# What plants would work with my tank?



## ClubHead9786 (Jan 13, 2008)

So i have the tank listed below and i already have 4 bunches of anachris in there and a bunch of this other plant with red leaves and thin stems but im not sure what it is called. I read that Balloon mollies like heavily planted but what exacly is heavily planted mean? How many plants are too many? and what kind of plants do they like? ( Names of plants are much appreciated and any feedback if you have personal preference or use them in your tank.)

Also, i know that there are different hieghts that fish like and dont like. So what would be good with my tank. Also any advice on how to arrange them. Also in my tank i have a large shell and not exacly a sculpture but like a rock with a hole in it that is about 2 in in diameter and fish can swim through it, but not exacly hide in it. Any advice on how to move it around so the fish like it more or anything in that sense. I will post a picture as soon as i can on what it looks now.

I have a whisper 30 gal filter and a flouresent light that stretches all across the tank.( basically a long 24 in light, u know what im talking about)

Thanks in advanced.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2008)

ClubHead9786 said:


> So i have the tank listed below and i already have 4 bunches of anachris in there and a bunch of this other plant with red leaves and thin stems but im not sure what it is called. I read that Balloon mollies like heavily planted but what exacly is heavily planted mean? How many plants are too many? and what kind of plants do they like? ( Names of plants are much appreciated and any feedback if you have personal preference or use them in your tank.)


Heavily planted just means that you have alot of plants in the tank and the majority of the tank is planted. The definition of too many plants varies from person to person. I think its when you have so many plants in the tank that the fish can't swim or have very limited swimming space....then you have too many. 



ClubHead9786 said:


> Also, i know that there are different hieghts that fish like and dont like. So what would be good with my tank. Also any advice on how to arrange them. Also in my tank i have a large shell and not exacly a sculpture but like a rock with a hole in it that is about 2 in in diameter and fish can swim through it, but not exacly hide in it. Any advice on how to move it around so the fish like it more or anything in that sense. I will post a picture as soon as i can on what it looks now.


By heights, do you mean plant heights? I suggest 1, getting plants that will live in your lighting and 2, getting plants that won't outgrow the tank. Stem plants, like Anacharis, can be trimmed to any height and will continue to grow taller until you trim them. Some plants, like Vallisneria, grow really tall leaves that you can't trim and really have to move the plant to a taller tank when it outgrows its current tank.

I'm not sure what to do about the sculpture thing....you can't really make fish like an ornament. 



ClubHead9786 said:


> I have a whisper 30 gal filter and a flouresent light that stretches all across the tank.( basically a long 24 in light, u know what im talking about)


I'm going to assume your light is a regular T12 fluorescent that is 20 watts. If that's the case, you have low light and will be very limited with plant choices. You have to choose plants based on lighting because they will not all thrive in low light. Depending on what your red plant is, it may not do well in your lighting.

I'd suggest getting another light fixture that will allow you more wattage. Another 20w light strip would double your lighting and give you more plant choices.....especially more stem plants. Or you could get a 40w compact fluorescent fixture which is the same wattage as 2 20w fluorescents, but has more light output. 

For now, I'd stick with Java fern, Anubias, Crypts, Anacharis, Wisteria, and Hornwort for plants. The first 2 should be tied to wood or rocks and not buried. The last 3 are stem plants that can be trimmed at different heights. 

Hope that helps....sorry its so long!

Edit: Your common plecos will outgrow your tank and as they get older, they can uproot plants. I'd return them and get some Cories or Otocinclus (6+ cories or 5 Otos).


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## ClubHead9786 (Jan 13, 2008)

All right, so im sorry it took so long to reply but i just finished taking my finals for school so my schedule should clear up and i will be able to focus more on this topic.

Anyways, so i checked the wattage and its only 15 W. It is a fluorescent, but im not sure what a T12 is. Anyways, My tank has a temperature of 82 F and it has a 100 W heater. I recently had a problem with my water levels because the nitrate went to over 200 ppm and the ammonia and nitrites rose as well but i have been able to adjust them back to healthy numbers. My levels are as followed (I know i have to get a liquid testing kit, but all i have is the strips right now but they are the higher end strips so hopefully they are fairly accurate but w.e these numbers say, it is probably not off by much):

Ammonia- .1 or close to it (+/- .1 ppm if anything at all)
Nitrate- 40 ppm
Nitrite- .1 or .2 but there is some there but below .5
Hardness- about 150 ppm, maybe less
Chlorine- 0 Definitely (not even a dab of color change on the strip) 
Alkalinity- about 160 ppm
pH- 7.0 (+/- .2 but def neutral)

Again, i am sorry that all my results aren't as accurate as they could be but i am going to get that testing kit within a week or so. JustOneMore20, thanks for the reply. I read the sticky that you posted in the General Freshwater section about fish spontaneously dying and about how you need a good testing kit and i agree, but i was busy this whole week so very soon i will be getting a hold of that.

