Planted tank help!

Hi, I am going to be starting a divided 65l betta tank in about a month and was wandering whether these plants are any good?
I don't know if I'm allowed to post a link to the website so I'll write it out here.

5x Echinodorus Tennellus
5x Hygrophilia Polysperma
5x Red Ludwigia
5x Ambulia Aquatica
5x Bacopa Monniera
5x Red Ivy
5x Diplis Diandra
5x Vallis Torta
5x Elodea Densa
5x Hairgrass
5x Bacopa Caroliniana
5x Sagittaria Subulata

Thanks in advance
Joe

Not heard of a lot of those but watch red plants in Betta tanks as a betta can think they are another bettas fins and shred them. Eros did this to mine.

Limnophila Aquatica and sessiflora are the best plants I have in my betta tanks also Moss balls

Modaz sells them on his website here http://dpfishways.co.uk/epages/eshop213345.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/eshop213345/Categories/%22PLANT%20LIST%20A-Z%22

Hi.
There are a few good members that know their plants that will come along and help you:) I'm rubbish with plants LOL

Dont worry about putting links on, as long as the links are not to other forums they are normally fine :D

Modaz on here has some lovely plants in his shop :D

Ok thanks for the replies, I am only buying the red plants as they are part of a collection and it's cheaper to just buy the collection instead of the plants individually.

The young one wrote:Ok thanks for the replies, I am only buying the red plants as they are part of a collection and it's cheaper to just buy the collection instead of the plants individually.

Oh cool just beware depending on your bettas temprement he/she might shred it LOL

Be careful with the red ones hun....they don't seem to do as well as green ones....or at least they don't for me lol and also double check any plants you get, as quite often some non aquatic plants are sold which die off very quickly once in tanks

Netty wrote:Be careful with the red ones hun....they don't seem to do as well as green ones....or at least they don't for me lol and also double check any plants you get, as quite often some non aquatic plants are sold which die off very quickly once in tanks

Yea, I had a few red ones in my community tank but they just died after a month.
The website is quite reputable and have good reviews so I'm hoping the plants will be alright!

Maybe try a good fertiliser this time with them. Easylife do a really good one

Yea, I probably won't use the red ones anyway, but i will definately be using good fertilisers as i want this tank to actually look good unlike my others.

Hi
What plant food do you use? I always manage to kill my plants:(

Dont feel bad, i'm rubbish at keeping plants too:(

Trial and error is to do with plants. Yes hardness and pH plays a part but also the fish,substrate, additional ferts and lighting. Ive had the same plants in several tanks, some thrive and the plant dies in other tanks. Reds can be very good but with additions such as the ferts and C02 will help to maintain them, high lighting with reds is vital as they do tend to either turn green from red, or from red to green when placed in the tank. some ofcourse do just die off as these need the correct hardness and pH. In general going through what you like the look of and trying them out will give you an idea of what is suited to your setup.

Echinodorus Tennellus is a green slender leaf that is great as a foreground cover. about 8-10cm tall and often dies down when put into a tank, leave the roots there as you will see them shoot again. it needs excellent light and the addition of ferts. I think its America or brazilian, cant remember as such. Temp needs to be 22-29 celcius and it prefers the softer water range with a pH of between 6.5 and 7.5

Hygrophilia Polysperma again around the same pH and hardness. up to 18" in final height. Asian. Will maintain a red/pink colour with excellent lighting. pretty easy to grow.

thats it for now gotta go and sort out me bettas. spawning in process.



:D

will add the rest later if you would like me to?

Vandraco aka Bronzecat wrote:Dont feel bad, i'm rubbish at keeping plants too:(

:lol!: we all start off carp!!! ive killed loads of plants testing them in different tanks. I find the shorter tanks to provide the best all round experience and you cant beat T5 bulbs but some T8 are good. The Aquaone tropical mix T8 bulb is awesome for plants and great for those tanks with only one bulb.

Modaz wrote:Trial and error is to do with plants. Yes hardness and pH plays a part but also the fish,substrate, additional ferts and lighting. Ive had the same plants in several tanks, some thrive and the plant dies in other tanks. Reds can be very good but with additions such as the ferts and C02 will help to maintain them, high lighting with reds is vital as they do tend to either turn green from red, or from red to green when placed in the tank. some ofcourse do just die off as these need the correct hardness and pH. In general going through what you like the look of and trying them out will give you an idea of what is suited to your setup.

Echinodorus Tennellus is a green slender leaf that is great as a foreground cover. about 8-10cm tall and often dies down when put into a tank, leave the roots there as you will see them shoot again. it needs excellent light and the addition of ferts. I think its America or brazilian, cant remember as such. Temp needs to be 22-29 celcius and it prefers the softer water range with a pH of between 6.5 and 7.5

Hygrophilia Polysperma again around the same pH and hardness. up to 18" in final height. Asian. Will maintain a red/pink colour with excellent lighting. pretty easy to grow.

thats it for now gotta go and sort out me bettas. spawning in process.



