Plants

[melanie]

i was wondering if anyone had any reccomendations of plants i could put in my tank perhaps some nice big bushy ones that could create lots of hiding places for my fish as they are beginning to get bullied.

thankyou

 

[Dragonslair]

Hello again Mel,
Your question really is a personal choice. What type of water you have and what you propose to have plants for. The species of fish you have within the artificial environment dictates what you can have. The popular species is the cabomba, amazon swords and java ferns. Fry always like the soft leaves to hide within. They root quite easily. If you go onto the website, www.java-plants.com you will find a plants list plus a description of each plant. I would however advise against buying the water lettuce. It looks lovely, and the description is wonderful especially for fry, but the heat and light intensity from your lighting tubes will scorch the leaves, this will pollute the water quite rapidly. In its decomposition however it does create infusorians for your fry in its early stages, but personally the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. I have bought several...if not more plants from Java. They come freshly packed and labelled, however it does take about 2 weeks for delivery.
If your Ifs has plants ask about them there, if the Ifs is halfway decent they will be able to advise. I bought 25 java moss plants and it sounds a lot but it is only about a handful. This plant is slow growing ,invasive if not checked but makes an excellent hidaway for fry in the main tank. You need to keep JM in check otherwise it runs rampant around everything! :laugh:

 

[Dragonslair]

Mel
Have you looked at the question started by Richy on the 24 june"plastic or real". in this section. Rose has written an interesting point with some pics too. Have a browse>

 

[Rose]

Water sprite, Java Moss, Ricca, Wisteria, Micro sword, duck weed, Need more ideas let me know. Rose