Which plants for which tank?

[zippity]

Guys:

Charlie got me into the desire of putting live plants in my comunity tanks but I do not want to go out and spend tons of money on equipment, chemicals and such buty I do want to put some plants in for sure.

Can you let me know which are the easiest to grow under my circumstances. I want to plant 3X5.5 gal of tetras and platies, 1X10gal. of dwarf puffers, 1X28 gal. of tetras, all have small to medium size of gravel as substrate. I am looking for easy growing plants under any kind of lighting. Charlie and BD, said plants like java ferns, anubias, water sprite and a couple of others i can't remember.

Also I would like to plant my 3 african cichlid tanks too, 2 of them with crushed coral substrate and 1 with sand.

Let me know what i can get, cheap and easy, like me!!!

[darkdep]

From experience as a plant n00b, I can vouch for the ease of managing Water Sprite, Hornwort, Hygro (of any kind...but I like Giant Hygro the best), and Java moss.  I'm the only one on earth who has killed Java fern, so I can't vouch there.

I have a 10gal dwarf puffer tank too.  It has Water sprite, water lettuce, an aluminum plant, Luwidgia somethin, and Java fern.  No chems; lighting is two 15w compact fluorescent twist bulbs.  Everything is doing well.  Water changes once per week.

My "planted" 29gal has Hygro, Amazon Sword, Dwarf Hairgrass, Luwidgia, Najas Grass, Riccia, several Crypts, Hornwort, Chain Swords, Twisted Valisnaria, and something else I can't remember.  On this I have 4 20w T12 NO Fluorescents (80w total); I have two bottles of DIY yeast CO2 generation pumping into one of those Hagen ladders; with the bubbles that remain going into an Aquaclear filter.  CO2 at last measurement was 25ppm.  I add Seachem Flourish and potassium nitrate occasionally, but I haven't really got the proper dosages down.

As for African tanks, that's a big "no-no" by the book, but it can be done.  They will leave Java Fern alone, and I've had success with Hygro and some Amazon Swords.  Problems with African tanks are:

A) Many Africans will nip the plants (a lot of them are vegetarians)
B) Africans Dig; so they can uproot the plants
C) "African" water is not really ideal for a lot of plants as the water is quite hard and alkaline.

My 90gal has a "planted area" with several Amazon Swords and Giant Hygro that after several months is starting to look pretty good.  Valisneria is actually from the Rift Lakes, so it will work as well.  Just be patient if going down this road, and expect to have to replant often as they get dug up.  Try to watch where the fish are "dumping" their gravel when digging, and plant there.  Another thing that has worked for me is surrounding the plants with small rocks.

[babblefish1960]

As for African tanks, that's a big "no-no" by the book, but it can be done.  They will leave Java Fern alone, and I've had success with Hygro and some Amazon Swords.  Problems with African tanks are:

A) Many Africans will nip the plants (a lot of them are vegetarians)
B) Africans Dig; so they can uproot the plants
C) "African" water is not really ideal for a lot of plants as the water is quite hard and alkaline.

Darkdep, you are a craaaaazy man, good for you for growing outside the "no-no" book, as there are oodles of plants that are tough and waxy that grow in higher pH that not only come from the area, but are tougher than the nastiest plant shredders the Rift lakes have to offer.

It is possible to arrange plants for these unfriendly greensmen that would allow you to have both worlds, african cichlids, and live plants. Moreover, though rocks are an instrument that can be shaped to create hiding places and "out of sight, out of mind" spots, plants too offer this for the fishes with the "I see it, therefore I must kill it" attitude that they're famous for.

Poor old darkdep has been sitting facing the wrong side of the room, stare at the planted tanks for a while and see if it helps at all.


Not a lot of money or equipment is required with plants, it is a matter of planting with the existing conditions you possess.

Try some easier things that don't require tons of light or everything perfect, such as the water sprites, wisteria, hygrophyla, and so on. If they die, get some more, just keep trying and ask questions, look at other set ups people have, and grow into it.

Just like earthplants, you try growing zucchini before you attempt to line breed rare orchids by cross-pollination.

