please help!! i need to know

I put my two snails ( rams) and 1 Betta in a 10 gallon filtered tank. i want to know if I can put any house hold plants in the tank or do they have to be aqua plants?
any home made stuff i can put in the tank too?
thanks for all your help everyone.
erin

 

Most regular house plants will die after a couple days submerged. I've had moderate luck with POTHOS, but it eventually died after a couple months. You can however, cut off a few vines from it and stick just the bottoms into the tank with the leaves hanging out. It will eventually grow roots and if you have enough, help with the nitrAtes.

That said, I think your snails would make a snack out of just about any plant you put in there so you might want to stick with silk ones.

As for using things that are not designed for aquariums as decorations, although I do it, I'm hesitant to recommend it because there is a possibility that what you put in there will leach toxic chemicals into the water. I do know that unglazed terracotta pots are okay.

-Chelle

 

what else can i put in there to make it nice...like homemade stuff ....i have sea shells and two silk plants but i want it to look more pretty and nicer for my babies too. i noticed the two snails were stuck together this morning hmmm i wonder if they like the this tank better? LOL any other house hold plants or can i but some wood in there ?

 

Also, are there any particular needs for an amazon sword plant? I read on a website that they are very hard to maintain in a tank.

 

i have never used a sord plant i wonder if you could?
do you know of any other house hold plants i can put in or any wood ?

 

The problem with keeping live plants is they generally require more light than the standard aquarium light fixtures provide.

I have an amazon sword in my 10 gallon (really it's not the best plant for a tank that small). It's doing okay, but I have extra lighting (currently 2watts/gal. but upgrading to 3watts/gal.)

Java ferns are good low light plants. The trick to keeping them is to not burry their "roots". You need to attach them to something like a rock or piece of driftwood (I use plastic zip ties) and set them on top of the substrate. But again, you still may run into the problem of your snails eating any live plants you try to keep.

-Chelle

 

i had to move my ramshorns out of the tank so my lil boy has it all to himself LOL i think i will try the javas!! thanks

 

java ferns....are those pretty common? i have never seen any java fern in petstores around here.

 

hmmm I dont know.... i think i am going to go on the web because petco dont carry them

 

alrite.....the petsmart and petcos and the best fish supply area in ym state dont even carry them so i was wondering aout them.

 

Java ferns are fairly common. If your Petco & Petsmart don't currently have them, they should be able to order some. You could also try some privately owned LFS's (if there's any in your area).

-Chelle