Can I use old plants to make a new tank?

[martinmin]

Hi, I didn't buy new plants, but just cut some from my friend's aquarium and make my first tank. I haven't added any fish. I heard I need to wait for at least one week to add fish.

I am worried that whether the old plants can survive or not. Please take a look at my aquarium of photo.

Thanks

 

 

[nabokovfan87]

Welcome to the forums!

I see soil in the tank as well as lighting and some good stuff in the tank.  I just moved my own tank recently.

Old tank: Inert Substrate
New tank: A little bit of active substrate

It's all relative as to what the situation for the plants are new vs. old when it comes to something like this.  Is the new tank easier for you to care for and manage?  Does it improve lighting for the plants or nutrition for the plants in form of dosing ease? 

Unless I'm mistaken, the trimmings you have are already in the tank, the tank is already setup, and the crux of the question is "will it work?"

Yes, and this is just normal plant propagation for things that you have.  The tank looks good, setup looks good.  I think you may have a very dim light, but time will tell and seeing how the plants do will help answer that question.  As for the base question, here's a video of a tank being completely torn down and started with trimmings from other tanks.  Entirely possible to be successful and this is how a lot of us handle getting plants for our tanks.  Have them in one tank, then grow them, and add them elsewhere. 🙂

On 3/30/2023 at 8:31 PM, martinmin said:

I haven't added any fish. I heard I need to wait for at least one week to add fish.

You would want to wait for the tank to be cycled.  @Chick-In-Of-TheSea just set up a jar for shrimp and it's very similar to yours.   Might be helpful to see their thread and follow along 🙂. 

The main question is just about filtration, are you using plants as the filter without anything else?

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/beginner-planted-aquarium

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fish-tank-cycling

 

[martinmin]

Hi, @nabokovfan87 Thanks for the quick and good info and links. As for this:

Old tank: Inert Substrate
New tank: A little bit of active substrate

Do you mean I need to use 'inert substrate' for old tank? 

I only have a light, but no heater, filter  and co2 yet. For new plants only without fish, do i need a filter? I thought filter is necessary mainly for fish, not for plant. Is that right? Another concern I have for old plant is that, it may be more likely introduce diseases from old tank to new tank. Is there a way to wash the plant before moving it to another new tank? 

At the same time, I will read the links you provided. Thanks a lot! 

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by martinmin

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/30/2023 at 9:23 PM, martinmin said:

Hi, @nabokovfan87 Thanks for the quick and good info and links. As for this:

Old tank: Inert Substrate
New tank: A little bit of active substrate

Do you mean I need to use 'inert substrate' for old tank? 

Nope! I was just saying for my situation I was going from a tank that was a pretty rough situation for plant care to one that should help them to have more access to nutrients.

On 3/30/2023 at 9:23 PM, martinmin said:

I only have a light, but no heater, filter  and co2 yet. For new plants only without fish, do i need a filter? I thought filter is necessary mainly for fish, not for plant. Is that right? 

Generally if you are going to have a tank with fish, I'd recommend at least a small sponge filter of some kind.  I tend to prefer some sort of biological media in there next to a source of flow. 

If you want to do just plants for a while, you should be ok with your current setup while you research further 🙂 .

[martinmin]

On 3/30/2023 at 9:26 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Nope! I was just saying for my situation I was going from a tank that was a pretty rough situation for plant care to one that should help them to have more access to nutrients.

Generally if you are going to have a tank with fish, I'd recommend at least a small sponge filter of some kind.  I tend to prefer some sort of biological media in there next to a source of flow. 

If you want to do just plants for a while, you should be ok with your current setup while you research further 🙂 .

Generally, for new tank with fish and plants, do I need to inject co2, assuming filter is a must? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/30/2023 at 10:05 PM, martinmin said:

Generally, for new tank with fish and plants, do I need to inject co2, assuming filter is a must? 

You don't need to dose in CO2. Some plants do require it. You'd want to check the plants you have and decide if that's something you want to utilize.

[martinmin]

My tank is pretty small. I have installed a light. Do heater, filter for this new tank are essential for both plants and fish in my tank? I heard that filter is essential for any fish tank. Is that true?  

[Ninjoma]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:48 AM, martinmin said:

My tank is pretty small. I have installed a light. Do heater, filter for this new tank are essential for both plants and fish in my tank?

If the temperature of your water is 72-78 degrees without a heater, then a heater isn't a must for most fish and plants. If the temperature of your water is 71 degrees or lower without a heater, it's probably a good idea to have a heater for most fish. Different fish and plants require different temperature ranges, so you may need to look at the care requirements for the particular animals and plants you want to include in order to tell if a heater is a must for you or not.

