Definition of a “Highly Planted” Tank

[FLFishChik]

Ok, I see where people can keep a few more fish than usual in a highly planted tank or that there’s less water changes, more filtration  and so forth… but, how do you know if a tank is highly planted??? I mean, is there a formula? Like so many plants per gallon? 

Edited July 27, 2022 by FLFishChik

[nabokovfan87]

It's a pretty difficult question to have a straightforward answer.  My gut reaction was to say something like a "heavily planted tank" meaning that the majority of the tank is covered in plants.  Something like a Dutch style aquascape for instance.

But, then I start to think about what type of plants, growth rates and load.  If I had a tank with 1 anubias per gallon, it's a pretty big mass of plants, but might not necessarily be a big load of plants.

If you twist my arm and want me to try to phrase it, a heavily planted tank would be something where the tank itself is pretty covered through a jungle or dutch style aquarium design.  Moreover, I would argue that any aquascaping style can be a "heavily planted" tank if those plants are high demanding plants, require CO2, high light, a lot of fert dosing, grow very fast, etc.

[FLFishChik]

I see! So, if my tank is low-tech but packed with plants, it’s probably still not considered “heavily planted”.

[Pepere]

But remember, floating plants are not limited in CO2 as they get it from the air.  They really work to pull down  nitrates.

fast growing plants(hornwort, wisteria sprite,  do more benefit removing nitrates than slow growing plants, anubias etc….

[Flumpweesel]

I'd say look at tank do you see fish first or plants first if it's fish we are low to moderate if it's plants probably high.

I have a low to moderately planted tank and I can go 8 weeks at least before water change becomes needed. So you just need to balance your planting to your routine. 

Before I pulled all my stem plants the tank could go much longer. 

[Pepere]

I generally have pretty full coverage of plants from about half tank thickness to back wall.  Once the plants grow to waterline , I trim down to about 1/2 to 3/4 height.  Sometime I replant the tops  and allow to grow out. The front third of the tank is either bare or carpeting low plant. In ares in the interface about 1/2 way from back will be midground plants kept trimmed to about 1/4 heigth.

 

in essence I like the front of the tank to be free swimming space I can see the fish.

 

and the fish seem to dearly love swimming in and about the plants and hide and emerge….

[Pepere]

I trimmed this weekend.  I would consider this tank lightly stocked and heavily planted. 1 dwarf gourami, 5 emerald corydoras, 6 neon tetras, 3 kuhli loaches.

 

more fish in quarantine to be added.

[ccc24]

I would consider my display tank to be moderately to “starting to be” heavily planted. It is low tech. A stingray on a timer and regular fertilization with easy green and easy root tabs. I actually have a few more spots I want to fill in, but I’m waiting to see what a few of the plants do first. 
 

I’d say to be considered  “heavily” planted by no official means but my own opinion:

- Can you loose a fish in the aquarium for days at a time and then it re-emerge perfectly healthy? 
- Do you loose equipment in plants?

- Do you see masses of plants when looking at the aquarium instead of fish? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/27/2022 at 4:19 PM, FLFishChik said:

I see! So, if my tank is low-tech but packed with plants, it’s probably still not considered “heavily planted”.

Yeah I would think so.  It's much more about what's in there, and how intense the demand is.  I have 2-3 different stems but for the most part I have very slow growing, low demand plants.  You can look at the tank and see a lot of plants, but it's nowhere near close to what I see a lot of other people having in their tanks.

For instance, the two above are very much a jungle style scape to me.

[ccc24]

On 7/27/2022 at 6:19 PM, FLFishChik said:

I see! So, if my tank is low-tech but packed with plants, it’s probably still not considered “heavily planted”.

You can be low tech and heavily planted - it’s just not as common. 
I plan on evolving my tank to be heavily planted and low tech. 

[Patrick_G]

@ccc24, I agree, your tank looks great and I say it’s on its way to being heavily planted. I also think there a good case to say it’s already heavily planted since you have a ton of plants and they just need a few months to grow out. In any case it’s beautiful. Nice work. 
 

 

[ccc24]

On 7/27/2022 at 8:52 PM, Patrick_G said:

@ccc24, I agree, your tank looks great and I say it’s on its way to being heavily planted. I also think there a good case to say it’s already heavily planted since you have a ton of plants and they just need a few months to grow out. In any case it’s beautiful. Nice work. 
 

 

Thank you! I appreciate the compliment. I’m aiming for “jungle” as the end look. 

[Patrick_G]

On 7/27/2022 at 4:19 PM, FLFishChik said:

 

I see! So, if my tank is low-tech but packed with plants, it’s probably still not considered “heavily planted”.

 

I think it’s doesn’t matter if you use co2 or not, but how much plant mass you have vs the volume of water. Diana Walstad suggests 70% plant mass for her method. In my mind a tank with about 50% of the volume filled with plants looks heavily planted. 

[Odd Duck]

I have multiple low tech, heavily planted tanks.  I think if there’s significant plant mass, greater than 50% of the visual field, you’re probably into the heavily planted territory.  Whether that balances your fish load is an entirely different discussion.  That’s where your type of plants, type, size, and number of fish, etc, comes into play.

I think most would agree the first 2 tanks are heavily planted even though a lot of the plants in the second pic are growing emerse.  There is significant plant load on the tank overall, it’s just not “in” the tank in the second pic.

The third pic I would consider moderately planted.  As the swords grow, it might nudge just barely into heavily planted range.  This tank isn’t planned to reach heavily planted.  I wanted lots of swimming room for the angels.

 

[sumplkrum]

When the Amazon sword no longer fits in the tank, it's 'heavily planted.'

[FLFishChik]

On 7/28/2022 at 8:16 PM, sumplkrum said:

When the Amazon sword no longer fits in the tank, it's 'heavily planted.'

Got it… which probably won’t be long because it’s a almost doubled it’s size since I put it in 😂

[Tanked]

I'm in agreement with @nabokovfan87's gut reaction on this.  "It's a pretty difficult question to have a straightforward answer." 

I don't believe there is one formula or answer. It depends largely on weather you are trying to create a formal garden with a manicured carpet of Monte Carlo or Micro Swords etc., or a country garden with the dense jungle look.  Low or hi tech doesn't matter.  One has a large number of plants, and the other might have fewer plants but fills a larger amount of area in the tank.  For me, a heavily planted tank is one that has enough plant density to make it hard to see the fish.

[Pepere]

It sure is a subjective label isnt it?

 

I would posit a functional metric. A tank is heavily planted when the plants pull out more nitrogenous molecules than the livestock produces.

 

ie, in addition to feeding the fish you have to dose with ferts and you dont have to do wTer changes to lower nitrates…

 

and yes I agree others have equally valid definitions.

[nabokovfan87]

There is also the major difference in US vs EU tanks and how the definition is used so differently.