# New to planted tanks.



## ras0787 (Mar 6, 2012)

Hello. I'm new to having plants in my aquarium and new to the forum). I'm having trouble with the plants I'm adding to my aquarium. I have a 10 gallon tank with a few glowfish and a couple catfish (bottom feeders). I bought my first plant, which was a Peacock Fern. It was just one of the plants on the shelf from petsmart. I pretty much just randomly picked it. 

It wasn't long before the plant started tuning brown at the bottom. It slowly came apart and later the leafs, which were still green, were floating around the tank. Eventually most of the plant came apart and there was only one green part left. The bottom was completely brown and looked dead. I took the plant out and got rid of it. 

Fairly recently, I bought a ribbon plant, hoping for better results. Again, it was just a random pick at petsmart. It looks like some of the leaves are starting to tun brown and the plant looks very unhealthy. I bought some Nutrafin Plant Gro to try to remedy the situation. I put it in about once a week, and it doesn't seem to be of any help.

Is there anything I can do to keep my plants living? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

I should also mention I have gravel at the bottom of the tank. The Peackock Fern was on the left side front corner, which is the side the filter is on. The ribbon plant is smack dead in the middle of the tank.

Thanks! :animated_fish_swimm


----------



## Rob72 (Apr 2, 2011)

some of the plants petsmart has on the self in the tubes are not true aquatic plants, i know the ribbon plant is one of them. I have been a victom of that in the past when i started. When you first by plants it is shock to them to go from one enviroment to the other, i have had some turn brown then they green back up


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Hate to tell you, but both are not true aquatic plants. Both of those plants are semi-aquatic and will rot when you fully submerge. Once you get some of the right plants I am sure you will do just fine.


----------



## ChessieSFR (Dec 30, 2011)

I did the same thing when I started out with my planted tank. I've gone a bit crazy with it, and now have a lovely little underwater garden.

With gravel, the plants don't have a lot of nutrients. I ended up changing my substrate to a layer of whatever the clay-like substrate is they sell for planted tanks, with a layer of black aquarium sand on top.

I don't think you need to do that if you start with the right plants. I'd lean on plants that prefer their roots to be in the water and not buried. Do a little research for a real focused independent aquarium store in your area. They tend to stock more plants that are interesting.

If you are stuck with Petsmart, here's what you should do. Get a pair of those cute little moss balls. They are good starters, and are a good indication if you have good growing conditions in the tank. So long as they stay green and fluffy, conditions are good for plants.

Next keep your eye out for Java fern, or java lace fern, java moss, and anubias. All of them need to be strapped to a rock or a tank decoration with a small rubber band, but they are hardy plants that do well in a small tank, and they all like to have their roots above ground.

Often people will trade any of these plants in the other parts of the forum. Just ask if anyone has sprouts they're willing to ship.

You can also anchor a clump of anacharis into your gravel. They also draw nutrients from the water column, but tolerate being shoved down into gravel to anchor them there.

For a planted 10 gal tank, the best thing I did was a little DIY CO2 system. It's basically yeast and sugar fermenting in an Ocean Spray bottle with the gas passing through a water trap then going through an air tube into an airstone in the corner of my tank. It was simple and cheap to make, and the pearling on my plants is fantastic, so I know they are doing their thing and making O2 for the tank.

With plants anchored to decorations and rocks, cleaning your gravel will be easier because you don't have to worry about disturbing roots. You just move the anchored plants around and clean as needed. Good luck!


----------



## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello ras...

A 10 gallon tank is really too small. I would do some more research. Everything you read should explain the benefits of a larger tank. I suggest getting a 30 gallon tank or even larger if you can. Small tanks are hard to maintain and your fish and plants need room to swim and grow.

B


----------



## ChessieSFR (Dec 30, 2011)

My 10 gal planted tank does just fine. You just have to keep in mind that you have to do some pruning, and buy plants that don't take over. You also need to keep small fish. I've got 4 platys that are doing great, and my plants are lovely.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

A lightly stocked 10g tank is no harder to keep than larger ones, IMO. In general I agree, 10g tanks should just be fry tanks or shrimp tanks, but at least it is planted.


----------

