What Plants Should I Get?

[fish nutter]

I really need some plants for my 250L. I am looking for plants that do not need intense care but will feed / trim if necessary. In terms of lights i am running a 8000K tube (have a 16000K but was told to blue and intense) so will need some plants that have a fair amount of chlorophyll. The LFS have many different types of plants e.g different crypts and if possible you could give me the specific species if needed (some crypts look very different). The plants need to provide lots of cover for my fishies...

Thanks

 

[FishStrings]

Any Potted plant will do. A non potted plant will most likely not make it in that tank unless you want to completely replace the substrate. I recommend sword type plants because they seem to be sturdier and easier to maintain. They don't require intense light and wont clog the filter as the leaves are much easier to pick out. Particularly I have Anubian Nana plants. These plants are so sturdy they can live outside of the water on dry land. Ive even seen some in the pet store attached to driftwood. They will probably cost around 5-10 dollars per potted nana. (Upwards of 25 for one attached to driftwood) You will need to add plant food and change the bulb to a UV plant light as well. A normal fish should be able to tell the difference between live and fake plants. My fish absolutely love the nanas I added. When purchasing plants, never buy any with profuse algae hanging from them or from a tank covered in algae. This could mean the ammonia levels are high in the tank because they are unhappy or the pet shop simply does not properly maintain the tank. The algae feeds off this ammonia that the plants may emit and will be a dead giveaway.

 

[fish nutter]

ok, some of the plants at the LFS said that they have been hydroponically grown... should i still get them? The LFS also recommended Anubis and Java fern... what do you think?

Thanks for the help

 

[Gav935]

Plants do not care about what K rating the light is, it's purely a visual thing so go with whatever light looks best to you. There is no need to change your bulbs to a UV plant light (whatever that is) and always remove plants from pots, it's not good for the roots. Provided they're looked after, plants can root in an inert gravel substrate too.

Anubias and Java fern are good plants to start with, not very demanding in terms of lighting, ferts and co2. Only thing is, do not bury the rhizome (the main body of the plant where the leaves emerge from) it can potentially rot and kill the plant. Either of these plants are excellent for attaching to pieces of wood or stone.

 

[RadaR]

A non potted plant will most likely not make it in that tank unless you want to completely replace the substrate. You will need to add plant food and change the bulb to a UV plant light as well.

Plants do not care about what K rating the light is, it's purely a visual thing so go with whatever light looks best to you. There is no need to change your bulbs to a UV plant light (whatever that is) and always remove plants from pots, it's not good for the roots. Provided they're looked after, plants can root in an inert gravel substrate too.

Unfortunatly Gav, FishStrings won't budge from this riduclous theory.

 

[PDSimon]

A friend was telling me rockwool is actually carcinogenic. Rockwool being what they keep potted plants in?

 

[fish nutter]

ok, thanks guys will get some plants now

 

[Dave Spencer]

Follow the link and learn something.

You do know this a FW forum, don`t you?

Here is a little something for you to learn, FishStrings:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/298133-back-to-basics/

Some people also do not realize that plants eat too.

Anybody bothering to read the stickies on this page would already know that this information is wide spread on this forum. I did link you to basic resource centre in a thread that seems to have disappeared. See below:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=104737&st=0

http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/dosing-methods.htm

They absorb nutrients from their surroundings.

No they don`t.

Please do some reading, I think you may benefit from it. Once you have the basics, I can thoroughly recommend the Barr Report (I don`t think it is in competition with this forum, Llj).

Here you go, my planted tank with inert substrate. Not a particularly good pic, but it blows your theory out of the water:

Dave.

 

[RadaR]

Of course we understand plants need to eat. Hence the CO2 and nutrients we dose.
Kelvin is irrelevant though. So long as the spectrum is correct (peak in the blue and red wavelengths).
Plants can absorb nutrients through their leaves as much as they can through roots.
Look at this tank. It has an inert gravel!
You are getting your links from About.com. Hardly a great source is it.

 

[fish nutter]

i am actually dosing liquid carbon and flourish atm... I have bought a large sword, 2 java ferns, 2 crypts, 2 Anubis.

will post a pic soon

 

[RadaR]

learn tried and proven tips.

Oh but we have. The Barr report does just this. Scientific analysis and trys different methods. We try them out and it proves correct. How else as EI become so broadly used?
Where is your planted tank? What methods have YOU tried? You're sticking to a few links from "About.com" that know nothing of new theories and understanding. You only need to travel to a few forums to discover what you are saying is misleading.
This is nothing to do with ego, but with you giving out false information.
We are not changing science. Btw, plant manufacturers are already cottoning on to reality. For example, bringing out products that contain important N+P. These bottles no longer state "N+P will cause" algae because this has been vastly disprove. Heating cables are also dying out because many, many people have tried them with no differing results.

 

[PDSimon]

haha this guy must be trolling!


thats a great looking tank Dave

 

[OohFeeshy]

ok, some of the plants at the LFS said that they have been hydroponically grown... should i still get them?

A lot of plants are grown like that, it just means that you may well get some leaf loss when you first put it in the tank, but they will grow back.


Funny how all my plants are growing nicely with an inert playsand substrate, no ferts and standard bulbs then, innit?

 

[lljdma06]

ok, some of the plants at the LFS said that they have been hydroponically grown... should i still get them?

A lot of plants are grown like that, it just means that you may well get some leaf loss when you first put it in the tank, but they will grow back.


Funny how all my plants are growing nicely with an inert playsand substrate, no ferts and standard bulbs then, innit?

Oohfeeshy, I have been keeping planted tanks this way for quite some time now

No, Dave, I have referred members to The Barr Report too. It does not conflict in my eyes and his research validates what I practice with regard to planted tanks.

Llj