Advice on keeping plants

[SHARKY]

Hi all
my plants are only surviving up to 3wks before i buy some more, any hardy types of plants i should look for. or any type of plants which will last longer. or could it be the fact that my fish are eating the way in to them??
any advice welcome.

SHARKY.

 

[slt]

could be that you are getting the terrestrial plants these are not plants that will live long in water when you buy your plants check with the lfs that they are the true aquatic plants, also i see you keep headstanders IMO these fish eat plants
do you use fertilisers?
try tropical hornwart this is a good fast grower also cabomba,
java fern. have a look around our plant forum for more useful info

 

[Lateral Line]

Keeping plants is as much an art as keeping fish. You need to get the right plants for your water conditions, then need to provide the right light, then keep them fertilised, and then stop them being eaten.

As with fish, there is no "one-stop" solution. So, what is your water like, what lighting have you got.......... ?

 

[SHARKY]

Hi SLT & L-LINE
I never thought about using fertilisers? i mostly concentrated on the types of fish i was getting.
I`ve got 2 Triton Lights and my Amonia is Nil Nitrites Nil Nitrites under 10ppm, and also i`ll take a closer look at my headstander to see what the bleeders up to

SHARKY.

 

[knutty]

I started with a larger amazon sword for my first plant. this plant is a deep root feeder, however I have been able to keep it just fine using a liquid based fertilizer and no sort of root tab or under gravel tablet. It has spun off a runner with a baby plant in jsut a few weeks and continues to stay bright green. it requires very little light to stay healthy, however I give it about 12 hours a day with the timer on my lights. it also provides a nice amount of cover for my firemouths. you want to make sure that if you are going to use any kind of fertilizer that you remove carbon from the filter system as it absorbs it. carbon and plants do not seem to mix. My substrate is larger gravel, howver flourite is optimum for planting.

 

[Lateral Line]

It's more pH and hardness, (whichever way you measure it). Like fish, most aquatic plants come from areas of softish, acidic water. Many will tolerate slightly alkali and slightly hard water.

You have 2 Tritons, however, what is their length, and what is the size of your tank, (we need to know how much light per square foot for example).

Tritons are quite nice IMHO, not only is the spectrum good, but they hold their intensity for a good deal of their life. Many other tubes start fine but get dimmer and dimmer before they fail, Tritons tend to give their all then fail totally, better as far as I'm concerned.

 

[fish&chips]

ok bit of a waste posting this but im sure it will flick sum 1s mind

isaw a plant for tropical tanks for begginers the only prob is it grows really fast
so this may be good for you

hmm here we go HOPE THIS HELPS !!!!

Hygrophila polysperma grows to a height of 25-40cm and a width of 10-20cm and is one of the hardiest aquarium plants available. It is particularly good for beginners because it grows in almost all conditions. It normally grows so fast that it is important to prevent it crowding out other plants.Leaves lying on the surface form small new plants. Hygrophila polysperma varies considerably in leaf shape and colour, depending to some extent on the light supplied