if I took off the sponge, which dmaaged all the roots.


should i unroot mine and then remove the sponge and re plant it?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I would just remove the sponge.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

WhiskeyHands said:


> should i unroot mine and then remove the sponge and re plant it?


 
remove as much of the sponge as you can and re-plant.

The sponge really isn't dangerous per-say. it just makes it harder for the plants to grow.

I kind of did an experiment with me amazon swords, with 1 I got nearly all the sponge out and with the other the roots were so grown into it that it was hard to get any out. Guess which one grew faster? The one without the sponge lol.


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## WhiskeyHands (Dec 2, 2012)

aemaki09 said:


> remove as much of the sponge as you can and re-plant.
> 
> The sponge really isn't dangerous per-say. it just makes it harder for the plants to grow.
> 
> I kind of did an experiment with me amazon swords, with 1 I got nearly all the sponge out and with the other the roots were so grown into it that it was hard to get any out. Guess which one grew faster? The one without the sponge lol.


Oh thanks, i have 2 live plants, i unrooted one of them and damn it was hard removing it it. I'm gonna see if it's better then i might do the same with the other one too 

random: chocolatebetta is banned? Is it from the site or what?


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## Gen2387 (Oct 13, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your answers! I really appreciate. It helped me a lot. I do my water changes on wednesdays so I'll put the plants in then. Wish me luck cuz I don't really have a green thumb. Haha!


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## WhiskeyHands (Dec 2, 2012)

good luck


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## Gen2387 (Oct 13, 2011)

So today's the day. I've finished my water changes and installed my new plant in my tank! It's PRETTY! My first real plant. Lol! I'll post pics soon!


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## Gen2387 (Oct 13, 2011)

There you go. Maybe one day I'll have only planted tanks. :-D


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

It's beautiful!


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