The author does not want to discourage newcomers to the hobby. But when it comes to plants there simply is a problem. Plants are not as easy as everyone says they are. Newcomers to the hobby should skip the plants and start with a lightly stocked “fish only” aquarium with several small fish and plastic plants till they get to understand the hobby better.
There are several very general, frequently not followed, recommendations for a planted aquarium:
- Light stocking of fish smaller than two inches
- A carbon dioxide (“CO2”) level above 10 ppm first thing in the morning
- A plant every three inches across both the length and the width of the aquarium
- Little surface movement of the water and no air stones.
The thing to key in on is the first recommendation: light stocking of fish smaller than two inches. This is where most hobbyists make their mistakes.
Planted Aquariums in a Little More Depth
Many aquarium hobbyists start with both plants and large numbers of sizable fish in an aquarium. Then their plants start dying and/or their fish start dying and they keep replacing them and trying all sorts of things to keep them alive. Finally, after a few months or even a few years of fighting Mother Nature, they gravitate to either a planted aquarium with few fish or a fish aquarium with no plants in the aquarium.
The problem has to do with aeration. Moderate numbers of decent-sized fish like platy in an aquarium require good aeration or they get sick and die. Aeration kills plants as it removes carbon dioxide from the water. Plants feed on carbon dioxide. So one either kills the fish or they kill the plants.
The plants in the well-aerated aquarium below are probably going to die.
There have been photos on social media of roughly one hundred and fifty beautiful planted aquariums (the photos can all be seen at the link below). Three of those photos have a moderate amount of three-inch to five-inch fish among luxurious plant growth. Three! 147 of these tanks had only a few small one to two-inch fish in them.
Then there have been probably 100 photos of many three to five-inch fish in aquariums. Only ONE of those moderately to heavily stocked aquariums had real plants in them. These photos should tell a newcomer that keeping even moderate amounts of decent-sized fish in a planted aquarium can be a real challenge. Note that Mother Nature is very unpredictable and many claims to have no problem keeping many decent sized fish in a well-planted aquarium. The author has never been able to accomplish that in 55 years of fish-keeping.
Any experienced aquarium owner will tell you that when you enter the hobby there is a decision you must make. Do you want an aquarium of all fish or do you want an aquarium of largely plants? Do you want a fish aquarium or a planted aquarium? Creating a well-planted aquarium with heavy loading of greater than two-inch fish is very challenging. Even a moderate amount of greater than two-inch fish with a lot of plants is a challenge.
If one wants plants with their fish some plants are the exception and simply can’t be killed and which seem to live under any conditions. While they will get some algae on their leaves the leaves are resistant to being smothered by algae. And they seem to live in all substrates under all conditions with no fertilizer at all. They even live in very low light conditions.
The plants that fit this description include Anubias (just don’t put the bulbs INTO the substrate), Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus), Java Fern (Leptochilus pteropus, synonym Microsorum pteropus), and Java Moss (Taxiphyllum barbieri). Java fern and Java moss are both “epiphytes” and need to be either attached to a surface like a piece of wood or they need a very open substrate like aquarium gravel. If you bury the crown on Java fern in sand it will die.
For more information on planted tanks click on this link:
15. Planted Aquariums
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Dave says
In reply to Thomas … You are doing everything 100% correct. just leave everything alone for several weeks till it all sorts itself out
Thomas says
I have a few questions concerning beneficial bacteria and plant health. Some events happened to my aquarium system:
1. external filter that’s connected to my undergravel filter was accidentally switched off for a few days. There was only a surface area (tiny hole of diameter 1cm)for oxygen exchange when the filter was off. Would that have killed the bacteria in the brown gunk present in the canister filter? The bacteria in the undergravel filter should be fine right? As there’s still a large surface area for oxygen exchange via the tank.
2. After a couple weeks, I temporarily moved my plants from the aquarium to a bucket because I wanted to add some new aquarium soil (on top of the old soil present in the tank) as nutrients in the old soil has depleted.
3. After two days I finally moved the plants back into the tank. I assume that since the plants were kept in a dark environment (a bucket of water), it may have caused some stress to the plants
4. After a week or so I noticed some white slim on the plant roots (I have some plants attached to rocks so I can see the roots very clearly) the white slime looks like the ones I got when the tank was still “uncycled” and I guess it’s due to some sort of excess dissolved organics which could have came from dead plant matter and stressed plants?
My main question is that is this because there isn’t enough bacteria in the brown gunk to consume the extra dissolved organics? If so is this because the bacteria in my canister filter died off because of insufficient oxygen the few days when the filter was off? Couple days ago I did a 50% water change to suck out some dead plants + slime and I introduced 10 or so dwarf shrimps from my other tank to help clean up the slim. Right now everything seems fine except the small amounts of white slime that remains on the roots. Is there some action that I have to take or should I just wait and let everything sort itself out? The tank is heavily planted and lightly stocked, and the plants appear to be regaining their health as new leaves are forming. Many thanks in advance !!!
Anonymous says
You are right. I just compared the easy green with flourish. The Flourish has NPK but only a fraction of what Easy Green does. I feel foolish.
Dave says
In reply to Steve …. One can alternate flourish with easy green till the flourish (only micronutrients) is gone.
And I’ve got whole chapters on controlling algae. It is basically just a guessing game. You have what I would consider a low tech planted tank. https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/16-2-controlling-algae/
Steve says
I have a whole bottle of Flourish; So even at higher doses it is useless?
Also, any ideas how to get rid of the beard algae?
Dave says
In reply to Steve…. You are doing everything right except for your fertilizer. Flourish is useless. Try Aquarium Co-op’s Easy Green.
Steve says
I have a two-year-old 16-gal cube with plant issues.
Background: it has gravel floor with a UG filter attached to a small powerhead. I’ve been trying to follow your advice about keeping it only lightly stocked; it has 3 platys, 2 Endlers, a Nerite snail, and a few cherry shrimp. Other than being a bit hard, the water parameters are fine. It is lit by a moderate, 14w, 800-lumen, light, for 6-8 hours a day.
It’s about 60% full of plants. I started with about ten varieties, but half died off, mostly the rooted ones that were hard to fertilize, and a couple species that probably wanted more light. I have a pint-sized, upside-down bottle that I fill with passive CO2 every morning. Since the tank is so small, I just bought a bottle of commercial fertilizer (Flourish) that I feed once a week according to the directions.
The crypts are small but healthy, the Anubias are getting by, the Buce have multiplied nicely. Two-thirds of the plant mass is now Java ferns. About half of the Java fern leaves are now getting dark brown splotches, which gradually kill the leaves.
I have very little green algae, a lot of hair algae that is irritating, but easy enough to pull out once a week. But recently, the beard algae is increasing. Also in just the last three weeks, all the duckweed has died off.
Help! Im stumped.