When you feel a little more confident, or find a plant you really love,  try some harder stuff, and decide for yourself how best to replicate the better part of nature in your living space.

good luck

[RoxyDog]

I have to say with lower light I've done well with spiral val, java fern, african fern, swords, pygmy chain sword, multiple crypts and anubias.  never needed co2 or ferts, but a little fertilizer dosing never hurt it either!

crypts are my favourite b/c they aren't so "waxy" looking and can take a beating.  if you come near Kanata, I have a small piece of cryptocorne wisillii "lucens" that your welcome to try out.  

as for what didn't work for me...the ever popular hygrophilia...everyone's favourite fast growing stem plant couldn't stay alive in my tank.  

[darkdep]

Actually, you're right about the plants being hiding areas comment  Babble....in my 90 about 60% of the tank is rocky area with a 40% planted area on the left side.  The smaller cichlids seems to prefer the planted area for hiding.

[BigDaddy]

C) "African" water is not really ideal for a lot of plants as the water is quite hard and alkaline.

Actually not the case.  What makes the water hard is calcium, magnesium and carbonates; all of which can and will be used by plants.

There are some plants that don't fair well in hard water, but conversely there are others that don't do well in soft water either.


If you can get tough, deep rooting plants, they should do moderately well in an African tank.

[darkdep]

Yes, but a lot of the more common plants that are kept in aquariums are not usually ideally suited in very hard water...I have a tank with over 500ppm of TDS for example, and the plants grow REALLY slow.

Whenever I look up the common plants they seem to all be ideally suited to acidic or neutral water...

[gvv]

I have not problem with hardness/pH, but fish...
It is funny but the only one plant that grow for a long time in Malawi tank with VERY low light was Amazon Sword !
Vallisneria was cut by the roots, as well as anubias and all other plants were considered salad bar...

Regards

[darkdep]

I know what you mean gvv...I was assuming the Val would be the most long-lived in a Malawi tank, but it gets shredded pretty quick.

[luvfishies]

I have a 10gal dwarf puffer tank too.  It has Water sprite, water lettuce, an aluminum plant, Luwidgia somethin, and Java fern.  No chems; lighting is two 15w compact fluorescent twist bulbs.  Everything is doing well.  Water changes once per week.

That aluminum plant isn't a true aquarium plant. It will eventually rot if kept submerged.

[Jason]

What about live bamboo in a tank? I have seen it done before but will it eventually rot as well or thrive?

[squeeker]

If the leaves are submerged, they'll rot.  only the stalk should be in water.

[darkdep]

That aluminum plant isn't a true aquarium plant. It will eventually rot if kept submerged.

Yes, BD pointed that out to me when I got it.  It's sitting halfway out of the water and you're right, the underwater leaves have turned brown and have fallen off.  The out-of-water ones are doing fine.

I'm probably gonna turf it tho; I don't want a plant sticking out of the tank.

[Quatro]

Don't turf the plant.  Set up a betta tank for your office desk.  If anyone complains about having a fish tank at work you can just say its not a fish tank its a plant vase.  PS - who can tell I'm bored at work today?

Mike S

[darkdep]

Nice drawing.  

Wonder if I can keep some kind of cichlid in a fishbowl...:lol:

[mseguin]

Put a couple shellies in there. It'll be great. After all, as my customers like to tell me, te fish will stay small if it's in a small tank.  :roll:

[Quatro]

darkdep,  I was just reading your signature.....you didn't really put your new expensive cherry shrimp in with dwarf puffers, did you?

Mike S

[darkdep]

Actually, yes, I did.  But I was kind of caught with my back against the wall...I guess for some reason I wasn't expecting them to be so small (I've got a rock shrimp and had Ghost shrimp, and both are/were far larger when I got them than the cherries).

I have an empty tank, but I've enforced a quarantine on it due to the fact that everything I've put in it has died.  Anyway, to make a long story short I had to put them somewhere and given the fact that A) my puffers are still very small (only a bit bigger than the shrimp themselves) and B) I read some people have kept cherries with puffers and C) the puffers never went near the ghost shrimp / rock shrimp (the rocky lives with them now), I tried it.  Puffers have not gone after them that I can see, and they are still in there (and turning a beautiful shade of red).

Broke the rules again...sigh.

Is there really ANYTHING you can keep in a fishbowl and not feel guilty about?

[mseguin]

As long as you keep the water clean, I see no problem with keeping bettas in a decent size bowl. Killies are also often kept in 1-2 gal tanks.

[babblefish1960]

some dollar stores sell glass fish that hang from glass bubbles< these would be good i think< then you wouldn"t have to worry about cleaning up after them or worrying about water changes or food>