Leela Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Hi all I'm about to set up a new community tank for a few female splendens. I was just going to get a fancy 15-20L tank for maybe 5 females, and I was just wondering, what sort of plants can I use, that are good for these fish? I've never had any experience with live plants and would preferably like something hardy and easy to grow. Also, can anyone tell me about the requirement of these plants, such as nutrition, fertilizing etc, and how does this affect the fish? Any help greatly appreciated! Cheers L :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mishy Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 The general rule for me is more hiding spots, and i use a combination of silk and live plants. Crypts are generally easy to grow (well, i haven't killed it yet and it's been over a year). I have corys in my girls tank so they work the soil over pretty well hence I don't put fertiliser in the plants. Also I have anubias on rock similar to this and my BN cleans the algae off it for me... Umm... I also notice that my girls love to get into tight spots and look helpless and so if i notice my tank becoming bare because of dead plants, I just add more. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 I'd recommend Java Fern and Java moss - hard to kill and have low light requirements. Neither needs to actually be planted, they can just float or be attached to driftwood etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VickiPS Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 I use a mix of live and silk or plastic plants, too. Java fern and anubias (on a piece of driftwood) have done well for me, and they need no attention at all, really. I usually chuck in some stems of elodea, hornwort or wisteria as well, and let them float. They die off eventually, so I just get more :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quokka Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Yep...lots of live plants with some hiding places and some skinny places for them to squeeze thru...mine also have this weird habit...even vertically they will sqeeze thru a tight spot...no idea why though !? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leela Posted February 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 I love the females, they seem to have such cute little habits! I was in Wetpetz on the weekend, they have a fairly big filtered tank with about 30 females in there, and they were just fascinating to watch! One little girl kept picking up stones, would take them all the way to the surface, drop them, wait a second, then would race down and try to grab them again! It was hilarious! Mind you, that tank was filtered and the water was running quite quickly, but they seemed to be enjoying riding the currents. I thought they were supposed to be better in slow moving water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 constant fast moving water will tire them and cause problems for sure. If you have current in your tank make sure you have at least one quiet/dead spot where they can go and rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debstep Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 Our breeding/keeping girls live in a 3ft (160l) tank which is heavily planted with elodea, cambo. val, crypts and hornwort floating plus lots of ornaments (ship, broken vase etc) and seem to be fine. They also share with 3 mollies. I had a bristlenose in there from a baby but when he got to about 7cm he started killing the females ( no joke saw him do it, great big holes in one each morning til I spotted the cause) so had to get rid of him. Since then I haven't had any problems, when I raise baby girls I want to keep I add them min 2 at a time into a dense patch of hornwort. Squabbles are minor and fin damage small to non-existant. I have undergravel filtering thoughout and 2 old fashined corner filters as well so little to no current trough tank, will try to take a photo soon. At present I have about 25 girls in there. Hugs Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leela Posted February 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 Wow, 25 girls, that must be so amazing! I've never had a community set up before so I'm really looking forward to setting this tank up this weekend. I'm going to try the fishless cycling method as well, with some plants etc, I want to get everything sorted before the girls go in. I'd love to see that pic Deb! Cheers L :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quokka Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 yeah my gals all line up for food and only squabble of theres a boy in sight!,,,typical huh!...they also enjoy riding the current and you can see them do it on purpose...but they also have quiet spots where theres no current...these gals of mine are almost identical ...and it makes a nice display...they have 3 corys and a little algae eater as well as a few mystery snails...and have been happy on there for close to 12 months now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leela Posted February 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 Hi all, Just a quick update, my new 2ft community tank has been running for aboout a week now. I added about 18kg small river gravel plus some more coarse gravel on top, planted anubias, attached some java fern to driftwood, some java moss in topiary balls, and in a heavily lit section of the tank planted some corkscrew val. I have had the filter in there for the entire time and added a squeeze from an established filter sponge jsut for the bacteria. I am also using a product called 'stabilise' from Seachem which will help with the biological filter. I also put in a big rock feature with lots of smaller rocks to make some nooks and crannies for the girls to play in. I'll add more bits and pieces as I see the need, it looks great, I even noticed a little snail in there today (must have come in on the roots) I'll be putting in my first females on Wednesday. Followed by more females, a peppermint BN (LOVE them!) and maybe some tetras. haven't decided yet. Cheers L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 Photos Leela! This is just teasin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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