Its funny that im back here on the aquatic-plant section because i looked in my tank this evening to check on the fish and what not and noticed that my anachris was not doing good. It is obviously a lighting issue because the very top of the plant in some sections is about 12 in tall so it is at the very top and i have some free floating anachris because i know that the mollies like it and they are doing very well. It is a very healthy green color and the leaves are thick and dark green. As you go lower and lower on the plant, it begins to lose color and mass. The leaves look almost see through and that is probably because the chloroplasts haven't been getting any light to perform photosynthesis. Also, in the unhealthy areas near the bottom you can see that the stem is brown in color and again appearing very unhealthy. 

Im going to take you up on your suggestion and get a 40W fluorescent light because i really kind of need it. My plants are obviously suffering. The other red plant of which i dont know the name to looks almost like it is rotting away, but i will look into finding the right name for it to be more accurate.

I am in the process of relocating the placos and am in search for a new tank for them. Also, im trying to learn about "the art" of planting aquatic plants and all that jazz so hopefully i will be able to figure some things out for myself. Since i am on such a screwed up schedule from finals, i will be going to sleep appx. the time that you will be waking up.

All right, so i need some recommendations basically on what fish to keep in this tank and what fish i would be transferring to i think a 30 gal or so tank. I am planning on keeping the placos until they become adults so i am looking for a LARGE tank to house them but are the two types of fish species that you listed algae eaters or not? also, are there any type of plants that can be placed with the placos without them uprooting them? Finally, if i get everything fixed up and healthy again as far as plants and water conditions, is it ok that i have snails and sometimes even the fish nibble at it- what will that do to the plants?

p.s. i feel stupid because when doing a thorough cleaning of the tank, i think i cleaned off most of the good bacteria too because i did a good gravel vacuuming and i cleaned the media of the filter so most of my good bacteria is probably gone. That was a great sticky though, very informative and im pretty sure that i am starting somewhere close to the beginning.

Sorry this post was so long everyone, but if you have anything you would like to add, feel free. Im open for suggestions


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## ClubHead9786 (Jan 13, 2008)

Oh, and one more statement and question. I also have an air pump with a stick that is like 23in in length and stays on the bottom of the tank near the back and it is attached with the suction cups. It is on ALL the time. Day and night because it is too difficult for me to just turn off the air pump and leave everything on. I just thought it might be a good thing to put out there just incase it impacts anything.

Also, for my question, would a 40W fluorescent light be too much light because even though ive had this tank for 6 months with a 15w light, there is still algae that is produced that sticks to the wall. It is green in color and appears as dots but they do bunch up. I can not get it off for the life of me. Does anyone have any suggestions on removing this algae?

Thanks in advanced!


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2008)

ClubHead9786 said:


> All right, so im sorry it took so long to reply but i just finished taking my finals for school so my schedule should clear up and i will be able to focus more on this topic.


I definitely understand.  Final time is crazy!



ClubHead9786 said:


> Anyways, so i checked the wattage and its only 15 W. It is a fluorescent, but im not sure what a T12 is.


T12 refers to the width of the bulb. The more common fluorescent bulbs, like those you can get at Lowe's and other hardware stores are T12. The lower the number, the smaller the diameter of the bulb. Usually the stock lighting that comes with tanks is T12.




ClubHead9786 said:


> Anyways, My tank has a temperature of 82 F and it has a 100 W heater. I recently had a problem with my water levels because the nitrate went to over 200 ppm and the ammonia and nitrites rose as well but i have been able to adjust them back to healthy numbers. My levels are as followed (I know i have to get a liquid testing kit, but all i have is the strips right now but they are the higher end strips so hopefully they are fairly accurate but w.e these numbers say, it is probably not off by much):
> 
> Ammonia- .1 or close to it (+/- .1 ppm if anything at all)
> Nitrate- 40 ppm
> ...


It definitely looks like you are having a little mini-cycle, but you barely have any ammonia or nitrite, so thats good. I'd get on a schedule of weekly water changes of 30-40% if you are doing less than that now. That will help keep your nitrates down. 

