# Anchored vs. Planted in Substrate



## Velvetdragon (Mar 17, 2007)

I've never done a planted tank before. Every step is throwing me for a loop.

All I went to do right now is buy the plants. However, as soon as I set my mind to do that, I realized many problems with every choice.

My tank is going to be a nano, a 2.5 gallon minibow, with a 10 watt mini power compact flourescent light, with a betta as a resident. It will have a piece of driftwood, topsoil from the home improvement store covered in small gravel.

At first I thought that I would get moss balls, a couple java ferns, anubias nana, java moss and dwarf sag. The java moss would float while the planted plants took hold.

However, I've been told java ferns don't like to be planted under substrate, and prefer to be tied (such as to a rock or driftwood). And that in the NPT method, eventually the planted plants will outcompete the floating plants (and anchored plants), once established. Does this mean this would be a bad setup? Would it fail quickly? Should I skip the java ferns and choose something that is planted in the soil, like swords, instead? Do anubias like to be planted in the soil?

I'd like to know if the java ferns would eventually die, and if they did, whether there would still be enough planted.

I'm not sure I understand the balancing at all. I'm sorry for all the questions -- hopefully soon I can post pictures of a tank in progress, instead!


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

For both the java ferns and anubias the rhizome should not be planted in the substrate. They both do well tied to rocks or driftwood. I have a few anubias where I used weights to initially hold the rhizome down and then let the roots grow into the substrate. Those anubias are doing very well and its been several months at least. So, you can plant them in the substrate, just make certain the rhizome doesn't get covered or it will rot.

The reason plants rooted in the soil do better in a NPT is the lack of water column fertilization. Once the nutrients in the water column are depleted, there isn't enough being added back through fish food/waste to keep the plants dependent on the water column for nutrients in good health. Neither the ferns or anubias are heavy feeders as they are slow growing, so they should be all right for quite some time.

In a 2.5 gallon tank most sword plants will get much too big. You might try either the tropica sword plant or some of the shorter cryptocornes. None of the plants that you list are really fast growers. You might want to get some floaters or a fast growing stem plant in order to avoid algae issues until your desired plants are well established.


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## Velvetdragon (Mar 17, 2007)

cs_gardener said:


> For both the java ferns and anubias the rhizome should not be planted in the substrate. They both do well tied to rocks or driftwood. I have a few anubias where I used weights to initially hold the rhizome down and then let the roots grow into the substrate. Those anubias are doing very well and its been several months at least. So, you can plant them in the substrate, just make certain the rhizome doesn't get covered or it will rot.
> 
> The reason plants rooted in the soil do better in a NPT is the lack of water column fertilization. Once the nutrients in the water column are depleted, there isn't enough being added back through fish food/waste to keep the plants dependent on the water column for nutrients in good health. Neither the ferns or anubias are heavy feeders as they are slow growing, so they should be all right for quite some time.
> 
> In a 2.5 gallon tank most sword plants will get much too big. You might try either the tropica sword plant or some of the shorter cryptocornes. None of the plants that you list are really fast growers. You might want to get some floaters or a fast growing stem plant in order to avoid algae issues until your desired plants are well established.


Thank you very much, this is extremely helpful.

I'm looking through the plant descriptions on this site, very useful -- they list height! http://plantgeek.net doesn't. The sword I was looking at was _Echinodorus bleheri_ 'compacta' which is a bit smaller than some of the others but I will look into some crypts.

Would hornwort be a good idea as a quick grower in a soft water tank? (I'm planning on a betta.) What other fast growing floating plants would you recommend?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Hornwort is great because you can just float it (it stays below the water surface) and easily remove what you don't want. I'm in Salem, with similar soft water and it grows just fine as a floating plant. I've also floated Hyrophila difformis (water wisteria), it is a great fast grower but it tends to get pretty big. 

I also have salvinia, red root floater and frogbit which float on the water surface, all are very easy to grow and it's also easy to remove the excess. 

For a 2.5 gallon tank, I think the hornwort, salvinia and red-root floater would work best. You mentioned you'd like a java fern, consider the lace-leaf form as that stays a lot smaller than the regular and narrow leaf forms. You might also be able to grow a Rotala sp. as they have nice small leaves that would suit a small tank. I've only mentioned plants I have personal experience with, but I'm sure there are lots of others that would also do well.


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## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

Make sure you have at least *one* rooted plant, otherwise the substrate will become increasingly toxic. Don't plant java fern, but I don't think planting anubius will hurt it; I have anubius growing from the substrate (El-Natural tank w/ soil bottom) and it's doing fine.

Try echinodorus tenellus. It stays small (unless it's growing out of a 1.5-inch-plus layer of soil - then it gets huge), and after it settles in it'll spread runners out like crazy.


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## Velvetdragon (Mar 17, 2007)

cs_gardener said:


> Hornwort is great because you can just float it (it stays below the water surface) and easily remove what you don't want. I'm in Salem, with similar soft water and it grows just fine as a floating plant. I've also floated Hyrophila difformis (water wisteria), it is a great fast grower but it tends to get pretty big.


I figured you'd know. Thank you!



cs_gardener said:


> For a 2.5 gallon tank, I think the hornwort, salvinia and red-root floater would work best. You mentioned you'd like a java fern, consider the lace-leaf form as that stays a lot smaller than the regular and narrow leaf forms. You might also be able to grow a Rotala sp. as they have nice small leaves that would suit a small tank. I've only mentioned plants I have personal experience with, but I'm sure there are lots of others that would also do well.


I actually did pick the lace-leaf form. I think it's very pretty, anyway, and contrasts well with other leaf forms. It's good to know it's a better choice. Do I have enough light with 10 watt mini compact flourescent for Rotala?



sb483 said:


> Make sure you have at least *one* rooted plant, otherwise the substrate will become increasingly toxic. Don't plant java fern, but I don't think planting anubius will hurt it; I have anubius growing from the substrate (El-Natural tank w/ soil bottom) and it's doing fine.
> 
> Try echinodorus tenellus. It stays small (unless it's growing out of a 1.5-inch-plus layer of soil - then it gets huge), and after it settles in it'll spread runners out like crazy.


I planned on planting at least a sword and dwarf sag -- I may rethink both of those, replace them with something else. Do you think E. tenellus would be a better choice than dwarf sag? By small, how small do you mean? Small enough to be a foreground plant?


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## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

Velvetdragon said:


> I planned on planting at least a sword and dwarf sag -- I may rethink both of those, replace them with something else. Do you think E. tenellus would be a better choice than dwarf sag? By small, how small do you mean? Small enough to be a foreground plant?


I've always had e. tenellus stay small; in a large aquarium with almost 2" of soil on the bottom, it got larger (bigger than lillaeopsis), but in my 10-gallon it stays short (and spreads pretty well).
Check out photos of a 10-gallon with a tenellus ground cover in *10-gallon El-Natural photo-diary*


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## Velvetdragon (Mar 17, 2007)

Thank you so much. I've ordered my plants. I'm so excited. I'll be posting a photo diary when they get here!


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