Live Plants Recommendation...?

[tick tok]

Hi folks,

I'm a newbie to this forum and have kept tropicals before. I've returned to the hobby and currently have a Juwel 80 Litre tank running. Stock list includes:

5 x Rummyheads
2 x Platties (1 male, 1 female which looks pregnant, swollen, black spot near anal fin?)
5 x Cardinal Tetras

(I lost 2 mollies , but was probably due to addition of new stock (rummyheads/platties) from lfs without proper quarantine (live and learn...)

Just a quick question, have plastic plants and bog-wood, with some random stones on a gravel substrate. I like the thought of live-plants but haven't kept any before. What would you recommend? Been looking at Java Fern and Amazon sword on "fleabay". Will this upset stock? How do you go about ensuring their survival?

Any help at all aprreciated, hate the IKEA plastic'ness currently

Thanks,

TT

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Viable plants for your tank will depend on a number of factors about your plans, including...

• What lighting you have
• What substrate you have and whether there is any fertilising mixture underneath it
• If you have plans to get a CO[sub]2 [/sub]system

Things like Anubias barteri nana (attached to bogwood, to stop the rhizome rotting by being covered up by sand/gravel) will do fine in a low light/ no CO[sub]2/[/sub] no fertiliser setup. There are many others plants like this, but I'm no plant expert, I just happened to get some "moderate-high tech plants" and their needs with the help of this forum!

Best thing is to pop over to the "Plant Section" and get some expert advice

 

[tick tok]

Hi NOTG,

Thanks for your reply. Plans aren't huge, just want a few live plants which are hardy and easy to keep. The plastic plants are doing well mind... . I don't want a CO2 system but just want to progress slowly with a few simple to keep plants without compromising the livestock. I've checked the lighting and it is in the hood of this Juwel tank and compromises 1 x strip "daylight" bulb. There is no Voltage/Wattage marked on the bulb. The bulb extends the width of the tank at 24inches.Tank was not bought new so can't determine exact specification of it. There is no fertilising mixture under the gravel substrate.

I've tested water parameteres this morning and ammonia is at 0.025 (ppm) and PH was at 7.5.

Thanks for your advice re: looking at the "plant section" on this forum. I'll canvass for views here first then move this thread across.

Thanks again,

TT

 

[OldMan47]

If you stay with simple and easy care plants, you do not need all the stuff you are likely to hear about in the planted section. Like any other enthusiastic group, those folks all agree with each other and tend to go much further in their efforts than is really needed. I find that normal aquarium lighting used with a timer to control the amount of time the lights are on will let me keep the "easy" plants perfectly healthy and growing slowly. That is with no supplemental fertilizing and no CO2 injection. On the other hand, I have taken a walk on the high tech side of growing plants and found it really meant a lot more maintenance than I like. Weekly or every other week pruning is just not my cup of tea. I prefer a tank that takes care of itself most of the time. Look up low light plants and then visit you local store. The plants they have that look like the best value for the dollar are the ones that are very easy to grow. The end result for someone selling them is that you can get good plants anywhere so the price drops. For you the price is an indication of the ease of growing them to a salable size. Cheap means easy in most cases.