Keeping a planted aquarium tank isn't extremely difficult. There are "easy" as well as "difficult" plants to keep. Some plants are expensive, but most people will "trade" cuttings for other species. If you give the plants the proper environment and maintenance, you'll be able to keep a planted aquarium. In addition, if you have a good "eye" for creating visually appealing landscapes and balanced layouts, this will further make the aquarium pleasing to the viewer. I don't claim to be an expert and there are certainly many people with planted aquarium tanks that look better than mine, but most people find my aquariums to look just fine. For more information, go to the main discus page and follow the links on the "Links" section.

Note - I often get asked about keeping discus in a planted tank rather than bare bottom.  I will say this, just because plants take in nitrites produced by fish waste and uneaten food, etc... does not mean you should get lazy and cut back on doing water changes.  All fish, especially discus, will grow out much better and faster (and stay more healthy) if they are kept in fresh, clean water.  That is why practically all breeders raise discus in bare bottom tanks - it's easier to keep clean and they do water changes very often, sometimes more than twice a day.  So if you want your discus to grow out large to their potential size and look magnificent, I recommend growing them out in a barebottom tank for several months with frequent water changes, then if you want, move them into a planted tank and continue the water changes and maintenance.

 

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Note: I've had some bad luck/ accidents with some plants:
(and what happened! I HAVE been able to grow most of these with a second attempt)

Melon Sword - Echinodorus osiris (chlorinated it to death/ planted too deeply and crown rotted)
Radican Sword - Echinodorus cordifolius (same as above)
Ruffled Sword - Echinodorus major (not enough light)
Water Sprite - Ceratopteris thalictroides (Discus ate it)
Water Wisteria - Hygrophila deformis (Discus ate it)
Hornwort - Ceratophyllum submersum (too high temperature, not enough light)
Corkscrew Val - Vallisneria tortifolia (not enough light)
Java Moss - Vesicularia dubyana (Siamese algea eater ate it)
Aponogeton Cripus - (not enough nutrients in the gravel)
Lacey Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus wendelov (out competed for nutrients and withered away)
African Water Fern - Bolbitis heudelotii (same as above)
Cryptocoryne Affinis - (Wouldn't recover after "melting")
Crystalwort - Riccia fluitans (sucked up into filter and choked out by filamentous algea)
Needle Leafed Ludwigia - Ludwigia arcuata (choked out by filamentous hair algea)
Glossostigma - (not enough light and gravel too large)
Rotala Macrandra - (not enough light intensity and not enough CO2)
Ludwidgia glandulosa - (I'm still wrestling with this plant!)

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Here is a list of twenty tips to keep in mind when creating a planted aquarium tank:
(I've learned some of these the hard way, so don't duplicate my mistakes) :-)

1.) Always keep aquatic plants in dechlorinated water.

2.) Use fertilizers carefully!!! Make sure that if you place fertilizer under the gravel substrate that there is ample gravel to prevent leaching. Add liquid fertilizers a little bit at a time / carefully and observe the results.

3.) Shop around for plants - stores will vary on price, variety, and quality. The best sources are other planted tank keepers! Some of the pet "superstores", such as Petsmart, aren't bad either if you know what to look for.

4.) Try to conform to the general rule of "two watts of light per gallon (3.78 liters) of aquarium water".  This is just a general rule, obviously 10 watts of light over a two gallon tank isn't the same intensity as 200 watts over a 50 gallon tank (trust me on this!).  Also don't expect to make up for a lack in intensity with duration; 10-12 hours of light is usually enough.

5.) Home improvement stores have daylight fluorescent tubes at prices far less (sometimes 50% less) than those sold in aquarium stores. The General Electric "Sunshine" (Chroma 50) is a good example of this.

6.) Make sure you match plants and fish, not only do certain fish love to eat plants, but plants and fish may not agree on water temperature requirements nor hardness.

7.) Read up (including using the internet) on the type of plants you are interested in so that you will become familiar with it's growing conditions. Plus, this assures you won't make the mistake of placing terrestrial plants in the aquarium. The Aluminum plant, the Purple Waffle, some palms, and some Brazillian swords are commonly sold as aquatic plants (which they aren't); just because they are being sold in an aquarium store, doesn't necessarily mean they plants can be grown submerged over a long period of time.

