"all plants will rot in 3 months"

6274 Views 48 Replies 21 Participants Last post by sus1000, Sep 24, 2010

ponyo

Discussion Starter · Sep 20, 2010

I've got my hardscape done and I know want plants I want. I'm going about trying to buy them (man they're expensive). But I'm getting nervous.

A while ago I was in a pet store that had a lot of fish and a guy who seemed very knowledgeable about fish tanks. He said plants look great for 3 months and then they all rot, no matter what you do.

Is that true? I don't want to spend all this money and then see all my plants rot and harm my fish etc.

Should I give up trying to be low tech and go high tech? Is low tech really possible or do you have to use CO2 if you want a lush tank?

1 - 20 of 49 Posts

Dave-H

· #2 · Sep 20, 2010

I was at a lfs in Denver getting ready to stock my new tank. I wanted to try some plants. I asked the lfs guy, and the dialog went like this:

"Can you recommend some plants for low light, low tech?"

lfs guy: "Sure, plastic ones"

"Well, how about something alive that can handle low lght?"

lfs guy: "Yea, plastic ones"

"You mean there's nothing that will grow in low light?"

lfs guy: "Sure, but they all die. You want plastic ones"

That night I found this forum. There is more knowledge on this forum than you'll find in most fish stores, and that is an understatement.

If you want a 'lush' tank I think you'll have to work at it with low tech low light, but there seems to be quite a bit that you can do. FYI it's been about 3 months and my plants are beautiful. Low tech medium light.

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Axelrodi202

· #3 · Sep 20, 2010

That is not true at all. Plants can usually live for many years. I still have some plants from back when I started planted tank keeping two years ago. You can have perfectly fine tanks with the low tech method. CO2 is really not a necessity unless you have very high light levels (around 3-5 wpg as a rough guideline) or you want to keep some of the more demanding plant species. Otherwise, most plants will grow fine without CO2. Also, if your tank isn't too big, you could try dosing Flourish Excel, which is a liquid carbon supplement that can be used in place of CO2.

Also, here's a tip. Try getting plants from the members on here through the Swap'n'shop section. It's usually much cheaper and the plants you get will be a lot healthier.

WillyJ

· #4 · Sep 20, 2010

If it was one of the bigger pet stores (yeah, you know who I'm talking about), they tend to sell plants that aren't true aquatics. These will rot.

Eden Marel

· #5 · Sep 20, 2010

True aquatic no problem. Nothing lasts forever, but plants are living things and have mechanisms to ensure their species survival. Whether it be sending runners, seeds, etc...

You think you killed your Water Sprite or Water Wisteria? You better think again, leaves from those plants will develop roots and secret laugh evilly like this: Bwahahahahahahahaahahaahahaahahaa you will never get rid me never!!!!11!!!1

Hadouken441

· #6 · Sep 20, 2010

oh Dave-h I got mad reading that post dialouge haha. Ya a lot of fish stores hire people just to hire them. A lot of the workers i've dealt with are really clueless and give answers just to give them even if they are wrong.

Dave-H

· #7 · Sep 20, 2010

Hadouken441 said:
oh Dave-h I got mad reading that post dialouge haha. Ya a lot of fish stores hire people just to hire them. A lot of the workers i've dealt with are really clueless and give answers just to give them even if they are wrong.

This was the co-owner of a one-off lfs in the Denver area. A store that I actually really like!

Sharkbait-ooHAHA

· #8 · Sep 20, 2010

I wish I could kill my water lettuce.

Nate McFin

· #9 · Sep 20, 2010

.......And thats the reason I trust no one at my local fish store.

Good for you for asking questions here. Plants will live a long time in the right persons care. For what its worth I wouldn't purchase plants from them unless they are known and TRUE aquatic plants. Swap and Shop here is the way to go!

ponyo

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 20, 2010

Thanks for your replies. I feel more reassured now. It actually was a very small, independent pet store with a large fish section (actually that was almost all they had) so that's why I didn't just dismiss it.

And there's another fish store near me where they have a lot of plants and I heard they would order plants for you if they didn't have them. I thought maybe I could save on shipping that way LOL. But when I went there, all their plants look really haggard and unhealthy. :/

Noahma

· #11 · Sep 20, 2010

Many of my plants have been alive and moved from tank to tank for a couple of years now. Don't hold your breath that you will find any knowledgeable person in a LFS especially a big box store. The reason why the guy said said that the plants will only last a few months is because he was probably putting the infamous "tube" plants in his tank, and of course since most a good majority of them are terrestrial, they will not survive.

You did the right thing by coming to this site. Ask many questions, many many many. And you will get the right info.

CLASSIC

· #12 · Sep 21, 2010

All plants i bought or was given through swap and shop are still thriving most 2 years old. Most plants i bought at LFS have perished, except the pennywort i bought. Swap and Shop is the best. There are alot of great low light plants as well.

BaltimoreGuy

· #13 · Sep 21, 2010

ponyo said:
I've got my hardscape done and I know want plants I want. I'm going about trying to buy them (man they're expensive). But I'm getting nervous.

