Hello my fellow aquarium nerds! :) I got my new plants (and a few other things) from Aquarium Co-op, so I made an unboxing video.
I wanted to add more plants to the tank because CuChulainn (the betta) often flares at Macha (one of the two nerite snails; he mostly leaves Sanglainn alone), and I think it's stressful for both of them. He really only does it when she's up on the glass, and not when she's on plants, decorations, or the gravel, so I think maybe if there are more plants around it will help. a) there will be more things in the way of him catching sight of her when she is on the glass, especially where I plan to put the fast growing tall one; b) there will be more things for all of them to interact with and be entertained; and c) the snails will have more hiding spots as things grow in.
In addition, the theory goes that if I have more plants sucking up nutrients, I should be able to turn the lights up a bit in order to get more reds on my two red plants (red root floaters and rose Amazon swords already in the tank), which currently, if I turn up the lights high enough to really bring out that color, I get an algae explosion. I haven't worried about it too much because hey, free snail food - but it's a very fast reaction so if we could temper it a bit that would be great. Also, the algae (black beard algae, particularly) grew on the roots of my red root floaters, and I think it's actually hindering their growth?
Anyway, now that I have animals in the tank, I am quarantining the new plants for a bit to make sure I don't have any hitchhikers on them. ACO has a good reputation and good reviews so I'm not expecting anything bad, but just to be safe!
What kinds of plants do you keep in your aquariums? With these new additions, I will have: pothos, lucky bamboo, marimo moss balls, red root floaters, Anubias (the large one), rose Amazon swords, and now Anubias nana petitie, cryptocoryne parva, and aponogeton crispus. :)
▶️ 3Speak
