[megan6o6]

Well, first when i got my betta, Finn, I had put one live plant in there because i heard it helps with the cycling and overall water quality. Then the more i read about bettas i heard they love lots of things to hide in! So, I went out a bought 3-4 new live plants. After a month or so of his lush tank there was a film on the surface, which prevents air exchange and could seriously harm him, so after a week or so i was tired or scraping it off multiple times a day so i threw them away.


Now, I'm wondering weather not having live plants isn't as good for his water quality/cycling and if it could help in the healing of fin rot which I just discovered he has! (mild, and it being treated )

But, how do you guys keep your live plants without adding other chemicals to the water or changing the lighting?
I love the live plants but they seem to die on me! or start rotting anyway..


Tank: 2.5 gal glass tank, heated, filtered, 100% water changes once a week, but now will start with 50% water changes every 3-4 days and 100% on the weekends- After his fin rot clears up in a couple weeks.
No idea on age of betta, he was full grown when i got him and that was 3 months ago. :roll: Uses TopFin bacteria supplement and water conditioner every water change. Fake plant in tank that isn't harmful. Constant 80 Degrees, except when doing water changes.

 

[Draug Isilme]

Plants are fantastic to have in a tank for any kind of living creature. In the right conditions, they will thrive and become a living filter for your tank. What you had happen really shouldn't have (again, if they were in the right conditions). This is my own opinion not fact, but I'm not sure they would help with cycling a tank. Usually, they eat up the nutrients that leads up to the nitrogen cycle, but I would assume that would only be determined by what kind of plants you have and how many. But if you have enough plants, you don't have to worry about cycling at all...
-Let's start off with what kind of plants you had. Do you remember their names and if they were low light or anything?
-Plants are like fish and they enjoy water changes as well. However, you don't want to do too large of a water change as you can take away a good amount of nutrients they feed off of away. Filters can possibly filter out nutrients as well (although, I know they are good to have in the beginning as they help your plants get established. Also, if they're slow growers you can probably get away with having a filter and not worry about them starving but overall if you have enough plants you probably won't even need a filter at all). So it might be good to change twice a week- one 75% and the other 50%... something like that, I forget >.>;;;
-Lighting is definitely a key factor in having plants. If you don't have the right lighting and don't want to change it, you're going to have little to no success with having plants. So what kind of lighting do you use? How long do you leave it on/off?
If you get low light plants you won't have to worry about adding chemicals; the main thing with these kind of plants is they mostly need proper lighting. If you have that down, you're pretty much golden. Other plants that range from mid to high lighting will more than likely need fertilizers- so just make sure you have the right types of plants and you won't have to worry about getting fertilizers or any kind of chemicals to add to your tank.
Also as a side note, it would be a great idea to let your plants qt before adding them to your fishes tank if you haven't already.