It sounds like you are right on with the Anacharis. The part of the plant near the light will be healthier looking than the bottoms in low light. Getting more light over the tank will be good and will expand your plant choices. More stem plants will help keep your nitrates down (along with water changes) and will soak up that ammonia and nitrite in the tank that you have now.

Normally reddish plants need alot more light than the green ones. That's not always the case, but it usually is....especially the red stem plants. 40w over your tank should be enough for some red plants though. If the red plant you have is rotting, I'd go ahead and take it out. When plants rot they release ammonia and you don't want to keep those in the tank.




ClubHead9786 said:


> All right, so i need some recommendations basically on what fish to keep in this tank and what fish i would be transferring to i think a 30 gal or so tank. I am planning on keeping the placos until they become adults so i am looking for a LARGE tank to house them but are the two types of fish species that you listed algae eaters or not? also, are there any type of plants that can be placed with the placos without them uprooting them? Finally, if i get everything fixed up and healthy again as far as plants and water conditions, is it ok that i have snails and sometimes even the fish nibble at it- what will that do to the plants?


If the plecos are Common plecs, you will need a huge tank for them. They can grow well over a foot long if they aren't stunted...even up to 2ft. You'll want a tank that is more than 2ft wide and atleast 6ft or more long. That's a huge tank. I really don't think Common plecos should be sold to people because they require such a large tank when they are full grown. But that's another story. 
The plecos will not get full grown in your tank now, nor a 30g. They get huge and will be stunted in a small tank and die premature deaths. I'd suggest upgrading to a large tank as soon as you can or trading them in. A Bristlenose pleco would be fine in a 30g for life since they only get about 5 inches. They eat algae.

The Otocinclus are algae eaters and the Cories are just bottom feeders (don't eat algae). Otos are small, about 2" or less full grown, and they should be kept in groups. Cories should be kept in groups too and are great bottom fish.

Most snails are fine....just make sure that they aren't eating the plants (you'd see holes). I've seen people keep Mystery snails in planted tanks, so you should be fine.

Most plants should be fine with the plecos, but the bigger they get, the more room they'll need and they tend to uproot the plants. I guess any plant that isn't in the substrate (like floating plants) would be the safest, but if you are up to the task of replanting what gets uprooted, then you could have anything with them.



ClubHead9786 said:


> Oh, and one more statement and question. I also have an air pump with a stick that is like 23in in length and stays on the bottom of the tank near the back and it is attached with the suction cups. It is on ALL the time. Day and night because it is too difficult for me to just turn off the air pump and leave everything on. I just thought it might be a good thing to put out there just incase it impacts anything.
> 
> Also, for my question, would a 40W fluorescent light be too much light because even though ive had this tank for 6 months with a 15w light, there is still algae that is produced that sticks to the wall. It is green in color and appears as dots but they do bunch up. I can not get it off for the life of me. Does anyone have any suggestions on removing this algae?


The air pump won't hurt anything. If you were injecting carbon dioxide for the plants, I'd suggest you take it out, but for now its fine.

40w is medium light as far as plants go and would be fine for that tank. I suggest when you upgrade the light that you get more stem plants. They will take in the nutrients and outcompete the algae so it has nothing to feed off of. You may still have some algae, but with alot of plants and doing regular water changes, you shouldn't see more than you have now IMO.

The algae sounds like Green Spot Algae. I use an old credit card to scrape mine off. That stuff is definitely tough. Another option is a razor blade, but be careful with that one.


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## ClubHead9786 (Jan 13, 2008)

Wow, thanks for the quick response, i figured that i wouldn't get an answer until tom! My friend is studying for his last day of finals overnight so i decided to keep him company and learn about how to make an underwater garden so i will be here all night  and i decided i am going to figure out the whole situation with the placos because this isn't the only thread that people have told me to get rid of the placos so im going to have to stop being so stubborn and listen. Its been kind of a bumpy ride the past month or so with this tank.

My problem with the water levels had just occurred recently so i am still trying to get back on my feet from that but yea, you are dead on about the weekly water changes of 30%, as a matter of fact, that is exactly what i was planning on doing after i completely fix my bacterial and water levels.

