Live plants with Chinensis?

[VolatileXIII]

I was thinking of adding live plants to my Chinensis tank. Will any plants hurt them, or in turn be torn up by the newts?

I currently have no substrate, even though I feed outside of the tank (the powerhead does a nice job of spreading the uneaten food) and was wondering if there is an "easy" way to plant.
Perhaps in shallow dishes submerged with rocks or?

I'm considering duck weed, although I've been told it can be overbearing at times. Can I simply place duckweed in the tank or does it have to be potted or something first?

I have no "green-thumb", at least when it comes to gardening. Hahaha.

All the help I can get is appreciated!

 

[Azhael]

There is absolutely no problem in using live plants with P.chinensis, in fact there are several advantages.
Live plants provide surface for the biofilm of benefitial bacteria to settle on. Additionally, they themselves take ammonia and nitrites from the water. Both, combined, and in sufficient numbers, overtake the function of a filter. This allows you to take the filter out. This is good for many reason, because they like still water, filters produce heat, and as you´ve said, the current scatters the food around.

By substituting the filter with natural plants, you will be able to feed them in the tank with no problems, and the left-overs will be handled by the bacteria and the plants (to an extent).

I personally love the look of duckweed. Mind you, it grows very fast, completely covers the surface, and i´m sick of taking large amounts of it off my tanks. If you decide to use it (be warned! ) you just have to put it on the surface.
Good, hardy and easy choices are plants such as java fern, java moss and Elodea. They thrive with no care at all and need little light.

An added bonus of densely planted tanks that i forgot to mention is that they provide excellent visual barriers which is good news for species such as P.chinensis which are territorial and on ocassion can be agressive.

 

[VolatileXIII]

So then, I could in turn toss in some duckweed (which I presume I can buy at any Big Als no?) and then once the entire surface of my 50gallon is covered, I can remove the filter? I decided to purchase 6 fathead minnows to gather up the the waste after feeding (I just turn off the filter until all is gone) and so far, I can only find two (its been about a month they've been in there and they've been disappearing one by one and my Chinensis is super active, and not bothered by there presence at all. I'm assuming the water is enough to disperse the poison.

So yeah, can I do that?

 

[Azhael]

Duckweed covering the surface is certainly not enough to mimic the effect of a filter. In order to do that you need a good quantity of plants, more than just duckweed.

If you are turning off the filter, then there is little point in using it. When you turn it off, the oxygen supply inside the filter decreases fast, and if enough time passes, the colony of bacteria will suffocate (they are aerobic, they need oxygen) and die. So basically what you are left is a thing that produces heat, undesirable current and concentrates debris.

Either run the filter constantly so that it can perform it´s function or substitute it with the live plant alternative (remember, lots of plants).

 

[VolatileXIII]

If the filter is only off for the five or so minutes when I feed heavier every three days? I don't think that's going to have any significant effect on bacteria since they are hardy anyways.
If I'm just giving treats, I used the jar method so the filter stays on.

Also, is it possible to have live plants with using substrate in the tank? Perhaps a shallow dish with rocks or something? I'm going to pick up a few plants tomorrow for my Chinensis tank and the shrimp tank I'm going to be starting.

Can someone give me a shopping list for easy care plants?

 

[Azhael]

Ah well, if it´s 5 minutes then you´re fine. I was thinking on longer periods.

I always recommend Elodea, java fern and java moss. There are other plants that do well, like Anubias and Cryptocoryne, but with the basic three i mentioned, you´d be more than fine.

 

[VolatileXIII]

Roughly what SHOULD it cost me for those?

I'm going to pick up Elodia, JF, JM & Duckweed today I think, but again, whats the best way to plant without using substrate allover the bottom of the tank?

Shallow sunken dishes with stones or? I really want to avoid substrate in the newt tank. I'm currently rinsing enough playsand for my ten gallon shrimp tank that I'm going to be starting in the old quarantine tank as I'm getting a 20gallon from an Uncle.

 

[Azhael]

I have no idea what the price would be in Canada.....here it varies a lot, petshops are usually a bit expensive with the plants these days, but online shops usually have good prices.

You don´t need any substrate for any of those plants, not even the java fern. The java moss will grow very well if you simply leave it there, hanging around, but it will also spread on any rough surface like pieces of wood or rocks. You can also tie it to the decoration. Elodea needs no substrate (although if there is a substrate it will send roots into it), you can have it floating around, which is great since it provides the newts with support near the surface. The java fern will grow bare root, but usually that slows it down greatly. you can also keep the plastic cups plants usually come with. That will be more than enough.

 

[VolatileXIII]

I was in the Big Als earlier today and wasn't really impressed with the selection.

Out of all, the only I plant on my list I could find was the Java Fern but all of them were in pretty cruddy shape so I skipped out on them.

The only duckweed they had was in their tank displays and the last thing I want to do is put something bad in my tank.

They also had "water chestnuts", which float on the surface and looked pretty cool to me. Are those okay with Chinensis?

And they had signs about Co2 or fertilizers but I haven't any idea about plants or what I need so I headed back here to find out.

Whats the best way of setting all of this up without spending a bunch of cash?
What do I need besides water for these plants?

 

[firedreams]

I recommend Hydrocotyle leucocephala ( PlantGeek.net - Hydrocotyle leucocephala ). It is super easy to grow, doesn't require an unusual amount of light, and can be anchored to create lots of "ladder-like" structures. My chinensis loves to climb on this plant, and in the mornings I have often found him sleeping on the lily-pad-type leaves near the top.

I purchased one of these plants for $10 at a Toronto pet store, and it has since grown quite considerably. I have also seen it at Pet Smarts.

 

[VolatileXIII]

What about Water Hyacinth?

The girlfriend saw some and wanted them but I wasn't sure if they're safe for my species.

Well, is it? lol.

Thanks!

 

[firedreams]

Should be fine! The Chinensis like most plants, particularly those they can climb on (they don't like to swim for air).

 

[VolatileXIII]

And do I need a CO2 diffuser? Fertilizers?

I'd rather not, as I plan on having my water surface covered with duckweed, water hyacinths & whatever floaters I can until I figure out a good way to keep others fixed to the bottom without substrate.

How much plants would I need to eliminate the use of a filter? It's a 50 gallon tank, with about 25 gallons of water.