Plant question

[Woody]

I have been keeping and breeding fish for more decades than I would like to mention, but have never kept any plants. At Big Als they have plants in pots, and I wouldn't mind getting some for my barebottom breeding tanks. The question is can i keep them in those pots, or would I have to move them into different pots? What type of subtrate would I use?
I have plenty of tropical house plants and would like to try at aquarium plants.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

[BigDaddy]

The "pots" the plants are in are rockwool.  The plants are grown hydroponically, and the rockwool holds the nutrients.

In your breeding tanks, you might be concerned about the nutrients leeching out of the rockwool - depends on what you breed I guess.

Overall, the plants will not fair well in a barebottom tank in their rockwool pots.

A standard gravel is adequate for the typical plant grower.

Be advised, though, that the lighting over standard tanks is usually far from enough for plant growth.  For example, most 2 foot light strips have an 18 watt bulb in them.  Given that the smallest 2 foot tank is a 15 and the largest is a 25 gallon, that only allows for at best slightly over 1 watt per gallon, and at worst less than .5 watts per gallon (25 gallon tanks are "tall" and very little of the light will hit the bottom).

As such, unless you had better lighting, you'd only be able to grow the low light level plants like Java fern, java most and anubias.

[Woody]

Thanks BigDaddy I'll get some gravel at the same time, I take it big enough to allow water to flow freely, but small enough as not to crush the roots.
I actual have the aquariums on 48 inch shelving, three per shelf, laid in so you see through the ends only, space saver. They are 14 to 16 inches deep.
I use to grow tropical plants so each section, they are three sections high, that have a double four foot and single four foot flourescent on each. 34 watts per bulb. Two flourescent and one specifically for plant growth in the middle, all on reflectors. Roughly eight inches of space between the lights and the top of the aquarium. The bulbs are changed regulary to keep them at peak operation, right now I only have the two flourescent going, but can add the third. The lights would be on for fifteen hours a day.
I will look for low light plants, but have to admit I have always like swords. With the dwarf south species, I think a few of thse plants with some Java Moss on a piece of wood, and some hornwort for cover would give them a  strong sense of security, especially when I have some rare, hard to find in Canada, species arriving in the spring. Is there enough watts for this type of set up.

I thank you for all your information.

[luvfishies]

Woody, I would add the third tube and go with a "daylight" tube from HomeDepot rather than the overpriced and incorrect "plant lights" from the lfs.

You can't really go wrong, so try it out and see. The plants won't die overnight, and they may do OK, or they may thrive. Either way, you'll have plenty of notice that things aren't great, and that gives you enough time to tweak the setup.

I also wouldn't go with hornwort, as it will take over the tank and shade your other plants. Riccia is a pretty easy floater, and easier to sell when it gets out of hand. Water lettuce is another easy nitrATE sponge, as is Hydrocotyl.

Just what fish are you getting in, anyway? My curiosity is piqued.