8.) Consider using the "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) Carbon Dioxide production - it is simple, effective, and inexpensive for small to medium sized tanks (50 gallons or less).  Or if you have more money, go with a pressurized CO2 setup.

9.) Plan a visually attractive layout before planting - draw some sketches, position rockwork, etc...

10.) Many plants sold in stores are grown emersed (grown with only their lower parts - roots, in water), once you bring them home to a submersed condition, the new growth will reflect the change in environment.  Sword plants (echinodorus), cryptocorynes, and many stem/ bunch plants (rotala, ludwigia, bacopa, etc...) are good examples of this and the new leaves can look much different in shape and coloring than the emersed growth.

11.) Don't get lazy! Make a regular maintenance routine (pruning, fertilizing, replanting, water changes, etc...) and stick with it!  If you end up with some extra plants, trade with others or check and see if the local stores are interested in trading for store credit.  I often bring cuttings into the local aquarium club meetings too.

12.) In general, red plants require more light (the red coloring/ pigment, anthocyanidin, is sort of like humans developing a suntan). Also, in general, red plants require some iron fertilization to maintain their red coloring; you can also limit the amount of nitrogen to increase the red coloring.

13.) What works for some people, doesn't necessarily work for others - I can't keep cryptocoryne affinis no matter what I try and it's supposed to be the easiest crypt plant to keep!

14.) Be patient, let your plants adjust to their new homes and then they'll start growing. If they stop growing after weeks of growth, they have used up their stored nutrients and you need to add in the difficient nutrient.

15.) If you are concerned about cleaning the plants before placing them into your aquarium tank, give them a mild bath in potassium permanganate for 10-15 minutes. Also check for snail eggs and leeches!

16.) Try to avoid adding plants with hair/ brush/ black/ red algea on them into your tank - they will just bring this into your tank and then it will likely spread around. A short bleach bath sometimes works in removing this, but this this is stressful to the plants. Also avoid bringing in duckweed - many consider this plant to be a plague and once it's in your tank, it takes nearly daily removal to rid your tank of this floating plant.

17.) To combat algae, target algae eating fish to the specific type algae: ottocinclus for brown/ diatom/ silcates; plecostomus, bushy nose/ bristlenose ancistrus catfish, or farlowella for green algae; siamese algae eater for the red hair algae, and flag fish for eating the green filamentous algae. Keep in mind not all types of plecostomus will eat algae (many, including the Hypancistrus zebra, prefer to eat meat!), and given a choice, most algae eaters are more likely to nibble on fish food than hunt for algae. Many types of algae eating fish also enjoying rasping off the the slime off the sides of discus - be careful! Fast growing plants also can pull the nutrients out of the water thus leaving less for algae.

18.) When adding driftwood, keep in mind that most woods tend to float until they become fully saturated. They will leach tanins into the water (harmless to discus) and give it a tea color (unless you add carbon in the filter). Sometimes fungus tends to grow on them. However, driftwood makes a nice place to attach bolbitus, java fern, java and willow moss, and even anubias plants, in addition, discus enjoy swimming around a piece of driftwood. I recommend "wellaby" or "mopani" wood - boil it for 20-30 minutes to clean it up. It is heavy enough to naturally sink.

19.) Most rooted plants, such as swords and crypts, enjoy a finer gravel substrate; 2-3mm is fine. Large sized gravel can leave large "gaps" for food to fall into. Also don't bury the plants too deeply or rotting will occur - you should see the crown (where the roots start) above the gravel.

20.) Some more difficult plants for beginners to keep are: madagascar lace leaf aponogeton (easy to keep initially, but not over many months), red rotala macrandra, and ludwigia inclinata. Some easier plants to keep are: java fern, java moss, anubias nana, water sprite, vallisneria, crypt wendtii, and hygrophila polysperma.

Walter's Main Planted Tanks Page  | .Walter's Main Discus Page

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