Plants on driftwood

Fishful thninkin

Hi i am new to the whole idea of aquariums BUT have had quite a few ponds wich once we set up turned into little ecosystems that needed very little help to live and thrive, but reading through the forum i noticed that having plants in a tank is quite a difficult thing to get right, and i was wondering that if i used all plants that have been grown onto driftwood that i might not need to worry too much about substrate too much

So i wouldnt mind if anyone has any knowledge on this

samtheman

if all the plants are on drift wood, then you will not need any special substrate, just a light.
im sure someone else might have some more input.

sam <!-- s:rr: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_r&r.gif" alt=":rr:" title="rr" /><!-- s:rr: -->

Doug

If you have a plant that is attached to a bit of driftwood then you need no substrate at all <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

In fact plants that are often found attached to driftwood can live simply floating around the tank. I have bits of java fern that simply drift around my tanks.

samtheman

lol, same here, got pieces of java fern floating around <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Neptune

Fishful thninkin
Not all plants will grow on DW you can grow rooted plants in pots that has substrate in it.

Neptune

Fishful thninkin

Thanks everyone that is a big help i was worried i might have had to empty my entire tanke and put substrate in
Just to have some plants

TrevorR

You can also buy little pot plants from the pet shop with the plant in them all ready

Brengun

I've had anubias that came from the lfs in little clay pots for ages, too lazy to put them on wood so I just sit them in the substrate and they push their roots down into it. I move them every couple of months to give the gravel a good vac but otherwise they are quite happy just in their pots.

TrevorR

Put some Co2 into the tank and that will help the plants to grow

kfenk

I'm a big fan of anubias on driftwood. Lazy mans plants lol <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt="" title="Mr. Green" /><!-- s --> easy to keep and can move them around while gravel vaccing with out disturbing the plants

luigi

Hi Everyone

I have 2 small java ferns I want to attch them to tiny terra cotta pots. How do I attach them on pots?

Doug

fishing line, rubber band, string...anything that will hold it down

Mooo

Java is hard to attach to a flower pot cos it is smooth, you might be wise to rough up the surface a tad for something to grip onto..

Heintz.G

Coarse sandpaper or a file will do the trick to rough up the pot.

luigi

thanks for that advice.

Taffy

Hi everyone!

I'm quite new at the whole aquarium thing, and probably quite uneducated about it. I was after some floating plants for my gourami. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Also, my driftwood plant has black spots on the leaves I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Thank you xo

Heintz.G

Hi Taffy, for floating plants you could try duckweed, it comes in a couple of sizes. Black spots on the plants could be they need fertilizer :-?? . Some one here is bound to know for sure what it is, good luck.

Doug

duck weed is good if you ok with taking some off every now and again. Left to its own devices it will cover the entire top of the tank. Other floating plants i have are java fern, the different mosses and foxtail. Foxtail would be my top recommendation. Its normally a pond plant but does really well in tanks. it is a totally floating plant that never roots. Looks great too, lovely shade of green, just dont put it in the local river!

In terms of the dark spots, could be lack of nutrients or algae growing on it. pics will help

Mooo

Hi & Welcome Taffy
Duck weed as everyone says is great, It can help fry stay safe and it will consume nitrates, when it grows fast you know your nitrates are climbing and time to do a wc
Another is Frogbit, It's much larger in leaf size, It's another one of my favs..
You also have wisteria, and floating water sprite..
Great floating plants .

Taffy

Thank you, thank you!

James

I have had drift wood before, I find when cleaning the tank I often have to take extreme care because the plant often fell off! But with other plants I just buy two and leave them for 2 years then buy 2 more depending if they survived!