Plants For Small High Flow Temporate Tank

[nurglespuss]

Hi all,

Well, my mini river type temporate tank (white clouds, pitbull plec and snails) has been running for ages now with no probs.

I currently have a (very) slow growing java fern tied to a rock (I don't think it likes the flow) and some Elodea crispa to provide some height.

What I would really like are some (perhaps British?) riverine/stream compatible plants, I can't seem to locate any (tank must retain its cover due to jumping pitbull plec), but there is a 1 inch gap at the top.

Any ideas mucho appreciated!!

I'll be adding a heater set to 20'C very shortly, just to keep things a little more stable.

 

[BigTom]

A bit of reading found a reference to the plants found in the remaining habitats of the WCMM - Blyxa japonica, Rotala rotundifolia, Ludwigia prostrata, Ceratopteris thalictroides and Limnophila sp., most of which should be pretty easy to find although I can't guarantee how well individual species will do in your tank. Hope that helps.

 

[nurglespuss]

Thank you!

My google-fu is weak today, much appreciated

 

[BigTom]

Yeah it was surprisingly difficult to find any detailed biotope info. Eventually found 2 translated abstracts for papers written in Japanese journals about rediscovered populations of WCMM (which were thought to be extinct in the wild for quite some time). One simply said found 'amidst thick weeds' at the locality, whilst the other listed the above species.

 

[nurglespuss]

Ahhhh cheers ... will be fun!

Can't wait til move in about a month and a larger tank setup replaces the nano (so more WCMMs!)

I don't suppose you have a link to the paper with the plant info?

 

[BigTom]

http/www.bioline.org.br/request?zr09033

 

[nurglespuss]

Thank you!

 

[ian]

an interesting read Tom, from my understanding theres not much in the way of vegetation in the natural WCMM environment, obviously wrong. Can you remember the scape George Farmer did with WCMM, twas great. It would be good to go that one step further on what George did and plant it, with native plants.

courtesy of George Farmer (PFK)

 

[BigTom]

Yeah that's a great scape but actually a pretty inaccurate biotope from what I've read. Although much of the streams they're found in look like that, evidence from remaining populations always puts them in quiet weedy backwaters.