NationStates Jolt Archive

Do any of you have planted aquariums? I am creating my first heavily planted aquarium. I cannot wait to get it all set up. I can think of few G-rated things more beautiful than a gorgeous planted aquarium. Does anyone else have a planted aquarium or share my love of planted aquariums? Anybody have any tips?

I had an aquarium once. It would have been a lot nicer if it had had fewer plastic plants and more real plants. I was more into the fish at the time though.

Is the idea of a planted aquarium to highlight the flora over the fish? Or to compliment each? Are there even fish in such a set up?

if you have alot of real plants, you may need a CO2 injector.

Planted aquarium? I'm confused.

Do you mean an aquarium with live plants for the fish to swim among?

Or do you mean a terrarium, which is a miniature garden planted in an aquarium tank or similar container?

Do any of you have planted aquariums? I am creating my first heavily planted aquarium. I cannot wait to get it all set up. I can think of few G-rated things more beautiful than a gorgeous planted aquarium. Does anyone else have a planted aquarium or share my love of planted aquariums? Anybody have any tips?

I have a pond, with plants, if that counts. We were considering a planted aquarium but decided the upkeep would be annoying. We stuck with plastic plants so the fish could still spawn.

Assuming you have fish in with the plants, you want to have a bubbler or something for nighttime when the plants are releasing CO2. I currently don't have an aquarium anymore because I didn't feel like having to deal with moving it around and my living situation isn't permanent. However, I sometimes help my parents with their pond and aquariums. I used to have a bunch of Amazon swords, and Compacta Swords in a tropical tank, and they made tons of offshoots and even flowered, which was quite unexpected. I also had some Anarachis in with my shubunkins, which was alot less work.

What kind of plants are you thinking and what kind of fish to go with them? Have you thought of upgrading your lighting, alot of plants won't do well in normal lighting, especially in deeper tanks as the light intensity drops a lot with depth. The only other thing is to make sure you remove any dead parts so they don't start decaying in your tank, which can mess up your water quality. Also, it might be a good idea to keep some plastic plants as some kinds of beneficial bacteria will only grow on the plastic.

I have a pond, with plants, if that counts. We were considering a planted aquarium but decided the upkeep would be annoying. We stuck with plastic plants so the fish could still spawn.

What about live plants would stop your fish from spawning?

Just while it's not a circus .. :mad:

Beware the chiclids, they'll eat anything. Don't pay attention to what the idiot in the store says, chiclids are evil and mean and they'll chew up anything in their path.

You gotta watch out with plants. Some fish, especially cichlids, love to tear them up.

As for the CO2 injector, you can look online for cheap plans to make one out of a 2 liter and some air hose.

And lights. Big, expensive lights. Depending on the size of your tank.

Once upon a time, I had some jack dempseys (cichlids), I had plants in there and they intentionally chewed them up and uprooted them. I used to have a pretty large 100 gallon aquarium and a couple of smaller ones. I wouldn't mind getting back into aquariums but it's just so much work to clean them. If I could just pay somebody to do it, it would be nice.

I planted the first (and so far only) aquarium I have had. Certainly much more pleasing to look at than one with plastic plants. I found it quite hard to keep one particular species in check - I started out with three types of plant but in the end I only had one. So expect to do a lot of work keeping the plants in hand. I had mainly tetras plus a small catfish, none of them seemed to eat the plants much.

I had an aquarium once. It would have been a lot nicer if it had had fewer plastic plants and more real plants. I was more into the fish at the time though.

Is the idea of a planted aquarium to highlight the flora over the fish? Or to compliment each? Are there even fish in such a set up?

The idea of my soon to be planted tank is to have the emphasis be on the scenery of the aquarium instead of the fish. The fish are there to accent the aquarium and fish help plants. Certain fish help plants by removing algae. All fish help be fertilizing the plants.