On 3/31/2023 at 9:48 AM, martinmin said:

I heard that filter is essential for any fish tank. Is that true?  

That's not technically true, but it's good advice for most people. The advice I've heard from ACO is having an air stone in your tank can prevent a lot of potential problems and if you are using an airstone, you might as well connect the airpump to a sponge filter.

[martinmin]

For my new little tank like above, should I add x3 Easy Green All-in-One Fertilizer, which I just purchased from aquariumcoop? I want to put about 5 about one-inch fishes into it. Or the new substrate is sufficient enough for the newly planted plants to grow, so I don't have to add additional fertilizer into it. I don't plan to add CO2.

[Ninjoma]

On 3/31/2023 at 8:44 PM, martinmin said:

For my new little tank like above, should I add x3 Easy Green All-in-One Fertilizer, which I just purchased from aquariumcoop? I want to put about 5 about one-inch fishes into it. Or the new substrate is sufficient enough for the newly planted plants to grow, so I don't have to add additional fertilizer into it. I don't plan to add CO2.

I would add some easy green. How many gallons is the tank? ACO recommends 1 pump per 10g or two drops per 1g. I would add one or two doses and then test your nitrates a few hours later. You want to get to about 20-50ppm nitrates from dosing easy green.

[martinmin]

@Ninjoma Please take a look at the picture above. On the tank it doesn't show how many gallon it has. I guess it's about 1.5 gallon? I don't have a good sense of the volume. So probably I should add 3 drops per week? If it doesn't hurt the new plant, I would like to add. 

[Ninjoma]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:43 PM, martinmin said:

@Ninjoma Please take a look at the picture above. On the tank it doesn't show how many gallon it has. I guess it's about 1.5 gallon? I don't have a good sense of the volume. So probably I should add 3 drops per week? If it doesn't hurt the new plant, I would like to add. 

If it's 1.5g, yes 3 drops per week will help your plants. Personally I would test for nitrates every day. If they are below 20ppm I would add 2 drop per gallon every day. Once your nitrates are above 20ppm, I would go with the normal dose of 2 drops per gallon per week. 

[martinmin]

So that means in the first week of the new tank, it needs more nutrients, then gradually reduce nutrients? I had thought the other way, but I am wrong!

[Ninjoma]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:26 PM, martinmin said:

So that means in the first week of the new tank, it needs more nutrients, then gradually reduce nutrients? I had thought the other way, but I am wrong!

It's more like, you want to make sure there are enough nutrients available in the tank at first. Then you want to sustain that level of nutrients 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:48 AM, martinmin said:

My tank is pretty small. I have installed a light. Do heater, filter for this new tank are essential for both plants and fish in my tank? I heard that filter is essential for any fish tank. Is that true?  

Because you're talking about a smaller heater, I will say that consistency matters most.  If you have a lot of parameters that change often due to water volume, then that could lead to issues long term.

The other questions are all very specific to the stocking, needs of the things in that tank.

Sicce has some nano heaters that are supposed to be pretty good.  Very small 5W and 10W versions. I think Aqueon has some as well.  Cooler (room temp) is usually better for plants. Some fish require warmer temperatures.  If you'd like to avoid the heater and mostly rely on room temp there are species you can opt to try.  I would have a heater on hand if the tank does get too cold though. 

In terms of filtration, I agree that having an airstone is beneficial for a variety of reasons.  Neo Aquario also has a small air diffuser that you can use that works well to limit the surface splashing but allow for some aeration.  In terms of the tank in the OP and what makes sense, It's difficult to say.  Having something like rocks and an airstone might actually be enough to form a biological filter for the tank.  Lava rock or other rocks that have a high porosity can be pretty good at hosting and is often broken up into pieces and used in filtration due to lower costs.  While I can't say every tank needs it, in my own experience and my own view I think it's very beneficial for stability to either have a very lightly stocked tank or to have very good biological filtration.

On 3/31/2023 at 10:26 PM, martinmin said:

So that means in the first week of the new tank, it needs more nutrients, then gradually reduce nutrients? I had thought the other way, but I am wrong!

I've always tried to err on the side of giving the plants time to "settle in" for a few days with low nutrients and then adding in ferts once I see them growing.  The plants can take some time to acclimate to your water.  I don't think you were wrong at all, but there's a lot of different ways to view the situation!

On 3/31/2023 at 10:29 PM, Ninjoma said:

It's more like, you want to make sure there are enough nutrients available in the tank at first. Then you want to sustain that level of nutrients 

Yep!  I tend to use root tabs at first, just delay a week on going heavy with other fertilizers in the tank.

