# Bare Bottom Planted Tanks



## savagebeautymnl (Apr 16, 2015)

Hi! I'm new to the forum and the hobby, proud momma of 6 males and 3 female bettas. ;3 They currently each have their own tanks (the smallest of which is 1.5g) with 3 stems of pothos and lucky bamboo, a pot of pennywort, as well as some java moss & azolla.

After checking the previous threads, and learning quite a bit about plants, I've decided to stick to bare bottom for the moment. I'd like to try NPT, but a bit further down the road.

The emergent plants are doing fine. But I don't like the look of the pennywort's plastic pots. So I was wondering if any of you guys have suggestions for submersed plants that work better anchored to wood, without substrate. Or if you have other suggestions on how to densely plant a bare bottom tank? Your suggestions would be hugely appreciated!


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

I have a couple bare bottom tanks and I like to use terracotta pots  Just put some of whatever substrate you want in the pot and stick the plant in. You can get them super cheap at craft or dollar stores. They look better than plastic, imo.
Anubias and java fern are two plants that work great tied to a piece of wood or rock!


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## savagebeautymnl (Apr 16, 2015)

Thanks for the response, SplashyBetta! I may just go with anubias (OKAY, now I get why i keep reading "aunties" in the forums - that's what anubias auto-corrects to, hahaha!) & java fern. I'd like to bypass substrate altogether. ;p


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## Anne713 (Jul 18, 2014)

If you google bare bottom aquariums pics, you get quite a few showing where people plant in terra cotta pots. I plan on doing this when I get my new tank set in the mail and set up.


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

Just make sure the Lucky Bamboo isn't fully submersed, because it is not a fully aquatic plant, and will eventually start to rot.


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## savagebeautymnl (Apr 16, 2015)

Yup, FinnDublynn, I had secured all the leaves on the pothos and lucky bamboo above the surface.  They're growing roots nicely. 

Thanks for seconding SplashyBetta's suggestion, Anne 713. I plan to try that technique, but maybe with some planters that look like rocks, like in the picture attached. I'll post photos once they're set up. Good luck with your new tank!


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

Oh I like that planter....


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## savagebeautymnl (Apr 16, 2015)

Unfortunately I can't find a local source online. ;p I'll just have to try my luck visiting plant markets.

In the meantime I bookmarked a DIY tutorial just in case. http://crafts.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-make-a-geo-faceted-cement-planter--craft-11145 
This one had the clearest instructions. You might wanna try it too. :3 It's for a geometric shape, I might try to adapt to a simpler one.


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