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07-11-2004, 01:09 PM

wrote in message ...
On Fri, 5 Nov 2004 09:17:27 -0800, George Pontis
wrote:

I am interested in try to put some aquarium plants in clay pots. Can someone with
experience offer some details on how to do it and the selection of the pots ? For
example, do we look for pots with holes in the bottom or not ? About how big a pot
for a some typical plants ? What kind of soils ? That kind of thing.

FWIW, the smallest that I found at a local nursery was about 2" high, 2 1/8
diameter at the top tapering down to 1 1/4 at the bottom. No holes. The 10" tall
Amazon Swords at the LFS come in plastic baskets that are a bit larger than this
and the roots are already bulging out looking for more space.

George, I wouldn't bother with the clay pots. What I use in my tanks
are the 2lb. margarine containers for the large swords, crypts, etc.
Tons of info on the web as to what to use for substrate material.
I use vermiculite, soil, peat moss, red clay in various combinations
topped off with a 1" layer of gravel ( I like to experiment). These
containers are all in bare bottom breeding and growout tanks. If you
are setting up a display aquarium you should follow the suggestion
from Tom Barr and others on how and what to use for your substrate.

I've often used clay pots for specimen plants in tanks with UGF's.
The biggest advantage is that you can use fertilizer tabs or spikes -
which otherwise dissolve too quickly in a UGF system. The small hole
in the bottom is just big enough to prevent toxins and such-like to
build up in the pot over time. Also, I've never had good luck with
crypts in ugf tanks except in nice deep pots. Some Echindorus
varieties which might otherwise grow too big for a small tank can be
kept 'stunted' by confining their root systems to relatively small
pots.

Sometimes I've knocked the bottom out of the pot and used it more as a
containment ring, for example for vals and sags, which keeps the
runners from straying where they don't belong and also makes the group
grow tighter.

Clay pots can make nice landscaping features. One tank I designed a
few years back was a 'flooded garden shed' of abandoned pots, some
cracked and broken, some on their sides, some with plants growing wild
out of and between them, and some with dwarf cichlids living in them.

kush