Planted Tank Tips

Nature Tank

I was looking at this archived image of one of my initial planted set ups. I thought it would be great to share the mistakes I made in my first attempts, with fellow aquarists, especially the ones who are new into this amazing world of planted aquascapes!

1. Choosing the plants: In those initial attempts, I have done a major mistake by picking up plants almost randomly, sometimes depending on the availability and off course by their look. I have never considered their compatibility with each other or their requirements. Choose the plants wisely. Know them before you plant them (or even before you get them). Identify the plants and know their requirements, habitats and nature.

2. Examining the specimens thoroughly: Examine all the specimens you get, very VERY carefully. Algae, snails and other pests and infections can travel smoothly to your tank, using these plants as carrier. Algae and snails are easy to find. Remove the Algae-infected leaves and pick snails with your fingers. But finding snail eggs are difficult, and off course much important, too. A tiny leaf covered by snail eggs can set hundreds snails loose in your tank. And most of the snails are vegetarian and have huge appetites. I'd suggest keep the newly sourced plants (must if the source is unknown or not so reliable) in a quarantine tank for few days and watch them closely, before you introduce them to your main tank.

3. Choosing the fishes: Choosing the right fish for a planted tank is also very important. Avoid compulsive plant-eaters and root-diggers, like gold fishes, Koi carps, Gouramis, African lake Cichlids. Also DO NOT keep large fishes, as the turbulance created by their body movements (also consider the filter flow rate that you need to have if you want to keep a large fish) will tear apart the delicate plants.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good tips. I usually quarantine new plants so I'll be sure they are clean.
Unknown said…
Really cool, I never would have thought of some of this. Love the blog!
Aquarium pumps at Pumps-for-Ponds.
~Bill
Anders Nilsson said…
Thanks for good tips.
It could be real hard to spot algae on new bought plants.

Aquascaping
Patrice said…
When you try to find the ID of a plant to know it's requirement, I would recommand to find it's latin name and search for that name. Common names are great but it's confusing. More than one plant can share the same name.
Also, take pictures and ask for help on forums.

Great post!

Regards,
Patrice from www.aquariumslife.com
Yuvi Shekar said…
123hi thanks for the tip it was really use ful.could u please let me know what can be used as the fertilizer.please let me know the names of the materials that are used in the base with small description.and from where i can get the same
penelopedarcy said…
Great step-by-step and love the pictures too. you got yourself a follower! : )
Anonymous said…
Good tips. I usually quarantine new plants so I'll be sure they are clean. I put the plants in different tanks.

www.aquarium-co.cc
Anonymous said…
Good tips. I usually quarantine new plants so I'll be sure they are clean. I put the plants in different tanks.

www.aquarium-chiller.co.cc
achintya said…
nice tips.for discus community aquarium you can keep anubias sp,anacharis sp,ehinodorous sp etc.for more info here's my blog about discus fish..
http://discusfishcaresecrets.blogspot.com/
tmac447 said…
Fish tanks are really tempermental sometimes, so identifying and taking care of a problem is of utmost importance. There are several good books on the market now days just go to Amazon.com and you should be able to find a good resource there.
shimon.ben-hen said…
you seem very knowledgeable,good aquarium tips.
Ayzed said…
Great job! The type of fishes to put in your aquariums are very important. If you want to find out what type of fishes match with what particular plant, i suggest using this website to instruct you on plant and fish compatability.

http://www.aquariumfishexperts.com
LuxArgentum said…
I would suggest dosing your quarantine tank with copper, which quickly kills invertebrates like snails without harming the plants, as long as you don't go overboard with the copper concentration.
Badjoke said…
Thanks for the tips man! good advices....
Jean said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jean said…
These are very helpful tips to those who wish to add more life to their tanks.
Good job!:)

http://freshwateraquarium.org/freshwater-aquarium-plants/
Chris said…
Your are aquarium plants just amazing, great for getting new ideas, thanks.
Blogger Vince said…
I do agree that you will need to remove at least most of the snails and most of the algae. But I disagree to totally eliminate them.

Always remember that it is part of the ecosystem. And the ecosystem has to be balanced.

Snails are easier to control, just leave one and he will not be able to reproduce. For the algae, just add an invertebrate like shrimp or Siamese algae eater and you are already safe with the algae problem.

You can visit Nature Aquarium site such as www.natureaquariums.org for more info about it.
logos said…
nice photos and very useful tips and information. Great blog

betta splendens lover
Anonymous said…
These are really nice tips you shared here. This is really cool!
spongebob aquarium
aldrin james said…
I always wanted to have this kind of aquarium tank but I don't have enough knowledge to build one. I will make this post as my inspiration.

Oceanic Fish Tanks San Antonio TX
Philip said…
i was searching for such a valuable information on planted fish tanks ..i always make it sure that my fish tank will remain clean..
fish-tanks
stargaterich said…
Really cool and nice looking aquascaping design. I really like the aquarium plants that match the background eco system!
stargaterich said…
Really cool, I really like the plants that match the background aquascaping eco system.
andy said…
thats an amazing aquascape! i also am a aquariust and have a website heres the link http://attyaquariums.blogspot.com/
i hope you like!
Mrs. JayMay said…
My question is: How do you clean up the tank with all that stuff in there?
Anonymous said…
Very useful list of information for the planted tank/ aquascaper beginner.

The Information Aquarium Blog
http://i-aquarium.co.uk/
Unknown said…
so nice information u provide for us
http://kkfishaquarium.weebly.com/
Anonymous said…
Great Info shared, very helpful indeed.

Best Regards,
Sarah

Aquarium Network
Anonymous said…
Aquascaping has always seen like such a daunting en devour to take on for me. This post gave a lot of good little tips that I might not have thought about looking up before starting. Thanks!
Unknown said…
Choosing the right plants for an aquarium is so important. I have small fish tank for betta 10 gallons and I buy with a led aquarium lighting for plants grow better.
Dennis said…
What I found is choosing the correct plant is very much important even for low tech planted aquariums. If you are selecting a 5-gallon fish tank for the purpose you will need to take care of the same as they will tend to rot quickly in other scenarios.