:D

will add the rest later if you would like me to?

Thanks for the info, looks like i'm gunna be busy with the ferts! :D
Also if you wouldn't mind could you list the others?
Thanks in advance
Joe

hi Joe yeah will do shortly for you.

Thanks, I'm really hoping this tank will look good as I have redone it about 5 times and I'm still not happy.

You have a nice choice of plants, I only see a couple you may have problems with unless you plan on at least 4wpg and Co2 injection and they are Diplis Diandra and red ivy (Alternanthera sessillis)
The mix of ground covers you have will look really nice too, the vals sometimes can melt with Excel by SeaCheam, best to start 1/2 dose and work your way up if you plan on using it.
If you can find out if the plant are grown emersed or submersed, this will help you to know what the leaves will look like, as they look different when grown emersed and submersed, it also play a role in if they melt or not, most come back if they do.
One thing I have found with red plants, is that they do not stay real red in color unless you have high light and Co2, mine stay kind of pink than red, but still very pretty. And I have never had a betta attack a plant either, but then again I use mass amount of plants so that may confuse them..lol
Can't wait to see your set-up when completed...oh..what substrate are you going to use? and type of lights (wpg)

Hi Brenda, I will probably use this substrate for the plants and then top it with the sand I have now which is just natural colour.
http://www.tropica.com/article.asp?type=news&id=682

I'm not really a plant expert and this will be my first proper planted tank, not sure on the lights, they're the standard ones which come with the aquastart 500.
If you look the tank up it might say what lights they are.

I don't really want to use C02 as I am on a tight budget.

Thanks for the help
Joe

Edit: The lights are 2x 11w PL lamps.

Hey Joe, Me either, I don't do Co2, and you got it, budget..lol
In my planted tanks I use plain ole dirt from my pasture "black gold" behind my house and in some of my tanks I use potting soil without additives/ferts and then capped them with play sand. cost me about 20 buck to plant up 8 tanks ranging from 2.5g-75gal.
Lights I went with 40w 6500k CF, and blue spectrum for photosynthesis, and green spectrum to help it look better to the eye, this gives me anywhere from 1.5-2.5wpg over a tank and still keeps me under 3wpg to help avoid algae problems without Co2 use, to get your wpg divide the bulb watts into the total gallons of your tank (sorry don't know how to do it in liters) so 40w in 20g=2wpg. I use 2-4 bulbs over my tanks, total cost of my lighting about 50 bucks, cheap here in the US.
Also, age of the bulb play a role in plant growth and algae problems, anything over 6 months need to be changes out.
You have some nice stem type plants that will help with algae control, you may want to look at getting some floating plants too, I like water lettuce, this stuff sucks up the nutrients so to keep the algae at bay and keep water prams in check too. Don't be superised if your nitrates never go over 5ppm once you have active plant growth.
I keep the NPT (natural planted tank) Walstad type with my own twist...lol......low cost+low tech=lots of fun

Lol, thanks for the info Brenda, my lights are about 2wpg, I was thinking about getting some floating plants anyway.
Will i definately need to upgrade my lights?
And if so what would you recommend?

Thanks for the help
Joe

Right, sorry guys I've scrapped this idea, sorry if I wasted any of your time. I'm just going to go with a moss mat to cover the floor, a moss stick to go diagonal across the aquarium and a moss coconut cave.
Do any of you know where I can get a moss mat?
Also I'm going to silicone the coconut cave into the top left hand corner of the aquarium so it is high up, more natural for the fish.

I was looking at the plants in my original idea and I realized it would just all cost too much, as I'd have to upgrade lighting and possibly have C02.

Thanks for the help
Joe

No problem There are lots of plants that are quite happy in low light tanks :D
When you stick the coconut cave up, make sure any water trapped when you do a water changed gets removed, otherwise you may get nasties growing in it :D Maybe drill a hole in what will be the bottom so it drains out

Thanks for the good idea! I'll drill a hole in the bottom, also I'll probably have some vallis in the corner.

Hey Joe, there are lots of low light plants, val, crypt, anubias, java fern and most all moss. And I understand about the cost too, the plants I started with I got a pretty good deal and free shipping, thats what sold me...lol....but they only ship US or I would share that link with you...
And the only upgrade I think you would have needed was new bulbs if they are old, 2wpg that you have is perfect IMO for most plants.
Still can't wait for pic of your set up either way.......I love looking at other folks tanks and fish

Thanks again Brenda, My dad has now given me my £21 pocket money early! :D

I'm going to buy some plant nutrient substrate stuff and some black gravel to go on top.

Then I will probably have to buy the plants next month as I won't have enough money.

Also will cherry shrimp be ok with bettas?

Thanks for the help
Joe