Please help me set up some live plants

[emeltee]

I have two 2.5 gal uncycled tanks that I'd like to add live plants to. One has marbles and the other has gravel. I currently have some free floating plant in there that my cousin gave to me (the fish were gifts from him.) Maybe they are Christmas moss? In any case, I'd like to add more.

How do I establish live plants in a tank that I need to do frequent water changes in? If I get something like Anubias, what do I attach it to?

What are some good sources of plants. My Petsmart sells Anubias - should I buy them there?

Should I buy the biggest size I can get? They are slow growing, right?

Any other plants I should consider for low light/low maintenance situation?

Thanks!

[Alex09]

Java fern is a great low light low maintenance plant. I got mine from a petco. It came in a little tube labeled as "tropica fern". I had it for 2 days now with just ambient light (just regular room light) and it's looking great. Do your resarch on the specific plants you want to buy and be careful not to buy anything you haven't heard of. Pet stores often carry "aquarium plants" that are not even aquatic.

[BlueHaven]

I have a marimo moss (algae) ball in my bettas tank. They aren't exactly moss, but they are real plants from Japan. The float around till they absorb water and then stay on the bottom. Every now and then you can squeeze them a little out to get rid of the depri it collects (it feeds of debri and poo wich helps with cleaning the tank.) and let it roll around agian. They are good for the tanks. :)
They grow very slowly but petsmart carries different sizes for around 6 dollars each. You can also change their form or pull them apart to make more than one.

[emeltee]

Originally Posted by Alex09

Java fern is a great low light low maintenance plant. I got mine from a petco. It came in a little tube labeled as "tropica fern". I had it for 2 days now with just ambient light (just regular room light) and it's looking great. Do your resarch on the specific plants you want to buy and be careful not to buy anything you haven't heard of. Pet stores often carry "aquarium plants" that are not even aquatic.

Do you have to anchor the Java fern to something?

Originally Posted by BlueHaven

I have a marimo moss (algae) ball in my bettas tank. They aren't exactly moss, but they are real plants from Japan. The float around till they absorb water and then stay on the bottom. Every now and then you can squeeze them a little out to get rid of the depri it collects (it feeds of debri and poo wich helps with cleaning the tank.) and let it roll around agian. They are good for the tanks. :)
They grow very slowly but petsmart carries different sizes for around 6 dollars each. You can also change their form or pull them apart to make more than one.

Do they sell these in the plant section of petsmart?

[BlueHaven]

Yes, they do! I got mine from petsmart, they had them in their own individual tank. If they don't have it, they should get it later. I think most petsmart's should have them. Or maybe petco too?
:)

[wallywestisthebest333]

I'd strongly reccomend a different substrate for keeping plants. Such as gravel or sand. Something they can shoot roots through and anchor themselves in. =]

May I suggest Amazon Swords, Duckweed (floating plant), Java Fern, Hornwort, Java Moss, Crypts, and Dwarf Hair Grass?

All do well in relatively low light. =]

You could get a CFL lamp, get a 5 watt bulb at the store that says it's 6500K and use that for your light. =] I'd keep it on for no more than 8 hours a day because longer could result in algae. Or if you get algae try lowering your light hours. Then again if you get algae you could always just get 1 zebra netrite snail and the little guy should take care of it for you. =]

Or you could try looking up the Walstad planting method. =]

I saw earlier that you were looking to cycle your 2.5's and that's a good way to "cycle" them. =] I'd try it with some ghost shrimp first though to see if it's the thing for you. =]

[emeltee]

Originally Posted by wallywestisthebest333

I saw earlier that you were looking to cycle your 2.5's and that's a good way to "cycle" them. =] I'd try it with some ghost shrimp first though to see if it's the thing for you. =]

So if I just had lots of plants and no filter, would i still have to do 100% water changes?

So all the plants need to root to something, is that correct?

And please educate me on the ghost shrimp thing!

[wallywestisthebest333]

Sorry I'm trying to put together what I want to say but I've lost some links and my train of thought due to family stuff that came up. =[ I'll try finding them and my thought train and advising you tomorrow.

I'd do the regular tank cycle for now till everything maintenance-wise is second nature and then move on to planted tanks but that's IMO.

Here's Diana Walstad's book: The Ecology Of The Planted Aquarium

I'll definitely be posting with more info tomorrow though! =]

[noenyu]

I'm trying to make my 5 gallon tank a natural planted aquarium. You can check out these sites for information.

Byron's "A Basic Approach to Natural Planted Aquariums"

Part 1 http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/a...um-part-34861/

Part 2 http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/a...um-part-34859/

Part 3 http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/a...um-part-34858/

Part 4 http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/a...um-part-34862/

I also asked for advice on starting and keeping a successful aquarium.
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/a...y-start-49136/

Plant and Fish profile http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/profiles/

It's a really good site. bettafish.com's sister site I believe.

Hope that helps.