Hardy Plants

[funkyhoney]

Howdy folks, just a quick question, sorry if this is pinned somewhere and if it is you can just direct me there

Anyway, I have a small cichlid tank with which I have been battling algae for quite some time, a few weeks ago I added a few Valisneria Spiralis., which seem to be doing well in both keeping away the algae and just surviving!

But they do make the tank look a bit odd as they just sort of poke up behind the rocks nearest the back of the tank, so what I'd like to know is some species of hardy plant that don't need a fantastically nutritious substrate (although I do use liquid fertiliser), that won't be easily dug up by small African cichlids and can survive quite hard, alkaline water (pH 8.2).

Thanks in advance

 

[Revision17]

What is your lighting/CO2 setup?

Dwarf Sagittaria

Grows like a weed with medium to high light and CO2 with liquid ferts. Just get the smallest bunch of them you can. They send out runners pretty rapidly. The originally planted ones won't stay in the best, and you'll probably end up needing to weigh them down depending on how much the roots from the store suck. But once they're established, they stay in the substrate pretty well. I don't know how well African Cichlids dig though

I even gave some of my trimmings to my roommate with a stock Petco $60 tank, without a full spectrum bulb. They stay alive, and one sent out a runner, some leaves are becoming transparent. Also kinda caked in algae now though. I can't say I'd recommend them for a low light tank.

Once I get back to my tank, I need to trim mine. My tank is only 13" high (3" for subsrate), and they're starting to cover the entire top of the tank (some blades are nearly 20" now). It's starting to get difficult to feed the darn fish now

EDIT: Also, if you sterilize it from snails with a 1:3 bleach:water treatment, all the leaves will die and fall off (or at least they did for me). But new ones will grow, and runners will end up being perfectly healthy plants.

 

[funkyhoney]

Well I have no CO2 as it isn't even close to a planted tank. It's 70L (so about 15 Gal), only a small tank with two 20W bulbs (aquaglo and powerglo) although I only run 1 at any given time or I get an overload of algae VERY quickly.

So looking at about 1.25WPG in you guys terms No CO2 although very little surface disturbance and no aeration.

My substrate isn't too deep and until plants are pretty well rooted they usually disturb them and uproot them even though they're only small. I work at a lps though so I can get my hands on any number of plant species, although the ones you suggested don't sound ideal for me But that also means i can easily get a bit more substrate (crushed limestone) to help keep them down and choose healthy plants.

 

[TribeOfShroom]

Hornwort! It may not be the prettiest plant for an aquarium, but its fast growing and very hardy.

 

[TammyLiz]

Java fern has been the hardiest easiest plant for me. It grows super slow but every once in a while just takes off and I end up with a nice plant. Some people have a hard time with it but I say its worth a try. I love the look of it when its healthy.

If you can find the windelov variety its even nice, IMO.

Hornwort is easy to grow, too, but it tends to crash and muck up the tank every once in a while, IME. Also, it would block the light from your vals if you left it floating and its almost impossible to keep weighted down.