First Plants

[Elsewhere]

I got two Amazon Swordtail plants today. They are in a 10g with 3 Mystery Snails and a Betta. So far my Betta, Atlas, is in love and the Mysteries are hanging out near them. I will be getting some more for my other tank in a couple of weeks ^.^ I've read over the thread about starting a planted tank, I just had a few questions...

I don't have any plant nutritives- do I need to get some?

Is it okay that I left it in the little plastic pot/cup it came in?

How do I trim the leaves? One is sticking out of the water.

One of my Mysteries has already eaten one of the smaller leaves- will they kill the plant?

How must water should I change during my weekly changes?

Should I still do a gravel vaccuming?

[eatmice2010]

I don't have any plant nutritive- do I need to get some?
They are good to have but you don't have to. I've had mine in its tank fore about 5 years with no plant nutritive.

Is it okay that I left it in the little plastic pot/cup it came in?
If you want to you can, but i prefer to have my plants bare root under ground.

How do I trim the leaves? One is sticking out of the water.
If it's an older leaf, meaning its on the out side of the crown, then you clip it at the stem about a centimeter from the base of the plant. But if its on the inside of the crown then just leave it.
One of my Mysteries has already eaten one of the smaller leaves- will they kill the plant?
If he keeps eating the leaves it might, but if he just eats one leaf and goes to the next plant or leaves then it should be fine.
How must water should I change during my weekly changes?
Just stick to your normal percentage of the water change, it will not effect the plant unless you keep the water out for an hour, then it will start to shrivel.
Should I still do a gravel vacuuming?
You can take the plants out and set them in a bowl of (fish tank) water and vacuum the tank or you just vacuum around it.

[BearMitten]

My bettas name is Atlas also, this is probably why they are extremely aggressive fish in the wild. I think we just stumbled upon the ancient history of bettas. They must of had to create their own way to dispute argument's with eachother like having the same name.

[Elsewhere]

BearMitten- I don't mean to sound rude, but... What??

Thank you so much EatMice2010! The Mystery ate half a leaf and has now moved on, so I think it'll be okay. I'll also take the pots off, they're just too large.

[BearMitten]

It was a joke, one of the outlandish ones. Do you see it?

[Elsewhere]

Ah yes, now I see... Sorry, that just seemed completely random XD And Atlas is probably the calmest Betta I've ever met :P

[BearMitten]

I've never seen mine flare, but he's healthy and happy. Yours wouldn't happen to be a king Betta would it?

[aokashi]

i find that some snails have a taste for banana plants

[Elsewhere]

Originally Posted by BearMitten

I've never seen mine flare, but he's healthy and happy. Yours wouldn't happen to be a king Betta would it?

Nope, Atlas is a Delta and my other boy, Pigg is I think a double tail halfmoon, but I can't be sure because his tail is horrible... Atlas is constantly flaring and I have only seen Pigg flare once, when he saw Atlas for the first and only time. I just got two new girls and I've already seen one flare at the other XD

[Elsewhere]

A question:
I got two new snails with these plants, and they have been rehomed because they wouldn't stop eating my plants and they pooping everywhere... I just couldn't handle them. I mentioned them above. I gave them some cucumber a couple days ago and left it in overnight, they were just finishing eating it when I woke up. But for the last day my tank has been a greenish colour. I've done a 60% change and added a filter, which has helped, but it still has a fogginess to it along with some green... Is this normal, or do I need to do a full cleaning on this tank? Please, please, please respond by tomorrow, I start school Monday and won't have time til next weekend!