I went to the local pet store. They have a bunch of aquatic plants, but no one knew the names (!!!). So I got a moss ball and an anubias that looked nice and healthy. I'll have to look at pictures to know what kind I got. I am also going to switch out my sandstone rock for a piece of aquarium wood. I'm soaking it right now. The anubias - do I bury the ends in the gravel, let it float, or should I plan to tie it to my wood? Do I need to soak for wood for a long time? I know it will give off tannins.
Edit: I think I bought the Nana Anubias.
Last edited by KukaaKatchou; 08-02-2012 at 12:09 PM.
It'd be better if you attached your anubias to your piece of driftwood, if their roots are buried they can end up rotting and dying. I think some people leave theirs floating which is fine as well.
As for soaking driftwood I think it may be quicker to boil it (if it'll fit in a pot of water), soaking can take a couple of days to a week if I recall correctly.
It's been sterilized already .... do I still need to wait that long?? It's Geosystem Natural Aquascape wood. The label says " This is a natural product that has been cleaned to remove any extraneous material and to ensure its safety in aquariums. Each individual piece of ... wood, when placed in an aquarium, will release a certain amount of tannin which may slightly dicolor the water. This will not harm your aquarium inhabitants and in most cases is desirable as it is present in most tropical water."
And I looked for a java fern - they didn't have any. I have another fish store I can check that may even know what their damn plants are.
Last edited by KukaaKatchou; 08-02-2012 at 02:44 PM.
The soaking of the wood is to release any tannins in it, if you don't mind that happening in your tank then by all means feel free to add your driftwood sooner rather than later :) The tannins will offer a more natural environment for the betta but it will also lower the pH of the tank, not so good if you have snails. It's a gradual change but fluctuations aren't good either so if you want to keep your pH at a certain, constant level I'd suggest soaking the driftwood in a bucket and make sure to empty the water every day until it is no longer tea coloured.
@MSG - thats for that great link for the Anubias! I didn't know you could use rubber bands to attach the plant ... I have tons of those in a bag! I'm soaking the driftwood in conditioned water atm so tomorrow I'll haul out the plant and see where I can attach the darn thing!
if you want easy hard to kill idiot proof plants, the top ones would be anubis, anachris, java fern, and java moss. Moss balls are pretty easy as well, just more expensive.
They are all low light plants too, which is great if you don't have a particularly good lighting set up. With the anubis and java fern you want to anchor it to decor, like driftwood or a rock. Never bury the rhizome of either plant.
I tried anacharis and quarantined it for a week. It did amazing it quarantine in a bucket with practically no light.
I set it up with Ratchet in his 2.5 gallon tank, room light, and Seachem Flourish. It died in less than a month. Ratchet was less than helpful with helping it grow, but that same batch is still barely holding on to life in a molly tank (Lots of poop for nutrients though) with an overhead light and filter at room temp. It did better with cold temps rather than warmer temps like I read.
Ok here's the start ... I put in the wood, used an elastic to attach the anubias to the wood. It's my understanding that eventually it will root itself in there and the elastic wont be needed. And I have my first moss ball in there as well. On the hunt for a Java Fern. I also found a picture of my tank when I first had it planted. It looked so good! Now we're a work in progress.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
