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Ok, this is a stupid newbie question. I decided to get some live plants for my 27 gallon hexagon tank. I went to an LFS and picked up Amazon Sword and Micro Sword (Amazon Sword I wanted , the guy at the store said Micro Sword is easy to grow , although this forum states otherwise so I am thinking of retruning it). Anyway, The plant comes in a little plastic pot. My question is do I keep them in the little pot and plant it in the gravel or take it out. I also have trouble anchoring the plants. I bought plant sinkers but they don't work, and the plant floats away. I am thinking of adding more gravel. I also have 2 banana plants in there which seem to holding strong in the gravel.

Dholden007,

Hi there

How deep is your gravel? How large is the grain size? How much light is on the tank? Do you use fertilizers?

The plant thingies will not help with the Micro Sword, look through my 40G log in this forum to find out more about this plant. Also, I assume your tank is pretty high with a small surface area, right? That means that you would need more light for low plants.

The Amazon Sword will, if it grows well, fill up most of your substrate, so be prepared for that. It will take some time, but never the less.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I use 20 pounds of gravel for the 27 gallon hexagon tank. i would say I have 1.5 inches of gravel. I use Spectra stone natural gravel which are essentially real pebbles, I would say medium size. The tank is about 18 inches deep so, I don't think much light gets to the bottom of the tank. I returned the Micro Sword today. So now I just have the Amazon Sword and the 2 banana plants.

Should I take the plant out of the plastic pot and plant it with the little pouch that the soil is in, correct? Do I need to add any more gravel or anything for the Amazon Sword

Dholden007,

I would think that over time the sword will occupy the entire gravel bed (if it gets enough light and fertilizers) with its roots, but time will tell how the plant is doing.

Usually, planted tanks have a substrate depth of about 3inches, so you are a little short there.

You take the plants out of the pots AND out of that "pouch" before planting. This stuff is a nutrient base to get the plants grow as fast as possible. It may dissolve into the water column and lead to algae or sick fish (as they may also try to nibble on it).

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

What happens if I leave it in the pot and the pouch. Will it die in the aquarium. The guy in the store said I can just leave it like that and it will grow. I must admit I kinda regret getting into live plants, it seems the attention it requires, I simply don't have the time for.

Dholden007,

Well, if you leave it in the pot then the plant will eventually run out of space where it can grown roots, and that is obviously not good.

And if you leave it in the wool then it may start to leach into the water column. This can (means doesn't have to) lead to algae as you provide some nutrients with this in the water column, but not in a balanced amount.

You say you don't have time for plants. How much time per week do you have? Depending on your setup (like low light, I assume), you would not need to spend all that much time on your tank (compared to a high tech setup). But life beats plastic any time. Just think about it, there are plastic fish available, why would you not put these in the tank? Answer: because you like to see the fish swim around and interact. And plants: because they grow and change the look of your tank over time (instead of the same boring view year in and out).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If I do leave it in the pot (or the wool) will it still grow. The reason I wanted the plant so it will fill up the back of the tank. However I dont want it to take over the whole thing.

You are correct of course, live plants look much better IMO, which is why I wanted them. I just dont know if they will grow in my tank with such low light.

Are there any plant food I should be adding?

Thanks for your help.

Dholden007,

I think you did not mention how much light you have on the tank.

About your pot: do you have an idea how wide and deep it is? If the Sword was small then I am most certain that it will outgrow it within weeks rather than months. And in general - I assume you wish the plants to grow nicely, so a restrain like a pot is not a good idea.

About fertilizers (plant food): I would say that for you the best source of ferts would be plant sticks. Seachem makes supposedly the best ones, but I have never used them. I am adding ferts to the water column, but I think you don't want to get into that at this point of your planted tank experience.

Hope this helps, and don't worry - it is more exciting than stressful to have real plants.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hope this helps, and don't worry - it is more exciting than stressful to have real plants

Lf is right, planted tanks aren't stressful. In a low tech tank, as long you choose plants to suit your light (eg ones that will live & not die on you), there won't be too much work at all. Pick java ferns, java moss & anubias - all very easy to look after. Slow growing & don't need strong light.

A lot of LFS tell me you can leave plants in the little pots, although I never do. I always take them out & get rid of all the wool. It's not so much the pots I don't like, as the ones here are usually not solid plastic, but more like a plastic mesh with many openings for roots to get through. But I don't like the idea of the wool rotting in the tank. Often too, if you take them out of the pots, you find the plants can be split & one plant becomes many.

Just my thoughts. Good luck with planted tanks - I'm sure you won't regret it & your fish will thank you.

Cheers
TW