As far as the health of the plants that are in the tank right now are concerned, its not looking so good. I am really beginning to become concerned for all that anachris. My set up has 3 bunches of anachris all bunched together with maybe about an inch apart in the lower left hand corner. There is basically a fake plant (which has to go) and the other 3 surround it on the sides. They are NOT getting enough light. There is only one bunch from that group that is doing ok, and it is the one that is directly under the light. I thought about uprooting them and letting it float but that wont work because there is still only a limited space for the light to shine on the water. I decided that as a temporary solution until i get a bigger light that i am going to replant all of the plants right under the light with some distance apart so they can heal themselves because this is pretty bad they are for the most part brown on the bottom and i really dont feel like paying for 4 bunches of these guys, it gets expensive...

As far as the red one is concerned, It started out being the best among my other plants that i had (anachris and some type of fern probably but it let out way too many of those green strings, idk what they are called but if you do, then please teach me) and it grew a lot. Even now, there is one branch that looks really beat up and has holes in its leaves and has major discoloration, but another part of it is completely fine and looks good. I was wondering if i can just trim it off and move on with my life w/o getting any negative feedback from the plant?? But yea, very wierd cuz if you said that red plants usually require more light which i would agree with, then either i am really doing something right or i should find out the name and share it with everyone  Unfortunately, im going to have to wait until i visit my LPS because ive been trying to find it, but everything looks the same to me and i think with this plant the name is important since it goes against common belief.

Ok, so i have a question, would by LPS take the placo for free or will they let me trade it or what happens with that one??

Also, if i have say 5 zebra danios and 5 balloon mollies in that tank, how many otos and cories do u recommend because the danios kinda swim towards the top and in the middle and the mollies stay at the top so i need something near the bottom? This is also given that i relocate my black skirt tetra because everyone says that they shouldn't be in the same tank as a zebra danio but i will look into that.

This is deffinetely a beginner's question but how do i inject CO2 into the water? Is it hard? costly? time consuming? if you can just brief it out, i can figure out the rest.

Would the placos or the snails get the green algae off or do i have to physically remove them?

Finally, my tank, unfortunately, is filled with those ANNOYING snails that come out of no where and multiply exponentially so are they going to cause harm to my plants? If yes, how do i get rid of them and do they really serve a purpose??? At all??

Thanks in advance guys...actually mostly just Kristin, thanks a lot, i really appreciate all this help. You really know your stuff!


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## ClubHead9786 (Jan 13, 2008)

Actually i just figured out what that red plant was, its called a Alternanthera reineckii and its also known as roseafolia or the magenta water hedge.

if you wanna take a look, its this link below
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/plantspecies/p/altreineckii.htm


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2008)

ClubHead9786 said:


> As far as the health of the plants that are in the tank right now are concerned, its not looking so good. I am really beginning to become concerned for all that anachris. My set up has 3 bunches of anachris all bunched together with maybe about an inch apart in the lower left hand corner. There is basically a fake plant (which has to go) and the other 3 surround it on the sides. They are NOT getting enough light. There is only one bunch from that group that is doing ok, and it is the one that is directly under the light. I thought about uprooting them and letting it float but that wont work because there is still only a limited space for the light to shine on the water. I decided that as a temporary solution until i get a bigger light that i am going to replant all of the plants right under the light with some distance apart so they can heal themselves because this is pretty bad they are for the most part brown on the bottom and i really dont feel like paying for 4 bunches of these guys, it gets expensive...


For the Anacharis, your idea is great. Plant them right under the light and spread the stems out instead of bunching them all together. That will help the bottom-most part of the stem get some light. You could keep some of it floating if you want, as it would get more light that way. If you want to trim the bad parts off and then plant them back, you could do that.



ClubHead9786 said:


> As far as the red one is concerned, It started out being the best among my other plants that i had (anachris and some type of fern probably but it let out way too many of those green strings, idk what they are called but if you do, then please teach me) and it grew a lot. Even now, there is one branch that looks really beat up and has holes in its leaves and has major discoloration, but another part of it is completely fine and looks good. I was wondering if i can just trim it off and move on with my life w/o getting any negative feedback from the plant?? But yea, very wierd cuz if you said that red plants usually require more light which i would agree with, then either i am really doing something right or i should find out the name and share it with everyone  Unfortunately, im going to have to wait until i visit my LPS because ive been trying to find it, but everything looks the same to me and i think with this plant the name is important since it goes against common belief.
> Actually i just figured out what that red plant was, its called a Alternanthera reineckii and its also known as roseafolia or the magenta water hedge.


