frogster221

the guy at the LFS told me to put a cardinal plant into my 20 gallon tank unfortunatly he didnt tell me that i had a low light environment (i didnt know about WPG or different lights then oops! now i do) well the cardinal plant has struggled to live but it just now has detached itself from its roots and is now floating directly under the lights. i like the plant but i dont know how i can save it. i cant get a new light. so here are my options please help me pick which one to choose. or come up with your own.
1. let it float near the light to recive more light.
2. i cant think of any more so i really need help

Isabella

If you have not, you may want to read this first to get an idea what low-light and medium-light plants are like, and what they require in order to grow: General Guide to Low-Light Planted Tanks. Here, you'll also find info on how to plan for a low-light and low-tech tank .

P.S. I'm not sure what kind of a plant a "Cardinal" plant is

Butterfly

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_...nt&type=Search
cardinal plant
Carol

frogster221

yep i understand it all now before when i bought the plant i didnt i have less than 1 wpg in the 20 and the cardinal plant needs abot 1.5 to 2 wpg and i dont have that so i was wondering wat could i do to keep the cardinal plant alive without buying new lights. i also use flourish after each water change which are every weekend not sure if this changes anything.

Isabella

Well, I guess just give it a try in the setup you already have. Won't hurt to try and see if and how it will grow. If it won't do well, then you'll know it's too demanding for your setup.

frogster221

could i just leave the light on longer during the day or would that possibly cause harm to my tank and inhabitants

Barbrella

At less than 1 wpg, about the only plants to survive will be Java Fern and Java moss so you might want to stick with those.

Fertilizing or letting the plant float near the light really won't change the fact that it needs more wpg to live. In fact, fertilizing a sick or dying plant will hasten the death of it.

frogster221

o ill stop fertilizing then or move ir im not sure yet

angelfish220

I have water whisteria in a less than wpg and it is going fine. didnt know if that would help any.

frogster221

i think i have wisteria but it only grow near the light no deeper

Barbrella

I also had Wisteria in less than 1 wpg. It did fine for awhile, then ultimately started get very leggy, then to rot and die. It took about 5 months to die, so you could keep it temporarily! It's a fairly inexpensive plant (I get a huge tall bunch for about 4$), so replacing it every few months is doable.

frogster221

mine has lived for half a year i just clip off the large upper leave and move them back to the gravel where they grow roots and make a nice mini forest for my cory. my wisteria grow fine it just doesnt grow when the taller larger leaves shade the bottom leaves

Blub

Why not put reflectors on your bulbs? That should bring it up to about 1.5WGP.

Cardinal plant (Lobelia cardinalis):http://www.tropica.com/productcard.asp?id=053C

Leaving the light on longer will encourage algae. 8-10 hours is fine.

Good luck!

frogster221

ok thank you for all of the help

LetDiceFly

Like a lot of plants sold from pet stores cardinals are not true aquatic plants and do not thrive underwater. If they do not have optimal conditions they just rot away in your tank polluting your water.

Blub

Lobelia cardinalis is an aquatic plant? Dracaeneas and that aren't, but it's listed all other the place as aquatic. Are you thinking of something else?

LetDiceFly

I am not a expert although I've discussed some of these things with people that grow plants. It is my understanding that cardinalis is a "bog" or amphibious plant, and that plants in this category are generally unsuited for low-light aquariums. Generally a true-aquatic plant with low light will just grow slow, but a bog plant will decay. But again, I may be mistaken or mis-applying a generalization. Anyone, please correct me if I am wrong, I am still trying to learn.

frogster221

when i bought it it had a tag that said aquarium plant but o well live and learn