[martinmin]

For tank temperature, I saw most thermometers are installed inside aquarium. Is there a temperature meter that I can use to test water temperature but it doesn't have to be installed? Instead, I can use it to test temperatures of many different tanks. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:23 PM, martinmin said:

For tank temperature, I saw most thermometers are installed inside aquarium. Is there a temperature meter that I can use to test water temperature but it doesn't have to be installed? Instead, I can use it to test temperatures of many different tanks. 

They have glass floating ones you can install and then remove.  It would just float in the tank for a few minutes and then you can check the temp. They look like this.  You can also get a laser temperature tool.



Cory shows off his laser version in this video.

 

[martinmin]

Another question for new tanks: I learnt that we should usually wait for about 1 month, before adding any fishes into the tank for the purpose of neutron cycling. But I just waited for only 1 day and added a few fishes into the tank, and the fishes look good, without any issue so far. Is it strongly recommended to wait for about 1 month before adding fishes into planted aquarium? 

[martinmin]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:17 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

"
In terms of filtration, I agree that having an airstone is beneficial for a variety of reasons. 

"

airstone can move water around and increase oxygen, but don't remove dirt from the tank. But a filter can do both, creating water flow and clean up waste. is that right? 

 

[nabokovfan87]

Having a filter doesn't mean you wouldn't need to or want to siphon. It's all relative. If the tank has excessive waste from the fish or other creatures, then you'd want to likely remove it to keep the tank stable.  Because of the size and shape it's difficult to say that one is better than the other. A small sponge filter is essentially both in one (air stone goes into the center) but it's not a tank where you can add a hang on back filter, for instance.  I have typically multiple filters on a tank, redundancies yes, but a lot of that is due to the stocking and my specific preference for care for those species.  Cooler temps, higher oxygenation, higher flow.

The point is, just because I have a lot of movement doesn't mean that it's out of the tank and in the filter. Things stick to gravel and hardscape, that's what the siphon is for.

If you're doing a carpeting plant or trying to keep nutrients in the soil, that's a reason not to siphon, but even channels like green aqua will tell you methods to do so for extremely heavily planted tanks.

[martinmin]

@nabokovfan87 Do you know any smallest sponge filter? My tank is small I think I need very small filter but can't find it.

Another question, "one inch per gallon" rule regarding how many fishes a tank can hold. Does that mean if my tank is 1.5-2 gallons, I can only put 1 or 2 little fishes in it? I am afraid my understanding is wrong for that rule.

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/1/2023 at 7:37 AM, martinmin said:

@nabokovfan87 Do you know any smallest sponge filter? My tank is small I think I need very small filter but can't find it.

Aco sells the nano size one.

On 4/1/2023 at 7:37 AM, martinmin said:

Another question, "one inch per gallon" rule regarding how many fishes a tank can hold. Does that mean if my tank is 1.5-2 gallons, I can only put 1 or 2 little fishes in it? I am afraid my understanding is wrong for that rule.

The one inch per gallon is definitely not advisable anymore. I would check out AQAdvisor for some better stocking guidelines. If you know what you want you enter the details in there.

They do have sponge filters on there that you can use as an equivalent for the nano ones.

It'll be called something like hydro sponge

[martinmin]

For temperature, I got different answers. Some say 72 f is good, others say 75f, for most tropical fishes. Which one is better when setting a thermometer?

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/1/2023 at 2:38 PM, martinmin said:

For temperature, I got different answers. Some say 72 f is good, others say 75f, for most tropical fishes. Which one is better when setting a thermometer?

Which temperature?  Generally cooler temperatures help with algae.  For most aquariums cooler temps would be 70-74 range.  I tend to err on the side of 72-74 for a setting and when things get cold at night my tanks drop in the 70-71 range.  For a plants only setup, I'd set the heater to 72.

There are some plants that can't handle warmer temps and you'll tend to see issues in some cases when things get really warm for them.

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[martinmin]

On 4/1/2023 at 3:20 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Which temperature?  Generally cooler temperatures help with algae.  For most aquariums cooler temps would be 70-74 range.  I tend to err on the side of 72-74 for a setting and when things get cold at night my tanks drop in the 70-71 range.  For a plants only setup, I'd set the heater to 72.

There are some plants that can't handle warmer temps and you'll tend to see issues in some cases when things get really warm for them.

 

In the summer, is it possible that the temperature in the tank gets too high so fish can't breathe. If yes, how to prevent that?