I need advice re plants

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


cyberfish
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:44 am

I need advice re plants

by cyberfish

Hello, I'm about begin planting my 56 g very soon. I am using sand substrate. The inhabitants of this tank will be angelfish, gourami, 2 albino bristlenose, 1 chinese algae eater.

My tank probably receives medium light.

Here are the plants I've bn considering:

Pennywort (brazillian ivy) and or Cardamine lyrata

Dwarf Hairgrass

Lilaeopsis

Thin val

Corkscrew Val

Some Java Moss

I seem to encounter few problems raising fish, but plants are just not my thing. I'm therefor wondering if the plants I've listed are good contenders for "easy" plants to grow? By easy, I mean, they don't require particular specifics beyond plants generally recognized as "easy plants".

In my "river tank" setup, I have elodea, java fern (with holes in the leaves) crypt seems to be ok with new shoots, dwark hairgrass, baby tears (not dying, but hasn't really taken off) and a dwarf sword. (i think).

Thanks very much in advance for any advice. I have time to spend on my tanks, but I tend to to impatience. Not a great thing for plant raising I know (!)
Last edited by cyberfish on Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:49 am, edited 1 time in total.


cyberfish
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:44 am

Re: I need advice re plants

by cyberfish

PS: I would like something soft and wavy for the angelfish to swim through, I was thinking that pennywort would make a good foreground ground cover?


natalie265
Site Admin
 
Posts: 746
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm

Re: I need advice re plants

by natalie265

Out of that list, the dwarf hairgrass is the only one that i wouldn't call an "easy" plant, based on my own experience, but if you have it growing well in another tank, then go for it! Cabomba has a nice, soft look to it and is pretty easy to grow.


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: I need advice re plants

by Okiimiru

"I am using sand substrate"
Sand is pure silicon dioxide. It doesn't have any calcium, magnesium, iron, or other nutrients for rooted plants to absorb. If you're using sand you might want to either get root-less plants or stick some root-tab fertilizer pellets in the sand.

Rootless plants include:
*the mosses (java moss, flame moss, singapore moss, etc)
*floating plants (duckweed, water lettuce, water hyacinth, azolla, ricciocarpus natans, etc)
*weight-able plants who don't like their roots buried or don't have roots (java fern, 'hornwort' ceratophyllum demersum, bolbitis, etc)
*plants that can root but get the majority of their nutients from the water column (najas guadalupensis grew well for me in sand, for example).
*decorative algae (cladophora/marimo balls, utricularia gibba (technically a vascular plant)
Warning: duckweed, cladophora, and utricularia gibba all are difficult to completely remove once established.

Root tabs are pretty easy to do. Every six months or so you just stick a fertilizer tab under your sand. They make some solid plant fertilizer that is safe for aquariums. It has low dissolvable phosphates so it's unlikely to cause an algae bloom.
There's a whole discussion about fertilizer here: http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.ph ... e-the-best

Although I must admit I haven't read it. I use a nutritious substrate so I don't have to fertilize it ever. It's pure clay kitty litter, and I decided to try it after reading this: http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... jamie.html
Video of my tank: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnVXXwbIU5U
There are a multitude of nutritious substrates for you to use, and they aren't all expensive. Special Kitty brand pure clay kitty litter from Walmart (no clumping or fragrance chemicals added) is $4 for 25 pounds and grows roots great. Side picture of tank in the past with kitty litter substrate: http://gallery.nanfa.org/v/members/Eric ... 5.JPG.html

I also recommend full spectrum lights.
This is how you use a diffraction grating ($5 online delivered to your door. Some digital cameras have one built in) to tell what your light's spectrum looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c44-iiINuVE
Green plants only eat red and blue and reflect green. Red plants only eat blue and reflect red and green.


cyberfish
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:44 am

Re: I need advice re plants

by cyberfish

thanks very much. Your advice and opinions have given me the information and confidence I needed to proceed. Very grateful to you both.

PS: I'm reading the links now, hasn't kitty litter come a cropper!

PSS: Okimiru your Elassoma Gilberti are stunning. I've never seen or heard of them before.


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: I need advice re plants

by Okiimiru

"PSS: Okimiru your Elassoma Gilberti are stunning. I've never seen or heard of them before."
Thanks. I write about them here: http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/ ... -gilberti/ I figure out how to post pictures a few pages in.

I need advice re plants

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