Fish Thread for posting Pictures of our fish, tanks, ponds, and Q & A

[Andi]

Val is another idea. Again, I haven't tried it but it is resilient.

 

[Andi]

Have you tried supplementing their need for greens with duckweed? That would be a win win. Koi love it and its fabulous for sucking up nutrients.

 

[MyPetNugget]

How long does it take for the plants to grow. Like I would really want a fast growing one.

 

[cochins1088]

Have you tried supplementing their need for greens with duckweed? That would be a win win. Koi love it and its fabulous for sucking up nutrients.

No I haven't.

I used to have duckweed for my bettas, but the duckweed came with thousands of small white worms. Even though they're fairly harmless, I didn't want them in my tanks. I got rid of the duckweed and completely cleaned out the tanks that had the worms. I haven't seen one since.

 

[Andi]

How long does it take for the plants to grow. Like I would really want a fast growing one.

Different types of plants grow at different rates and have different requirements, just like the ones in the yard. Do you know your pH?

 

[Andi]

No I haven't.

I used to have duckweed for my bettas, but the duckweed came with thousands of small white worms.  Even though they're fairly harmless, I didn't want them in my tanks.  I got rid of the duckweed and completely cleaned out the tanks that had the worms.  I haven't seen one since.

I've never tried it, but I bet peas would work for koi just like Betta. I don't have koi any more, but I bet they'd love it.

 

[MyPetNugget]

The tank is a Marina 5 gallon. It says in the manual to add the hardy fish first and then the other fish. So I'm going with guppies and tetras. How many and which one is hardier? It comes with a filter and cartridges but do I need them? I am planning on using living plants.

 

[Andi]

You want to add hardier fish first because the water chemistry will swing wildly at first. Before the fish get the plants established for a couple weeks first. You will has what looks like brown/tan algae show up. Its not algae, its diatoms and will go away on its own. When you first put plants in it will take a bit for them to recover from the shock of moving before they start consuming nutrients. That's why you need to wait before adding fish. 10-20% water chances weekly for the first month. After a couple weeks of letting the plants start you can add a few guppies. Wait a couple more weeks before adding any more.
Stem plants generally grow faster. Floating plants are also good at startup.

 

[Andi]

Oh! Don't use algaecide! If you have an algae bloom you need to solve the excess nutrient issue. Killing the algae will only release more nutrients for more algae.

 

[Andi]

Stem plants, the type usually sold in bunches, need to be ordered planted individually or just a couple stems together or they will rot where they are too close.