The Anacharis Plant

[10 Tanks]

Hello. If you're looking for an easy to grow and a fast growing aquarium plant, I don't believe you can top this one. I started with a few sprigs of the Egeria Densa or Anacharis on May 23rd and took a picture of it. This afternoon on June 23rd, I took another picture of it. The growth is pretty amazing. I just use a 2 bulb shop light and no fertilizer other than what the 40 or so Brassy Minnows produce. I feed a pinch of "Bug Bites" twice a day and that's it. Am going to have to do some trimming in the near future.

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[anewbie]

It depends on your water hardness - it grows great in some water and other it will struggle or even die. Other plants (my preference is hornworth) and pearl weed.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello again. Anacharis is pretty tolerant of most water conditions and temperatures. It thrived in my outdoor pond when I lived in northern Colorado. The water temperature was around 50 degrees in the Winter. If you find it not growing well, add a drop of two of a calcium and magnesium supplement to the tank water. These supplements are extremely cheap. Get a bottle that comes with an eye dropper. Again, just a drop or two in the replacement water would be enough.

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[anewbie]

Hello again. Anacharis is pretty tolerant of most water conditions and temperatures. It thrived in my outdoor pond when I lived in northern Colorado. The water temperature was around 50 degrees in the Winter. If you find it not growing well, add a drop of two of a calcium and magnesium supplement to the tank water. These supplements are extremely cheap. Get a bottle that comes with an eye dropper. Again, just a drop or two in the replacement water would be enough.

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What if my fishes are so fragile that a bit of calcium will cause them to run away and never come home ?

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Well, maybe they just need a bigger tank?

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[gimme301]

I agree it's hardy and easy to grow, it's one of the few plants I haven't managed to kill yet. But I haven't been able to keep it planted. The ends in the gravel wind up rotting and then it's back to floating again. What's your secret?

 

[GaryE24 139]

Anacharis is a couple of different plants. When I was a kid in a town with hard tapwater, I grew it like in the photos. Where I am now with soft water, it won't grow. I love the plant, but it's only easy if you have the right water. You can say the same for most plants, and part of what we do is learn what works with the resources and water we have. The plans too - we pick plants that work with what we're aiming for.

If nature has provided you with what the plant needs, it's a great addition. Adding calcium or magnesium is easy, but can be harmful to some fish. Pick the plants that work for what you're trying to do

Around here, stores don't even sell Anacharis or Elodea because in our lovely perfect for rainforest fish water, that plant sheds its leaves before they can sell it.

 

[raylove1]

I have hard water and was never been able to grow it, it just melted on me. It always used to be considered a temporate plant not suited to tropical tanks, so I put it down to that. Mind you, in those days I couldn't keep anything alive for long, but Anacharis was usually the first to go.
Since I started injecting CO2 back in 2015 most plants do now grow prolifically for me but because I always thought Anacharis was sensitive to temperature, I haven't tried it again.

 

[GaryE24 139]

The old standard Anacharis is a temperate plant, but there are tropical Elodea sold as Anacharis (an old name used in the trade) that can thrive in standard tropical ranges. "Anacharis" is one of the old names that don't necessarily tell you what plant you're talking about.

 

[10 Tanks]

I agree it's hardy and easy to grow, it's one of the few plants I haven't managed to kill yet. But I haven't been able to keep it planted. The ends in the gravel wind up rotting and then it's back to floating again. What's your secret?

Hello gimme. I use small, polished pebbles on the bottom of the tank. Just put in a couple of inches. The roots get plenty of room to grow into the bottom material and the spaces between the pebbles allow water carrying oxygen and other nutrients to move freely.

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[Back in the fold]

I like Anacharis but I too have a tough time keeping it . It grows wild around here if you know where to look .

 

[anewbie]

That reminds me - a long long long time ago in another life i setup a 20 long for my gf and we purchased 2 of the most lovely sword tails that they don't sell any longer in hte current life from a family owned petshop down the street from the university - the aquarium had no light but sat on her desk next to the window. We also had a bit of anacharis that came with the fishes - back in those days you just used an air pump and box filter but i don't think we bothered with the filter. Anyway - soon we had a bunch of sword tails and the plant grew faster. Then the more swordtails we had the faster the plant grew and by the end of the year the aquarium was full of plant and swordtails - i hazard to guess how many but maybe 30 swordtails of various sizes after all we only had them for less than 9 months and a mountain of plant and a little water. We stuffed all the swordtails - the most lovely red wags you have ever seen that they no longer sell in this new life time - in a plastic bag and took them over to the pet shop - where back in those days another life time past they paid cash for the fishes. She took the aquarium with her and set it up when she went to the professional school in her next life though i am unsure if she was able to get wonderful swordtails - or edolea - i think she ended up with guppies and hornworth which is a pale alternative to the most wonderful red wags that no longer exist.

 

[Back in the fold]

red wags that no longer exist.

I haven’t seen a Red Velvet Wagtail Swordtail in decades . The most exquisitely beautiful of all Swordtails . Haven’t seen a deep red either . Where did they go ?

 

[gimme301]

I'd forgotten all about them until this thread..they used to be everywhere but I haven't seen one in years either. Funny how most of the fish that were common years ago you rarely see these days. I mean besides platys/neons/guppies etc.

The roots get plenty of room to grow into the bottom material and the spaces between the pebbles allow water carrying oxygen and other nutrients to move freely.

Thank you for that, I'll give it a shot. I've yet to see them develop roots at the end or base of the plant though. They'll send out what looks like a root every few inches along the stem but it never anchors into the substrate. I might try planting them horizontally too. It worked for wisteria!

 

[GaryE24 139]

Marigold swordtails. That was my favourite, where the emerald green under the gold would flash when they turned. They were all hybrids and linebreds, but they were nice anyway.
As people have trended to smaller tanks, I don't even see swordtails in stores around here, let alone fancy varieties of them. I see anacharis/Elodea canadiensis (I think) when I kayak, but it dies immediately in tanks. The South American type never shows up in stores here.