I think the best analogy is when you compare aquariums to the hobby of model railroading. I am not a model railroader but I think it is neat to see the landscape that someone created for the trains. The trains are not that interesting to me but they bring motion and action to the scenery.

Some people I am sure have the opposite view and are more interested in the trains in model railroading and the fish in aquariums.

I have a 120 gallon tank that I am using for my plant tank. I plan to have a small fish population of about 4 chinese algae eaters (they grow to be about 4 or 5 inches long) several small Corydoras catfish and about 5 or 6 small to medium size angelfish. I have already made arrangements with my pet store for them to take large angelfish from me and unwanted excess baby angelfish that I would raise in a separate tank.

if you have alot of real plants, you may need a CO2 injector.

Thanks. I got one last weekend.

Planted aquarium? I'm confused.

Do you mean an aquarium with live plants for the fish to swim among?

Or do you mean a terrarium, which is a miniature garden planted in an aquarium tank or similar container?

I mean an aquarium with aquatic plants in it and just a few fish.

You gotta watch out with plants. Some fish, especially cichlids, love to tear them up.

As for the CO2 injector, you can look online for cheap plans to make one out of a 2 liter and some air hose.

And lights. Big, expensive lights. Depending on the size of your tank.

I spent a lot of money on some lights upon the advice of a friend. Then I read about mercury vapor lights which I guess are the best. Maybe I should have bought them instead.

Well, I've got aquarium seeds, and I tried to germinate them, but to no avail...
So no, I haven't planted aquariums yet... :p

Once upon a time, I had some jack dempseys (cichlids), I had plants in there and they intentionally chewed them up and uprooted them. I used to have a pretty large 100 gallon aquarium and a couple of smaller ones. I wouldn't mind getting back into aquariums but it's just so much work to clean them. If I could just pay somebody to do it, it would be nice.

All that you need to do to clean a tank is change 20% of the water once or twice a week. Also it helps if you have just a few fish in a large tank. There is a device that is similar to a dialysis machine that changes your water everyday. It is called a "DialySeas" machine and I just found out about them last weekend. I think that they cost about $1500. I want to save up and buy one in a year or two.

Assuming you have fish in with the plants, you want to have a bubbler or something for nighttime when the plants are releasing CO2. I currently don't have an aquarium anymore because I didn't feel like having to deal with moving it around and my living situation isn't permanent. However, I sometimes help my parents with their pond and aquariums. I used to have a bunch of Amazon swords, and Compacta Swords in a tropical tank, and they made tons of offshoots and even flowered, which was quite unexpected. I also had some Anarachis in with my shubunkins, which was alot less work.

What kind of plants are you thinking and what kind of fish to go with them? Have you thought of upgrading your lighting, alot of plants won't do well in normal lighting, especially in deeper tanks as the light intensity drops a lot with depth. The only other thing is to make sure you remove any dead parts so they don't start decaying in your tank, which can mess up your water quality. Also, it might be a good idea to keep some plastic plants as some kinds of beneficial bacteria will only grow on the plastic.

What about live plants would stop your fish from spawning?

Live plants do not stop your fish from spawning. Some fish plant their eggs on leaves or use plants to make nests. They will probably do this on fake plants as well.

I am going with a variety of plants including moss (riccia fluitans), valisnerra, dwarf lillies, dwarf sagitarius, hairgrass, swordplants, nana, and probably a few others that I cannot remember. I am also using driftwood.

Well, I've got aquarium seeds, and I tried to germinate them, but to no avail...
So no, I haven't planted aquariums yet... :p

Bokkiwokki made a funny.

All that you need to do to clean a tank is change 20% of the water once or twice a week. Also it helps if you have just a few fish in a large tank. There is a device that is similar to a dialysis machine that changes your water everyday. It is called a "DialySeas" machine and I just found out about them last weekend. I think that they cost about $1500. I want to save up and buy one in a year or two.

or you can look into a sump pump. I know people who made their own and spent less than $50 on it.