Fish: Re: [tropical fish club] Plant question

Connie,
Thanks for the info, that helps a lot. I can think of a few plants off the top of my head that would likely thrive in your tank without as much maintenance as hornwort can require. Even healthy hornwort will shed needles/leaves, so yes, it's a high maintenance plant. When it's happy and settled in it can also grow at an extremely fast rate. I grew hornwort in multiple tanks over the yrs and in my 90 gallon where it seemed the happiest it was growing 2 - 3 ft every 4 - 6 wks which made for a lot of hornwort to shade out other plants. That is something you will want to keep an eye on if it does settle in and like your tank conditions. If it shades out too much of the tank it will quickly starve any plant beneath it from the light.

Some plants I can suggest for you to try would be:
anubias nana (be sure it's the nana species and not the others... nana stays a bit smaller than the others and especially something like the anubias coffefolia or the anubias barteri will quickly fill your tank because not only do they get quite tall but the leaves can get hand size. Anubias nana won't like direct light (will turn the leaves yellow) so this would be a good mix with the hornwort which will offer it some shade. IF you work with anubias there is a special way it needs to be planted and I can talk you through that as well if you need me to, just let me know.

Another plant that comes to mind is java fern. Java fern likes plenty of light and will grow thick and full in that type of environment. Java fern can be a lot of fun because of how it reproduces. You will see areas of the leaves that turn a dark/rusty brown color. Don't remove those pieces thinking they are dead or dying, but rather, leave them and watch as roots begin to sprout from them and new plants grow from those leaves. When the new plants are good size and have a nice root structure you can simply pull/snap off the remainder of the leaf they are growing from and plant it as a whole new plant. Even leaves that break off at any point, if allowed to just float in the tank and get plenty of light, will sprout baby plants.

Teardrop rotala is another easy, pretty plant that can offer more color to your tank with it's bright pink tops. Once again, it likes direct light, but prefers a lower current, so take that into account when planting. Teardrop rotala grows best when it's crowded with more of it's own kind, so instead of separating each stalk like you would for most bunch plants, plant them all close together or clump them as a few stalks together at a time. When it grows to the surface of the tank and/or beyond, simply trim the tops off and plant them down into the substrate. Very easy plant to care for once it is securely rooted. One thing to watch with this plant is the cory cats and their rummaging through the gravel looking for food... they may pull up the plants until they root good, so you may have to replant it a number of times until it takes good root in the gravel. It helps if you can plant it deep, so push a pile of gravel to the spot you want to
plant it, 3 inches or so deep in that area, then put your finger on the root system or base of the plant stems and push it all the way down into the gravel and then push the gravel up around it into a mound, nice and tight.

Bacopa is another stem/bunch plant that's pretty easy to grow in the kind of conditions you have to offer. This plant does best when each stem is planted separate from the others, giving a 1/2 - 1 inch spacing between stems. Bacopa also needs direct light. As it reaches the surface or beyond, simply pinch off the top portion of the stem (3 - 4 inches down from the top) and plant the new stem into the gravel.

Java moss is another great option. While it does best with direct light, it also handles lower light/slight shading from other plants, just doesn't grow as thick this way. You can use fishing line to anchor it to a piece or wood or rock, or you can do as I have always done and stick a clump of it under larger rock decor in a tank or even under the end of a piece of driftwood to keep it weighted until it takes hold on it's own. As long as the majority of the clump is free from shade or the weight of a solid object it will grow out and up and attach to the rock or wood that is holding it down. If you can find porous rock such as tufa rock (looks like white/golden lava rock) the java moss attaches/grows to it even easier and will grow in thick layers that turn into large mats of moss.

Willow moss is another fun plant and I find it even easier to grow than java moss. It looks very similar to java moss and should be anchored/planted the same way. Cory cats love this stuff as do any of the freshwater shrimp. Both mosses can make for a beautiful ground cover plant if you're persistent with placing it in the right locations and keeping it trimmed. When I had a 10 gallon tank set up for just cherry shrimp the only plant I added was java moss. The shrimp thrived and the moss grew so thick that I could take out handfuls at a time from underneath and it never looked like I touched it. I covered 3/4 of a 10 gallon tank with it in a matter of just a few months (starting with just 1 small golf ball size clump)... and then had enough to start it in a number of other tanks.

If you'd like to completely replace the hornwort with another floating plant, try naja grass instead. It still has the finer needle shaped leaves but grows much easier, is less messy, and just as pretty. Should you try this be careful to keep it trimmed often so that it doesn't cause a shading problem with other plants in the tank. Once it settles into an environment it will shoot off some long skinny white roots and will anchor itself into the gravel on it's own. When it does this you can literally just prune the top of it to keep it compact and in one area of the tank as long as you don't pull the roots out of the gravel while pruning. Naja grass is great for helping keep nitrates low but if you don't keep it thinned out every so often the angels will find it difficult to swim through it because it can get quite dense. If you can't find naja grass anywhere and you really want it... and if you live in the states... let me know and I can send
you a small bunch of it to get you started. I'm due to trim out that tank again in the next week or 2 and will have some to spare. I don't want any money for it, just cover shipping costs. :-) Email me off list if you're interested. Also, if you want help with planting instructions, email me for those, too. I have graphics I've created to identify the various parts of each plant and it shows what part to put into the gravel and etc. John Simmonds can verify the usefulness of these graphics as I've sent some to him in the past as well. It simplifies the process.

