Need Help Identifying A Plant

[lisa2701]

Hi everyone, Iam completely new to fish so please excuse my lack of knowledge regarding this.

I need help identifying this plant. It came with my tank and the woman who had it before me has left it in its little pot. First of all I'd like to know what plant I am dealing with, and second of all I would like to know IF it needs removed from the pot (i suspect it does) and if so the most successful way of planting it, I only have sand in the tank, will this be sufficient? Is this plant likely to grow like wild fire and take over the tank or is this pretty much it? Thanks.

 

[mike455555]

looks like a type of sword to me...

id take it out of the pot and put a root tab under it
it might grow bigger but it wont take over

 

[lisa2701]

looks like a type of sword to me...

id take it out of the pot and put a root tab under it
it might grow bigger but it wont take over

. I will take care of that tomorrow and remove it from the pot. What is a root tab? It really doesn't have room to grow any taller, its in a small tank.

 

[mike455555]

i doubt it will grow much taller.
root tabs help plants grow.. provide it food.. Amazon swords are heavy root feeders so they get lots of what they need via the roots

there quite cheep and you should be able to get some from your LFS

 

[lisa2701]

Thats brilliant, thank you for the advice. I will find root tabs for it. I done a search on the net for sword plants and I think its an Amazon Sword like you say.

 

[some thing fishy]

It looks like a piece of Java Fern,it would be better tied to a piece of wood ,or a rock.as Java Fern does not do well when planted in the substrate.

 

[lisa2701]

If its better I can remove it from the tank tomorrow and post a cleaner picture of it?

 

[mike455555]

yes please would help.. i was debating if it was java fern or not... but its leaves looked to curve to form stems i dont know ... show us the base of the plant and it will be clear what it is

 

[lisa2701]

Ok here's a picture of it out of the tank. I assume all the brown stuff at the base is roots, quite unsightly?

 

[DrRob]

Aye, that's a java fern, they like to be attached to things like bogwood or rocks, the roots will then attach to the piece of decor.

Don't bury it in the substrate, but yes, take the pot off it, and as much of that rock wool as you can (tweezers are your friend here, it's a remarkably difficult job).

Tieing it down requires very little, simple cotton will do the trick and you should be able to remove the thread after a few weeks.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I'm not sure on ID-ing the plant for you but I do recommend you go ahead and trim off all of those leaves that look damaged or brown. It'll keep your water cleaner and keep the plant healthy. Just use a pair of sharp scissors and trim the stem as close to the base as you can get. Also, since you've moved the plant to a new tank, sometimes the plant will go through a period of "melt" where the leaves die back. IF this happens, and it may not, just keep cutting off any poorly looking leaves and it'll bounce back in no time.

Yeah, for removing the wool I use a mix of tweezers and rinsing it in some water to get the small/loose bits. You should also trim some of the roots back a little, to around an inch. It will encourage new growth and help it to attach to whatever you tie it to.

 

[mike455555]

its defo javafern no need for root tabs it will live in most tanks it can even survive in brackish

 

[lisa2701]

Thank you all for your help . I know its silly but I like my bogwood as is so don't want to attach it to that, so will have to buy a rock I think to attach it too. Hoping to take a trip to a LFS tomorrow so can pick it up then. I will trim back the roots and damaged leaves tomorrow when I am sorting it all out. So normal sewing thread should be ok to attach it with?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yup normal thread is fine. Yeah you can just get maybe a small bit of slate to tie it to, then it'll be hidden behind the wood and you won't be able to see any difference to how it looks now

 

[lisa2701]

Yup normal thread is fine. Yeah you can just get maybe a small bit of slate to tie it to, then it'll be hidden behind the wood and you won't be able to see any difference to how it looks now

Thats what I was thinking, something small that can be tucked behind the bog wood.