Plants in Clay Pots

[nabilbb]

Hi All,

I have BB discus tank and planning to add plants in clay pots. can anyone help me on what kind of "soil" to put on those pots?

Thank you,

[jmf3460]

a good idea for the clay pots, which I use as well, is to get the floramax at petsmart/petco and use it then add root tabs as needed. I also cap my potted plants with sand because it keeps the poo from sinking down into the gravel and makes siphoning easier.

[alron2]

Jacklyn,

Do you put anything over the drain holes to keep the material from coming out?

Thanks
Ron

[jmf3460]

I do not, but I will tell you I like to use glass jars even better than the clay pots, it lets me see the roots and they do not have a hole in the bottom, see these pictures. oh yea I do put a couple dots of silicone in the corners of the bottoms of my glass jars first just so its not glass on glass when I put them in the tank.
rcstank2 5-1-14.jpglaetacara dorsigera2 1-2-15.jpg

don't get me wrong, the clay pots work well too but I prefer shot glasses or small mason jars bc I like to see the roots and such

[nabilbb]

Thanks Jacklyn,

Do you have Algae problem with the plants? if so, what do you use? any kind of fish?

[jmf3460]

Thanks Jacklyn, do you have Algae problem with the plants? if so, what do you use? any kind of fish?

hmm good question. I do not have algae problems in my discus tank, but I do not use bright lighting. I use relatively dim lighting over my discus tank, but my go to fish for algae in a discus tank is ancistrus. I have 4 in my 75 gal tank. I also have 2 ottocinclus in there as well.

[jmf3460]

in other tanks I also use nerite snails and amano shrimp to battle algae. liquid co2 helps as well as injected co2. many people can battle algae by altering their lighting alone

[Bill63SG]

I have done the clay pot route and when I did I put a piece of sponge in the hole.

[Kyla]

i like the glass pots/jars for the same reason as jacklyn - i like to be able to see into the roots. i havent been using any fertilizers lately, and the plants are growing well. ive got eco complete substrate in my pots. dont forget to occasionally poke around in the pots with sticks to aerate the substrate to prevent gas pockets from forming.

my fave algae eaters are SAE (Siamese algae eaters, esp for hair algae and black beard algae) and farlowellas for cleaning of the leaves.

the nice thing about having plants in pots is that if u have multiple tanks and dont want to put algae eaters into ur main discus tank, you can just rotate potted plants from the discus tank into ur other tanks for "cleaning" by algae eaters, then rotate them back into the discus tank when the algae is gone.

[Mrs. J]

Love this idea and would like to try it. Do you have an online plant source? Here in Hattiesburg MS there is little to choose from except Petco or Petsmart and they have few if any swords or possibly saggitaria. I had planted tanks in past over 40 years ago with my first discus and they did well. Good luck for the novice. We raised tropicals and traded them for supplies, etc. I have bb tank 90 gals with 6 inch discus from Hans grown out from 3 inches, but prefer the bare bottom to substrate. I was in the horticulture business for a long time so just need a good source for healthy plants. A little nervous about introducing anything into the tank. THese have been very healthy....no issues of any kind and I tend to be SUPER CAREFUL. Any advice would be appreciated. Julia

[jmf3460]

Julia,

I have gotten all my plants from trades or purchases from fellow members of another forum similar to this one. you should join theplantedtank.net it is a forum and people are all the time getting rid of their plant clippings after a trim. I have some swords available right now if you need some. I had my amazon sword (echinordorous amazonicas) shoot up a runner with like 10 plantlets on it and I have them planted down in my tank but would be willing to part with them, they will get too big for my tank anyway with two full grown plants already in there. PM me if interested.

[rickztahone]

Love this idea and would like to try it. Do you have an online plant source? Here in Hattiesburg MS there is little to choose from except Petco or Petsmart and they have few if any swords or possibly saggitaria. I had planted tanks in past over 40 years ago with my first discus and they did well. Good luck for the novice. We raised tropicals and traded them for supplies, etc. I have bb tank 90 gals with 6 inch discus from Hans grown out from 3 inches, but prefer the bare bottom to substrate. I was in the horticulture business for a long time so just need a good source for healthy plants. A little nervous about introducing anything into the tank. THese have been very healthy....no issues of any kind and I tend to be SUPER CAREFUL. Any advice would be appreciated. Julia

theplantedtank is a great place to try to get some plants off members. Additionally, you can visit this website:
http://www.substratesource.com/?p=products&c=p

They are a sponsor for Scapeclub (a plant/shrimp local forum) and have treated all of our members well and they carry great healthy plants.

[Mrs. J]

Thanks for the info and resources Julia

[Lighthouse7]

So in the glass containers there doesn't need to be holes in bottom? - Lighthouse

[jmf3460]

So in the glass containers there doesn't need to be holes in bottom? - Lighthouse

no holes necessary underwater. holes are for draining terrestrial plants, no need to drain aquatic plants.