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questions about getting a plant

3K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  TwinDad 
#1 ·
I have some platy and some cherry shrimp so i would like a couple plants for hiding, i need low light plants that are easy to keep. Any ideas?
Also, would i need to start putting different nutrients in the water to suppot plants?
I was considering getting fake plants but i heard real plants help the tank.

Thanks in advance
 
#2 ·
Java moss, java fern, anubias, hornwort, pennywort, frogbit are all low light plants that do not require anything special to be done for them to grow in your tank
 
#8 ·
Cherry Shrimp love Java Moss also. It will manage in low light settings as well. Another thing I wouldnt worry so much about WPG as I would about the right color spectrum the plants need. A full spectrum bulbs work great. Something like Zoo meds Ultra Sun Super Daylight bulbs. You can also go to any hardware store and pick up a Daylight bulb around 6500k. Do you know what kind of bulb you have?
Another thing is you need or should dose fertilizer with any live plant you have in your tank at least once a week. A good brand is Flourish Comprehensive. Its a liquid fertilizer that is easy to dose.
 
#10 ·
Low light plants tend to be slow growers, and therefore dont tend to eat much ammonia. You will need alot of java moss to have much of an effect. Also you will probably want to tie the java moss down to driftwood or a rock. Otherwise it will ball up and grow algae on it.

Water Sprite is a good plant to leave floating. Once it adjusts it will grow long roots that fry can hide in, as well allows infusoria to grow providing healthy and free fry food.

You want your lights on about 8 hours a day.
 
#12 ·
I am on board with those above, would buy more than one or two plant's. The more plant mass, the more beneficial for the ammonia reducing capabilities ,and also will support less algae.
Java moss would provide shrimplet's places to hide from platy's ,who I fear would happily consume any small shrimp's they happened upon.
Water sprite is good, fairly fast grower under low to high lighting, and lot's of this along with the Moss,java fern, and anubia would be good addition's in my opinion.
Some small pieces of wood, and some smooth stones piled around the wood would also help give shrimp more protection.
Course, if your up to your ear's in shrimp's,,perhap's some predation would not be troublesome.:cool:
 
#13 · (Edited)
Ok heres what im thinking haha, anchor some java moss to tumbled rocks, and just have a pennywort planted in my gravel substrate. I also have some decor to provide hiding places. I only have a 10 gallon tank. And doesn't the shrimp take care of some of the algae? Im just asking. U guys know more than i do hahaha. And btw i really appreciate all the help
 
#14 · (Edited)
Yes,this will work.
Pennywort will grow toward's surface and after a bit,you'll have enough to also float some.
Platy's are prolific breeder's and ten gallon tank will be quite small for the number's of fry the platy's are capable of producing in fairly short order if males and females are present.
If you do not try and use too much light,and you have decent,healthy plant mass, then algae will have more difficult time forming. Shrimps will eat a little algae, but algae in excess will cause plant's to suffer.
best to try and keep algae to minimum from the outset.
When anchoring the java moss, try spread it out a liitle, so that light can reach larger surface area than it can if moss is attached in clumps, where light/nutrient's can't penetrate to center of said clump.
 
#17 ·
So i guess the crayfish would be a bad idea. What if i got 2 female platy, and because they can store sperm they might pop a couple times. But i could find a hhome for any male platy that are made. So there will be some births but not and extreme amount. Would that work?
 
#18 ·
Right up until one of the offspring is male....platies have no problem with mating with their offspring /siblings
 
#19 ·
I would be looking at small tetra's such as glowlight ,silver tip,pristella,blood fin.
These are small, hardy,active fish that do well in wide range of water and they in my view would be best suited for small ten gal.
With lot's of plant's , shrimp might not have as much to fear,and perhap's a dozen tetra's of one of the afore mentioned species would be the path I chose.:cool:
 
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