Let me know if you need more suggestions beyond these. I have had great success with all of these plants over many yrs of different environments, without having to do anything special such as fertilizers, no special plant substrates, etc.

Hope this helps.

Dawn

Dawn Moneyhan
Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
To learn more about me go to
http://www.helium.com/users/449334

--- On Sun, 11/4/12, Connie Watson <clw51@cox.net> wrote:

From: Connie Watson <clw51@cox.net>
Subject: Re: [tropical fish club] Plant question
To: "Tropical Fish Club" <tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sunday, November 4, 2012, 10:40 PM

Thanks, Dawn, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank. It is at 78 degrees.

PH is 8

Nitrates are about 25 -30 after a PWC today.

Nitrites are zero

Ammonia is high but we have talked about this being

a false positive on the Ammonia. I think the tank has cycled

as the fish are doing fine and I know there is bacteria in the tank.

I added Dr. Tim's One and Only a couple weeks ago.

The tank is 10 weeks old.

I have a hood with LED lighting.

The guy I got the plant from said it was perfect lighting for

that plant.

Yes, I was impulsive when I got this plant. I wanted to try

to see it I could grow live plants in the tank. I should have done

more research.

And yes, this is a messy plant. I took pictures of it and hope to

have them in my album very soon.

I would love some advice on how to switch over from plastic to

live plants. I think the fish would like it too. Would love some plants

that are not messy! I am about ready to throw this one out! More

trouble than it is worth! LOL!

I have 4 neon tetras, 2 platys, 2 guppies, 2 Cory cats and 3 small angel

fish.

Yes, I added a few new fish to the tank last week. All fish are fine.

Did a 10% PWC today.

Thanks,

Connie

-------Original Message-------

From: Dawn Moneyhan

Date: 11/4/2012 11:08:49 AM

To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [tropical fish club] Plant question

Connie, can you post a clear photo of the new plant please? There are many

different species of plants that have needle-like leaves on them and just

because it was left to float in the store tank doesn't really mean much...

especially if the guy didn't know what species it was.

IF this is hornwort it needs plenty of nutrient level and plenty of light to

do well. It sounds as if you have the nutrient level, but you haven't

mentioned what kind of light you're using over your tank? Water temp also

matters with hornwort. It does better in warmer water (76 - 82) Hornwort

tends to drop its leaves when it's moved to a new environment unless it is

acclimated properly and slowly, and even then some dropping of leaves is to

be expected. It's a messy plant. You'll want to remove all of the loose

plant debris from the tank, especially anything that collects at the filter

intake. Not only will this slow down the water flow from your filter (and

make the motor work harder than it should) but as that debris sits in there

it begins to break down which will quickly contribute to raised ammonia

levels within the tank.

There is no reason why you can't grow healthy live plants in a gravel

substrate, I've been doing it for 20 yrs. While there are a few select

plants that grow better in a specialized plant substrate, the majority of

aquatic plants should do just fine in standard gravel as long as their other

needs are met (nutrients, light, temp).

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it to you yet, but it's not a healthy

habit to buy something that you don't know what it is, bring it home, and

then quick scramble to figure out what to do with it. Plants, like fish,

have their specific needs that must be met in order for them to survive and

thrive. Knowing ahead of time if you can meet those needs not only saves

you money but a lot of mess in situations where you don't have the proper

environment for something to do well.

If you could briefly tell me what size tank this is, what light you're

running over it, water temp, and what kind of fish you have in your tank, I

may be able to suggest some plants for you that will do well in your created

environment.

Dawn

Dawn Moneyhan

Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist

To learn more about me go to

http://www.helium.com/users/449334

--- On Sun, 11/4/12, Connie Watson <clw51@cox.net> wrote:

From: Connie Watson <clw51@cox.net>

Subject: [tropical fish club] Plant question

To: "Tropical Fish Club" <tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com>

Date: Sunday, November 4, 2012, 11:22 AM

OK, I got a floating plant for the tank.

The dealer guy runs his own store and had a tank full

of different plants. Looked healthy enough....

So I asked about a hearty floating plant.

He pulled one out and didn't say the name of it.

I bought it and it is in the tank after inspection from

me and some pruning off brown areas.

Best I can guess from looking on line is it is

some varitey of hornwort.

My question is does this type plant leave its tiny

"needles" of leaves floating all around the tank?

This plants leaves come off the main plant very easily.

Just me moving the plant gently with one finger makes

a "mess" in the tank. They are starting to "clog" the filter

uptake, however, not too badly yet. But it looks terrible in

my humble opinion.

Is this a passing phase of a new plant in the tank? It hasn't

helped the ammonia levels at all. The Nitrites remain at

zero and the Nitrates at around 30.

Do I need more plants? Was this a bad choice for a floating plant?

I am just so new to live plants I just don't know a thing about how to

have them in a tank.

I don't think I have the proper substrate for "growing" plants in the tank.

All I have is the gravel.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Connie

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