lugwigia repens

[fishycanuck]

OK, just picked up some cuttings of this plant (thanks, Jason!) and now I need some information.
My tanks are not planted so I'm starting from scratch here. Do I need to weigh these down, or are they free-floating? Are special lights needed? Plant food? Do I even want to bother?
Advice please....

[Mettle]

The following link helped me out incredibly. It's a series of great articles talking about the ins and outs of a planted tank in really simple language. Terminology is explained and you don't have to be a pro to understand them.

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/01_intro.html

It's not specific to your plant exactly. But it's a good start on understanding what's going on and what your different options are.

[PaleoFishGirl]

I weighted mine down so that they took root in the substrate.  I can't imagine them free-floating, but you never know.  They were fine for 6 months with ~.5WPG of light but turn a dark green; now that I have ~2WPG, they are showing their beautiful red colour.

They will live and maybe even grow if you just stick them in your gravel, but if you want them to thrive and look nice, you might want to start researching planted tanks?

[NjOyRiD]

lets start by telling us a bit about your tank
size, filter, light, gravel etc etc

[fishycanuck]

Thanks for all the quick replies!
My tanks are as listed in my signature. I am considering the plants for the 25G, but am open to suggestion.
All my tanks have about 2" of gravel in the bottom.  The filters are all Aquaclear HOB except for one Penguin filter (on the 10G with the angel). Lights? Heck - they're the kind that come on when you press the switch  :oops: ...  fluorescent in the 25G, the 10G have incandescent and the small ones are not lit.  
I will have a look at the link which Mettle suggests. I am interested in having live plants but not interested in fighting with invaders such as duckweed - although it would give me a reason to visit Squeeker! I'm also not looking for a challenge. My brain is already full.