Good Plants?
- Thread starter danipsp
- Start date
xostrawberryox
Fish Crazy
They should help any that are a bit low because they oxygenate the water. I have a bit of plant that is dying off and going a bit soft so they'll have a munch at that but otherwise they havent touched any of the others. They are also good for fry to hide in 
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
Hello!
Mollies do appreciate plants, but your choice is slightly odd. The onion plant, Crinum thaianum, is an excellent choice because it is hardy (provided you give it plenty of light and a proper substrate). Why it's a good choice is that it tolerates brackish water, and there's a 50:50 chance your mollies will get fungus or finrot, for which the best cure is adding salt to the water. Although aquarium shops never tell you this, mollies are not really freshwater fish. They do best in slightly salted (brackish) water with about 3-5 grammes of marine salt mix added per litre of water. Very simple to do, this often overlooked precaution keeps mollies healthy and long-lived.
Water lillies are difficult plants. They need a mixture of sand and laterite (or sand and loam) as a substrate because they have a deep root system. In plain gravel they exhaust the tuber they come with and then die. Aponogeton is similar though some species like Aponogeton crispus will do well in plain gravel provided you fertilise them regularly. Both lillies and Aponogeton need a lot of light: no less than 1.5 Watts per gallon, and realistically at least 2 W per gallon if you want decent growth.
Barclaya longifolia is a very difficult plant that few aquarists have success with. It needs very strong lighting, very soft water, and a deep, rich, loamy substrate. Because mollies cannot stand soft/acid water, mollies cannot be kept in an aquarium with this plant.
The very best plant for a molly aquarium is hornwort, Ceratophyllum demersum. This is a floating plant that grows rapidly in most lighting conditions. It forms a thick tangle that baby fish love hiding in. It is tolerant of brackish water, making it an especially good choice for the molly aquarium.
Mollies do not eat plants unless the plants are already decaying. Plants don't "oxygenate" the water significantly unless you have lots of lighting, and even then they won't be doing that at night, so any effect they have is temporary. Plants have no particular health effects, but as a psychological device, they encourage fish to settle in quickly and provide a place for fish to hide or rest.
Hope this helps,
Neale
Mollies do appreciate plants, but your choice is slightly odd. The onion plant, Crinum thaianum, is an excellent choice because it is hardy (provided you give it plenty of light and a proper substrate). Why it's a good choice is that it tolerates brackish water, and there's a 50:50 chance your mollies will get fungus or finrot, for which the best cure is adding salt to the water. Although aquarium shops never tell you this, mollies are not really freshwater fish. They do best in slightly salted (brackish) water with about 3-5 grammes of marine salt mix added per litre of water. Very simple to do, this often overlooked precaution keeps mollies healthy and long-lived.
Water lillies are difficult plants. They need a mixture of sand and laterite (or sand and loam) as a substrate because they have a deep root system. In plain gravel they exhaust the tuber they come with and then die. Aponogeton is similar though some species like Aponogeton crispus will do well in plain gravel provided you fertilise them regularly. Both lillies and Aponogeton need a lot of light: no less than 1.5 Watts per gallon, and realistically at least 2 W per gallon if you want decent growth.
Barclaya longifolia is a very difficult plant that few aquarists have success with. It needs very strong lighting, very soft water, and a deep, rich, loamy substrate. Because mollies cannot stand soft/acid water, mollies cannot be kept in an aquarium with this plant.
The very best plant for a molly aquarium is hornwort, Ceratophyllum demersum. This is a floating plant that grows rapidly in most lighting conditions. It forms a thick tangle that baby fish love hiding in. It is tolerant of brackish water, making it an especially good choice for the molly aquarium.
Mollies do not eat plants unless the plants are already decaying. Plants don't "oxygenate" the water significantly unless you have lots of lighting, and even then they won't be doing that at night, so any effect they have is temporary. Plants have no particular health effects, but as a psychological device, they encourage fish to settle in quickly and provide a place for fish to hide or rest.
Hope this helps,
Neale
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
Happy to help!
There's a plant forum here with people who REALLY know their stuff. Perhaps you'd enjoy asking some questions there? Be sure and read the pinned topics on things like algae and lighting.
But, from my personal experience, you can get good growth from basic, hardy plants providing you [a] provide reasonable lighting and supply mineral fertilisers periodically. Lighting in my opinion needs to be at least 2 fluorescent tubes the full length of the aquarium PLUS reflectors behind them. The latter are cheap and easy to fit, and make a big difference.
When plants go pale yellow, that's when you know they've run out of iron and other minerals. You can buy little pots of stuff to add once a month, but other people simply make the substrate richer by mixing the gravel with laterite, and then adding little pellets to top off the iron levels every once in a while. Read around; there are lots of different ways to keep plants. if all else fails, Java fern doesn't need any substrate at all, and gets by with very little lighting. It also thrives in brackish water.
Cheers,
Neale
There's a plant forum here with people who REALLY know their stuff. Perhaps you'd enjoy asking some questions there? Be sure and read the pinned topics on things like algae and lighting.
But, from my personal experience, you can get good growth from basic, hardy plants providing you [a] provide reasonable lighting and supply mineral fertilisers periodically. Lighting in my opinion needs to be at least 2 fluorescent tubes the full length of the aquarium PLUS reflectors behind them. The latter are cheap and easy to fit, and make a big difference.
When plants go pale yellow, that's when you know they've run out of iron and other minerals. You can buy little pots of stuff to add once a month, but other people simply make the substrate richer by mixing the gravel with laterite, and then adding little pellets to top off the iron levels every once in a while. Read around; there are lots of different ways to keep plants. if all else fails, Java fern doesn't need any substrate at all, and gets by with very little lighting. It also thrives in brackish water.
Cheers,
Neale
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