Using Pots to Plant in Tanks

[Jennifer V]

I know I've seen some lovely people on here use pots and other nifty items in their tanks to plant and do things like hide crushed coral but I forgot to save the info and my thyroid brain doesn't retain info very well. 

I'm wondering if that's a better option in a cory tank because they love to root around in the substrate. What kinds of planters and common items are safe that you use in addition to the ACO planters? What do you plant in them? 

I know ACO recommends the following for their planters:

• Anubias
• Ferns
• Cryptocoryne plants
• Grass-like plants (like dwarf sagittaria and vallisneria)
• Bulb plants

Pics would be great also! 

Thank you so much! I appreciate you Nerms! 

[Guppysnail]

I buy ordinary cheap terra cotta pots with a hole in the bottom (standard) for 1-2$ for terrestrial plants. Walmart lowes Home Depot ace hardware and Amazon. They work great for me. 

[JoeQ]

x2 on terracotta! 

[JoeQ]

I even use them to bust holes in and make caves.  

 

Disclaimer : Quarantine tank, please forgive the algea! 

[Guppysnail]

On 2/22/2022 at 9:40 AM, JoeQ said:

I even use them to bust holes in and make caves.  

 

Disclaimer : Quarantine tank, please forgive the algea! 

My hubby cuts mine in half and saws the bottom out as play tunnels for my fish 🙂 

[JoeQ]

Super jealous! I got a brother who will promise me hell do it but I endup having to beg after waiting 6 month so I prefer to skip the middle man and pay 19.95 for instant gratification! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Jennifer V]

@Guppysnail you're the first person I thought of! 

@JoeQ but we love algae! 😆

[Guppysnail]

On 2/22/2022 at 9:56 AM, JoeQ said:

Super jealous! I got a brother who will promise me hell do it but I endup having to beg after waiting 6 month so I prefer to skip the middle man and pay 19.95 for instant gratification! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

If you mean pot cutting he soaks in water for 24 hours and uses a cheap grinder to cut them then sands rough edges. 

[JoeQ]

On 2/22/2022 at 10:13 AM, Jennifer V said:

@Guppysnail you're the first person I thought of! 

@JoeQ but we love algae! 😆

 

On 2/22/2022 at 10:21 AM, Guppysnail said:

If you mean pot cutting he soaks in water for 24 hours and uses a cheap grinder to cut them then sands rough edges. 

I Actually do love algea! I'm fascinated by it, i just wish I had the knowledge to target grow the kind I want. Here is a YouTube link of pond scum (my Water silk I believe) under a microscopic.

 

As far as the grinder........ It's probably better for me to stay away from power tools! 😂

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Bamboo pots and sake cups! 🙃

[Jennifer V]

On 2/22/2022 at 8:43 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Bamboo pots and sake cups! 🙃

Yes! I knew the genius sake cup trick was out there in Nermlandia somewhere but I forgot where. Thank you! 

@JoeQ oh I know you love algae and I feel the same way. I wish I could figure out how to grow the pretty fluffy green that popped up in one of my tanks. The other tank, sadly, has the long stringy stuff that I just trim back. 

[Odd Duck]

I’ve used assorted terra cotta pots, with and without glazes, glass jelly jars, cheap, disposable plastic bowls, tissue culture cups for tiny plants (just pulled a couple dozen Crypt lutea out of a couple plastic containers to use in my 14 G cube), plastic containers that were for shipping snails (I like snails so I have a few of these), and a hole in a piece of mopani wood that I drilled and ground out decades ago.  The plastic containers and jelly jars are usually temporaries for growing out tiny or baby plants or sometimes for small plants that don’t ever need a lot of room.  The terra cotta pots tend to be for long term homes.  I haven’t actually bought anything new for plant containers, just used what I already had.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I reuse the planters coop and others send us the plants in, some aquasoil, gravel and crushed coral and some osmocote! 

[Minanora]

I use a pyrex dish in one of my tanks. The only issue I have is it's just not quite deep enough to keep the soil at the level I want without some getting out when I change plants or do water changes. The tall profile of the Terra Cotta seems to be the best, imo. Good surface for bacteria to live in. You can find brown Terra Cotta as well (not sure it's officially called Terra Cotta when it's brown). Like the shrimp cave that co-op sells. I plan to pick up some "unglazed" pots this year.

[AndreaW]

On 2/22/2022 at 8:31 AM, JoeQ said:

 

I Actually do love algea! I'm fascinated by it, i just wish I had the knowledge to target grow the kind I want. Here is a YouTube link of pond scum (my Water silk I believe) under a microscopic.

I showed this to my curious son and now he wants to get a microscope and check out local ponds this summer 

I also taught him about the nitrogen cycle today and quizzed him on it. He's been helping me test water parameters for years but now he knows what each test means.

