Redtail Catfish and Lotuses

[Silent_Revelation]

Hello all!

While I love my fish to no end, I have to admit that their tank (5,000 gallons, and sometimes I still fear it’s not enough for some of the bigger guys haha) currently looks somewhat drab. I’ve decorated the bottom of the tank with driftwood, ceramic pots, and a few other various haunts for them to enjoy. However, I was considering investing in a few plants to spice up the aquarium (and help to eat up the nitrates). I was thinking some lotuses... However, I know that RTCs have the unfortunate habit of trying to devour everything that exists (organic or not), so have any of you monster fish keepers managed to do the impossible and keep a RTC aquarium with plants? If so, what’s your secret?

 

[Fishman Dave]

Had it set up slightly different in that I had a waterfall, and in the waterfall I grew umbrella plant. It's a land plant which grows in water and the roots absorbed huge amounts of nitrate, but the plants just grew too big. Find that most plants in my pond would just get trashed by most fish, maybe not so much the red tail as my 2 28" girraffes. They already go through all the gravel daily and keep moving it all round the pond, and they do the same with my branches and pipes, the only thing they don't move is the part tree stumps but they have heavy stones on top too.

 

[dr exum]

1st world problems with the 5000g tank... only here ?-

Sounds like a good problem to have!

Pics!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I've never done it. In fact, I fail to recall a single example I would have seen of a tank with our usual adult monster fish roster having any plants. Perhaps plants-out-of-water-roots-in might be attempted, like with the pothos vine.

It's not that it cannot be done but one would need to sacrifice water volume by separating the plant from the fish by a fence or cage of sorts, which given the size and power of our pets cannot be flimsy. I reckon it is either too much bother for MFKers or the water volume / space is at a premium, as usually we can never have enough tank size for our choice of poison, we always tend to swallow more, much more than we can chew... though I should probably just speak for myself...

 

[celebrist]

Hello all!

While I love my fish to no end, I have to admit that their tank (5,000 gallons, and sometimes I still fear it’s not enough for some of the bigger guys haha) currently looks somewhat drab. I’ve decorated the bottom of the tank with driftwood, ceramic pots, and a few other various haunts for them to enjoy. However, I was considering investing in a few plants to spice up the aquarium (and help to eat up the nitrates). I was thinking some lotuses... However, I know that RTCs have the unfortunate habit of trying to devour everything that exists (organic or not), so have any of you monster fish keepers managed to do the impossible and keep a RTC aquarium with plants? If so, what’s your secret?

You can't say 5000 gallons without a picture, that is considered cruel and inhuman in this day and age ?