Couple questions about live plants

[Memphis]

I'm getting some live plants for my fishie today. I read the plant info stickie about QT them about a week or longer to prevent any hitch hikers of unwanted stuff.

My question are:

What is the best thing to put them in for the time being?
Do they have to be fully submerged in water (this is mostly for Anacharis)?
I know you need to do frequent water changes, so does that mean daily or every two days?


If there is any other info that I need to know, let me know.

Thanks <3

[BettaMommy531rip]

I have the answer to number 1! The best thing I've found to put them in are small Critter Keepers from PetCo. They're small and cheap.

[Olympia]

It'd help if it is submerged. But if it's tall and starts to bend forward to stay underwater, that's fine too. You're probably going to have to trim the anacharis a lot, they grow fast :-p

[thekoimaiden]

Depending on how large the anarcharis is you can place it in a large bowl or a small tub. You are very right to QT especially if there are other fish in the tank from which it came. Anarcharis does need to be fully submerged because it is a true aquatic plant and will dry out if exposed to air for too long. You would only need to do every 2 days for plants. They are little hardier than our fish.

Actually anarcharis will only grow like a weed in good light. It's considered a med-high light plant. It's great if you have a good/new bulb or natural sunlight, but for tanks with no light aside from ambient light it's not a good choice. Hornwort would be better in that situation.

[Memphis]

They didn't have any anarcharis at the pet store. I know Kratos would love it since his favorite plastic plant is like an anarcharis. I got a Java Fern instead. Right now its in my 1/2G tank I use for transfer water when I do his water changes. Poor guy is anxious for his new plant to play with.

My bedroom is pretty sunny in the morning to mid afternoon. Maybe about 6-7 hours of sunlight if it's not raining most of the time. Summer is longer hours. Java Ferns like low light from what I read in the sticky, so there should be enough light for it. I hope..

[thekoimaiden]

Java fern is a good low-light plant. It can actually be hurt by too much light. It's leaves will begin to turn clear. I had that happen with a java fern in one of my tanks. I just got some floating plants and that took care of the problem. But java fern does need to be submerged most of the time. It can survive some periods of drying, but no longer than a few hours.

Your little guy will love it. I have java fern in all of my tanks (except the goldfish). My guys love playing in it. It's their favorite hidey-hole. It looks really great if you can attach the roots to some driftwood.