He has a 2.5G tank with a few bladder snails I pulled off my plants that he is trying to breed.  Part of me is hoping they don't survive, but I know they will. The unfiltered bladder snail tank is cycled and doing quite well all on it's own.

[Jennifer V]

On 2/26/2022 at 5:11 PM, AndreaW said:

I showed this to my curious son and now he wants to get a microscope and check out local ponds this summer 

I also taught him about the nitrogen cycle today and quizzed him on it. He's been helping me test water parameters for years but now he knows what each test means.

He has a 2.5G tank with a few bladder snails I pulled off my plants that he is trying to breed.  Part of me is hoping they don't survive, but I know they will. The unfiltered bladder snail tank is cycled and doing quite well all on it's own.

ORD: love this! It's so cool that you can share this with your son. 

I love bladder snails! He'll have a bunch of them in no time. 🤪

[HH Morant]

I have plants, but nothing planted in the substrate. I use plastic planters and I  plasti-dip them black. I think they are less obtrusive that way. The planters in the pictures were made from a 2-liter coke bottle, a Gatorade bottle, and a plastic planter liner from Home Depot. I also glue plants to rocks and wood.

Edited February 27, 2022 by HH Morant

[Jennifer V]

On 2/26/2022 at 6:38 PM, HH Morant said:

I have plants, but nothing planted in the substrate. I use plastic planters and I  plasti-dip them black. I think they are less obtrusive that way. The planters in the pictures were made from a 2-liter coke bottle, a Gatorade bottle, and a plastic planter liner from Home Depot.

Holy cow! Those are excellent ideas! And a great way to encourage my crafty self to come out and play. 

[JoeQ]

On 2/26/2022 at 7:11 PM, AndreaW said:

I showed this to my curious son and now he wants to get a microscope and check out local ponds this summer 

I also taught him about the nitrogen cycle today and quizzed him on it. He's been helping me test water parameters for years but now he knows what each test means.

He has a 2.5G tank with a few bladder snails I pulled off my plants that he is trying to breed.  Part of me is hoping they don't survive, but I know they will. The unfiltered bladder snail tank is cycled and doing quite well all on it's own.

Very cool! I posted in another thread of a cheap microscope I just bought. It's not great, but for a kid to carry in his pocket as a field microscope it's a pretty good value. I haven't used it yet except to look at money & other large flat objects. To use for algea, water, ect you would have to get 2 small flat pieces of glass (from a small picture frame) to use as a makeshift slide. 

Edited February 27, 2022 by JoeQ
Grammar

[Odd Duck]

On 2/27/2022 at 9:23 AM, JoeQ said:

Very cool! I posted in another thread of a cheap microscope I just bought. It's not great, but for a kid to carry in his pocket as a field microscope it's a pretty good value. I haven't used it yet except to look at money & other large flat objects. To use for algea, water, ect you would have to get 2 small flat pieces of glass (from a small picture frame) to use as a makeshift slide. 

You can easily buy slides and cover slips from big smiley store for less than pieces of glass and they would work much better since they are a better quality of glass.  Thicker glass is harder to see through which is why cover slips are very thin.

[JoeQ]

On 3/1/2022 at 7:23 AM, Odd Duck said:

You can easily buy slides and cover slips from big smiley store for less than pieces of glass and they would work much better since they are a better quality of glass.  Thicker glass is harder to see through which is why cover slips are very thin.

Thanks for the heads up but the small pocket microscope i bought would not work very well with a standard slide (atleast for me it wouldn't) I would need something bigger such as a 4x4 piece of glass. Link to follow in edit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00LAX52IQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

[Odd Duck]

On 3/1/2022 at 6:28 AM, JoeQ said:

Thanks for the heads up but the small pocket microscope i bought would not work very well with a standard slide (atleast for me it wouldn't) I would need something bigger such as a 4x4 piece of glass. Link to follow in edit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00LAX52IQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

Ah, I see now.  A sheet of regular glass does make sense for that.  You can get oversized coverslips that are a bit thicker and much longer and wider than regular cover slips.  A sheet of regular glass plus an oversized cover slip would likely work very well.  The oversized cover slip is harder to find but likely worth it in the long run for indoor use.  For field use your paired glass panes would be smartest.

[JoeQ]

On 3/1/2022 at 7:37 AM, Odd Duck said:

Ah, I see now.  A sheet of regular glass does make sense for that.  You can get oversized coverslips that are a bit thicker and much longer and wider than regular cover slips.  A sheet of regular glass plus an oversized cover slip would likely work very well.  The oversized cover slip is harder to find but likely worth it in the long run for indoor use.  For field use your paired glass panes would be smartest.

I might not even need a cover, or as you said a glass pane cover might be too thick. But IMO trying to see some samples with out a cover might become highly frustrating, resulting in the microscope might end up in a lake!!!!!! 😂

Edited March 1, 2022 by JoeQ