Alternanthera is a high light plant as well. I can't tell you why part of it is doing well now, but in the long run it won't thrive. I have tried this plant in medium light and it had stunted leaves and was discolored. Now, in my high light tank, it has longer leaves and has good color. I suggest trimming off the bad part. You could keep the good part for now. When you upgrade your lighting it should look better.



ClubHead9786 said:


> Ok, so i have a question, would by LPS take the placo for free or will they let me trade it or what happens with that one??


Some LPS and LFS will take fish as trade ins....some will only take them for free if you tell them you cannot keep them. I suggest calling several LPS/LFS in the area and asking if they'd take them. Explain to them that when you bought them you didn't know how large they got and you cannot house them properly. The nicer LFS will let you trade them in for something else, but not all of them will. Definitely call before taking the fish up there though.



ClubHead9786 said:


> Also, if i have say 5 zebra danios and 5 balloon mollies in that tank, how many otos and cories do u recommend because the danios kinda swim towards the top and in the middle and the mollies stay at the top so i need something near the bottom? This is also given that i relocate my black skirt tetra because everyone says that they shouldn't be in the same tank as a zebra danio but i will look into that.


I would just get Otos or Cories and not both, since the tank is only 15g. You will be limited on the type of Cories you get, unless you decide to get a bigger tank eventually and move them to it. I'd get 6 Panda Cories or 6 False Julii cories....or 5 Otos. Make sure that you are not showing any ammonia or nitrite before adding either of these because they are both pretty sensitive to water conditions.



ClubHead9786 said:


> This is deffinetely a beginner's question but how do i inject CO2 into the water? Is it hard? costly? time consuming? if you can just brief it out, i can figure out the rest.


Here is a link to how to make DIY CO2. You put yeast, sugar, and water in a 2L bottle with a top on it and airline through the top. The yeast feed off the sugar and produce co2. 
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/DIY-Yeast-CO2/7/

I have an article on another site that I *thought* I posted on here, but I don't see it, so I guess I didn't.  Here's a link: CO2. Hopefully that works. I should post that here.......



ClubHead9786 said:


> Would the placos or the snails get the green algae off or do i have to physically remove them?


Green spot algae is really tough and plecos or snails cannot eat it. Its very hard algae, as you can tell. I'd remove it physically.



ClubHead9786 said:


> Finally, my tank, unfortunately, is filled with those ANNOYING snails that come out of no where and multiply exponentially so are they going to cause harm to my plants? If yes, how do i get rid of them and do they really serve a purpose??? At all??


The small snails that reproduce like mad won't harm the plants. Usually these come in as eggs on your plants. If you want to get rid of them, put piece of cucumber or lettuce in the tank over night. They'll be drawn to it and in the morning you should be able to take the veggie out with a bunch of snails. That won't get rid of them all, but you could do this several times. Also, try not to overfeed as this gives them food to eat and without food, they won't survive. You could also pick any out by hand that you see. I've pretty much learned to live with mine....I can't seem to get rid of them. 



ClubHead9786 said:


> Thanks in advance guys...actually mostly just Kristin, thanks a lot, i really appreciate all this help. You really know your stuff!


You are very welcome!


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## ClubHead9786 (Jan 13, 2008)

Cool, well a couple more questions, as far as the lighting for my aquarium. I have a 15w flouresent and im pretty sure its a T12 but anyways, i want to have about 40w coming in so what would be a couple of ways of going about and doing this? Also, what is the difference of having one light that is a high wattage rather than two lights that their sums equal the wattage of the first light? Basically what are the options that i have to get my tank 2.6 wpg. This is by having 40w of light on the aquarium?

Also, i have a big rock that would look good if it was covered in that short grass. do you have any recomendations on what type of species of plants i should use to cover the rock? And is is it to perform a task such as this?

thanks in advanced.


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## ClubHead9786 (Jan 13, 2008)

*Anacharis*

One more problem that i am having is my anacharis is coming in very strong and as it is growing, it looks like it is making plenty of progress, however, as soon as i turn off the light or maybe a couple hours after looking at the plants, i could see that the anacharis basically deteriarated. As it is coming it, it is a healthy green color and about half an inch from the top, the plant begins to fade in color and the leaves thin and it begins to look very sick and unhealthy. I have gravel substrate and i don't add CO2 or any kind of nutrients to the tank either. I have my 15w flourescent light but i put another hood from my frog tank onto the fish tank so there is another 10w coming from a flourescent lightbulb. Does anyone know the reason to why my anacharis looks like it is dying?

Thanks in advanced


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