A while ago I was in a pet store that had a lot of fish and a guy who seemed very knowledgeable about fish tanks. He said plants look great for 3 months and then they all rot, no matter what you do.

Is that true? I don't want to spend all this money and then see all my plants rot and harm my fish etc.

Should I give up trying to be low tech and go high tech? Is low tech really possible or do you have to use CO2 if you want a lush tank?

He might be right, if they were grown emerged then usually the leaves will die back and new submerged leaves will grow from the root/rhizome.

OverStocked

· #14 · Sep 21, 2010

I have a 4 year old sword plant that is under very low light.... Seems your LFS should stick to fish and not plants.

Hilde

· #15 · Sep 21, 2010

I got a plant, wisteria, from Hong Kong last year that arrived in poor condition. I cut the 5 stems to 3 in. It grew into a bush. I still have it. He is faking it!! He knows nothing about plants and is trying to appear that he does.

My tank is low tech. My lights are 3 T8s. I dose Brightwell multi and Fe with the addition of Seachem Excell.

If you can find an aquarium association in your area, you can probably get good cheap plants there. Probably better to buy plants from forum in England like this one the tropical tank

jwalls1082

· #16 · Sep 21, 2010

Says he's from New England, which is here in the US. :icon_cool Either way, I haven't had a lot of luck at the big box stores for advice of any kind. I too was about to give up on plants because of multiple failures. I found this site while browsing around another forum and it gave me new hope for going planted. It's a great help and a great place to find nice healty plants as well. Don't give up!

sewingalot

· #17 · Sep 21, 2010

I think he is from New England, Hilde.

What kind of lighting do you have and what are your goals? Perhaps we can suggest some nice plants for you. Java ferns, crypts, dwarf sag, most mosses and anubias come to mind off hand.

PS, welcome to the forum!

SHIKARI

· #18 · Sep 21, 2010

I am prettymuch done with petstores for one I live in BFE and the closest towh has stores which sell garbage at exorbitant prices and do not know jack,even the petsmart did not have any fertlizers,liquid or tabs,talk about lousy stock and worse service.

ponyo

Discussion Starter · #19 · Sep 21, 2010

Thanks for the welcome.

I have my hardscape set up (I'm going to add one rock to the right hand side):

This is a 35 gal tank. And my plan for plants is fissidens fontanus on the drift wood, some vallisneria nana around the base of the driftwood and maybe behind the rock in the right hand corner (the rock's not in the picture yet). lilaeopsis mauritius for a "field" covering most of the tank--maybe not right near the base of the drift wood. I think I'm also going to add some anubias nana petite here and there.

That's my plan for plants. The substrate is eco-complete. The driftwood is from Rod. The rocks are granite and from a stream near by, they have been boiled.

I do have a few more questions. I've been waiting to buy the light fixture because I wanted to first know what plants I was getting. So now that I do, what light fixture is best for those plants and a low tech set up in a 35 gal tank?

And should I dose ferts and excel?

And when you have a planted tank you obviously don't vacuum the substrate right? Just do water changes?

Oh yeah here's another big question. I'm not getting all my plants at once. Tomorrow I'm picking up the anubias nana petite because a local store ordered it for me. But then the val and moss is being shipped (I got that through the swap and shop here) and then I still have to purchase the "grass". So what should I do with the plants while I wait until I have all of them? Should I just put them in the bottom of the tank, fill it part way with water and put on the light (that I'll have to buy tomorrow)?

And how do you cycle a planted tank? I have a small tank running with two fish in it and an old filter that I probably should really buy a new cartage for. I was going to squeeze out the cartridge into the big tank when I got it all set up. Do I need to add ammonia every day and test it until it balances out?

Sorry if these are really stupid questions. If you don't want to answer them maybe you could point me in the direction of where I could find the answers. Thanks so much!

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rhstranger

· #20 · Sep 22, 2010

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-tank-faq/

the FAQ were invaluable to me when I first joined here. I learned so much from the stickies, and reading.

I have a low light 29g with a coralife 2 x18w T5NO fixture, and have successfully kept crypts, java fern, moss, various hygros, moneywort, hornwort, and swords all alive for the last 6 months with just extremely occasional dosing of flourish and root tabs every 3 months.
i lightly vacuum the surface of the gravel weekly for my WC, as I have cories, and want to keep the gravel fairly clean for them. There is still some mulm to help with the plants. Some people vacuum, others don't.
It all depends on the different circumstances of your setup.
There are choices for cycling a tank also. Fish-in cycle, which some people don't like, as it is hard on the fish; fishless cycle (with ammonia, or fish food (dirty) or, as lauraleelbp just recently told me, a cocktail shrimp, which i am presently using in cycling a 5g), or even a silent cycle, where the cycling is done by planting extremely heavily and the plants absorb any AM/NO2/NO3 that are produced by the light stocking that is gradually built upon.
As I said, I'm no expert, and I could be wrong on some of this info. Your best bet is to read, and ask. There are many really helpful people here.
Best of luck.
PS: the scaping looks really nice. Can't wait to see your tank in it's full glory.

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