New to Real plants

[SRC]

I mentioned to my mother that I would like to have some plants for my 10 gallons aquarium (and also for my tank I am currently in the process of building for my Betta's) and being that it is close to Xmas she thought she woudl be nice and order me some plants. I had a list laying on my desk of possible choices and she took that and bought some plants off it.

Wasn't exactly ready for them so soon, but they'll be here next week regradless if I am or not...so I need some advice.

There will be 1 of each of these:

Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia)

Dwarf Saggitaria's

LG Java Fern

Lilaopsis Brasiliensis

Marimo Ball (Cladophora Aegarophia)

My tank has pretty much cycled (my Nitrites are still just a little over 0, but not even .25ppm anymore..the color is a shade of blue (not the shade it shoudl be though) instead of the purple now) and has 5 Ghost Shrimp, 7 Neon's, and 2 Corydora's in it.

The temp stays between 80-82.

I do weekly water changes of about 2-4 gallons.

I have medium size gravel.

I have a flourescent light above the tank, that runs from 7am-6-7 pm-ish daily.

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I know the Marimo Ball just needs to sit on the tank bottom, so I guess my questions are:

How do you pot these plants, because I'm not too keen on them being in the gravel..as I don't think the gravel is deep enough to hold them down.

So what do you use to pot them..so it doesn't float back out and muss up the tank water?

I have some small terracotta pots and I have some old gravel from an old fishbowl. Would that work?


Thanks for any advice,

 

[Lateral Line]

The Lysimachia genus contains many plants sold as aquatics which are not, more bog plants. There are a couple of species, most commonly available is L. nummularia which will survive underwater, there, they are slow growing and prefer cooler water. A stem plant which you should plant in bunches directly into the substrate.

The Sag is fine, plant it straight into the substrate as well.

Java Ferns should not be planted. They grow from a stout rhizome which will rot if planted. It should be attached to a rock or piece of bogwood with some fishing line or similar. East to grow and undemanding.

Lilaeopsis brasiliensis is a very slow growing, difficult plant. It requires very high light levels. Since you've got it coming, you can try planting it the gravel, but it does best in fine substrates, sand.

Cladophora aegagropila is not difficult, but the "balls" must be rolled about often otherwise they simply rot on the lower side - in the wild, they are found in shallow water where waves constantly roll them about.

We really need to know how much lighting you have. A single lamp is hardly ever enough, so it is a safe bet you have low light. Also be aware that deeper tanks tend to need a little more light then regular tanks. A rough guide for smaller tanks is 2 Watts per gallon of full spectrum (5500K - 6500K) fluorescent light for 12 hours a day will give "Medium" light.

 

[SRC]

Lilaeopsis brasiliensis is a very slow growing, difficult plant. It requires very high light levels. Since you've got it coming, you can try planting it the gravel, but it does best in fine substrates, sand.




We really need to know how much lighting you have.

When you say *sand*, is there any particular kind..or will just plain ole sand work?

Can I put this in a pot, otherwise I'm not sure how that would work during gravel vaccuming.



I will check the wattage of the light when I get home and post back the finding.


Thanks a bunch!!

 

[SRC]

ok..this is a 18" 15watt flourescent light.

and my tank is 10 gallons and about 10" deep.

 

[SRC]

lol Gotta love replying to your own threads.

Couple more questions.

Since I will be increasing/prolonging how long my light stays on, and I am adding plants to the aquarium..

1. Will this insight algae to grow in my tank?

2. If it does and I get, let's say, a candy stripe pleco...would it eat my Marimo ball? lol

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> Gotta love replying to your own threads.

I don't spend my entire life here you know It just sometimes seems that way.

I use swimming pool filter sand. It has an even grain size and shape so doesn't pack down like, say silver sand, there are people that use all different types of sand though. I find filter sand requires less maintenance.

You don't vacuum sand in the same way as gravel. Crud sits on the surface of sand rather then falling between the stones and rotting. You can see and easily remove the stuff with a siphon or a dip tube. You don't dig around in the sand with a gravel cleaner. What you do have to do is prod the sand around a bit from time to time to stop it packing down, I use a chop stick for the job.

I guess you could put sand in a pot and plant into it, although you would probably be better off with a pot without holes, the sand will escape and fall between the gravel stones.

Your light is not as low as it might have been! I still think you will have a lot of trouble getting the Lilaeopsis to grow, it demand high light, to acheive that in your tank you'd need 3 - 4 times as much light. The relationship between Watts and Gallons is not a simple one, but one typically advocates 4+ Watts per gallon for these very high light demanding plants, and really, CO2 injection.

Algae will grow when ever the conditions are right for it. Normally a well planted balanced tank has few algae problems since regular plants are better at photosynthesising then primitive algaes. High light and excess nutrients, nitrates and phosphates in particular, will lead to algal blooms.

I doubt a plec would eat the ball, but I've never kept the 2 together so don't quote me.

 

[SRC]

lol I didn't mean that to be ugly. I just meant that I had replied to it numerous times in a row..before anyone else .

I thought about getting one of those purple grow lights and replacing the flourescent that is in there now. Or just adding another flourescent to the one I have, and putting them side by side. I use a piece of plexiglass, that has a cut out for the filter and heater, for a lid right now...so I just have the light strip laying on top of the plexi right now.

Hopefully the pleco won't eat my marimo ball..if he does, well I might have to take him back lol. I have some Tiger and Amano Shrimp ordered as well....hopefully they don't decide it looks like lunch either lol.

Those little glass flower pots I got will be perfect for planting in then...because they are actually candle holders and have no bottom side holes in them. I can't wait til these plants get here next week..I think this tank is going to look pretty cool, very au-natural...with the natural colored gravel already in there.

I bet the neons are going to love the plants too. LOL they get stuck in the plastic ones in there now sometimes.

 

[gale]

Those little glass flower pots I got will be perfect for planting in then...because they are actually candle holders and have no bottom side holes in them. I can't wait til these plants get here next week..I think this tank is going to look pretty cool, very au-natural...with the natural colored gravel already in there.

Ooh love the idea of using little glass votive holders for the plants. I'll have to remember that one.

 

[tear-scar]

*raises an eye-brow*

I personally don't understand the point of planting in pots. Don't you want to achieve a more natural appearence? I don't think planting in pots would hurt the plants-- but it seems really strange just the same.

Basically I'm wondering-- "Why are you trying to keep plants?"

Live plants are an awful lot of hastle to keep healthy if you're going to keep the tank looking really artificial by having them in glass pots.

My suggestion would be to buy some type of decorative only substrate that won't cloudy the water (BLACK probably best-- not some weird pink/orange/whatever color), and just double the thickness of your substrate if it's too thin. Plant the sagittaria in front, plant the java on a piece of bog wood, and plant the lila in back. However, it sounds like the lila is not going to last long unless you act quickly to get CO2 and way better lighting.

Good luck with it all-- and don't worry about the pleco, he won't eat your moss ball. Moss is not algae after all.

 

[SRC]

Mainly I am using the pots because the plants are babies...they are tiny. The saggitarius is probbaly no taller then 1 1/2" each. None of them have a great root system established yet..the roots are less then 1" long at the moment.

After they get biger I will buy a different subtrate for the tank and plant them. But I want to make sure I can keep them alive before I go doing all that and then have to change it back.

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The marimo ball is supposed to be algea..or atleast thats what the description explains it as.

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There are now 2 15 watts grow bulbs for the tank now. If it needs C02..it will probably just die then, as I am not prepared to go to that much expense, every system I have seen regarding that is upwards of $200...ouch. If it does..I'll just buy some more of this saggitarius..I really like that.