Plants.... lol

Okay.. I started out with only fake plants. Then like 3 months in I bought a bunch of amazon swords and some Flourish.

I have a 19 watt like for a 10 gallon tank.. (isn't the general rule of thumb 1.5 times every gallon?)
Some would die but for the most part they lived and flourished. However... I never put anything into the water except for the Flourish (so no iron..) I got frustrated because one of the plants had on it and they are STILL in my tank. I started to re-do the tank and I threw all of the plants away.

So basically.... I've read the articles on fishlore but I feel completely stupid when it comes to plants. I'd like some help please!

l1) I want to use fake and real plants together, that's alright, right?
l2) What do you suggest, planting in clay pots for the iron or straight into the gravel with iron supplements?
l3) What supplements do you recommend? (Links would be WONDERFUL!)
l4) My tank so far has plastic plants in it... asian themed (bamboo and such) with some Neons in it. What would you suggest for real plants?
l5) What do you use to test your water's hardness?
l6) Should I continue to use Flourish with the real plants?
l7) Where do you suggest I get the real plants?


Thank you in advance!!!

 

1.5 wpg (watts per gallon) is low to mid light. Different plants have different light requirements.

As for how to plant the plants, that depends on what you're looking for. Java fern and moss just need to be attached to something. Plants that spread quickly by little rootlets don't do well in gravel. Some bigger plants do fine in gravel with supplements.

Personally, I would suggest the abovementioned Java fern and moss both for their fit in an Asian tank and for their ease in adding to a tank.

Fake and real together should be fine.

I don't test my water's hardness, so I don't know.

I believe that Flourish can melt Java moss (or maybe that's crypts, hopefully someone will know the answer to that). Basically, the plants will determine if Flourish is good or not.

I would suggest getting plants from Aquabid, or from Dino (I think he's usually got some Java moss/fern for sale) or another member here.

 

I think some java moss would be good. I haven't been able to kill mine. I have some in one tank with no light and it still grows. Shrimp also love it because they can hide in it. I purchased mine at LFS but you can also get it from aquabid.com but have to pay shipping. Sorry all I have in my tanks are java moss, water sprite and guppy grass so that's all I experience with.

 

Thanks!

I'm looking up those right now..

Any more suggestions?

 

I don't know how asian it is, but I find watersprite can live through a nuclear bomb and still grow and be healthy. Right now I'm trying out an Amazon Sword, but that will get to big for your tank.

You know live plants will help with your algae bloom, but the ones that will combat it fastest would be a faster growing plant.

 

I am thinking of getting Java moss (or watersprite, whichever I can find) and some Java Fern.


Both should be planted in a pot? Or can the moss be put into the gravel with some anchors?

Also.. do I supplement plants that are in a pot?

 

Java moss and fern both need to be anchored to something above the substrate. It can be a rock, an overturned ceramic pot (the plain tera cota kind), or a piece of driftwood. They will not do well in the substrate.
Watersprite could either go in the substrate or in a pot. If it goes in the substrate, just get root tabs or an aquatic fertilizer spike (I don't have a link because I just get whatever is in stock at the store). If it goes in a pot, you can get some laterite or fluorite and mix it with sand, or you could try one of the potting soil experiments (these are always spectacular. They either end up with a muddy tank or with brilliant plants.)

 

how do you anchor the plants to rocks and such? Tie it with string or something?

Thanks for all the help, really!

 

Fishline, thread, or the netting a bag of oranges.

 

HI amnagrla
API make a GH & KH test kit for hardness . Product #58 .
It has detailed instructions that even I could follow .

 

heres a couple of native Asian plants
Giant Hygro

Rotala rotunifolia

Marsilea augustifolia

Cardamine lyrata

I found those in my The complete aquarium book that has different biotope suggestions Hope that helps.
Carol

 

Definitely helps!

I found some java moss tonight so I picked it up. Two little bundles..

 

What kind of bulb do you have? In my opinion this is the number one thing that will influence your success with plants. What you want to look for is a "daylight" 6700K bulb.

I recommend watersprite for a low light tank, it is nearly impossible to kill and it can be planted into the substrate or left free floating. Anubias are also good low light plants. I recommend using the Flourish Comprehensive and would also recommend using Flourish Excel. I had success using these only under low light, but I recently upped my lighting and started adding CO2 and so now add some other stuff that you don't need to worry about. Both can be found on Dr Foster and Smith inexpensively. Excel adds carbon which is one of the important things plants need, and has the wonderful side effect of killing algae. In fact it gets rid of algae far better than anything I have seen that is made to get rid of algae. If your water is hard at all don't worry about testing for it. You can always ask a LFS if the water supply is hard or not. If you want to know more than anything you need to know about plants check out:

 

Thanks. I looked for plant tabs... I got FlourishTabs

Anybody use them?

I will look for watersprite.

 

They are currently feeding my dwarf onions, and the onions are doing well.