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I know nothing about plants :p

7K views 74 replies 11 participants last post by  Sagat 
#1 ·
Specifically I am wondering about these plants: water sprite, hornwort, java moss, jungle val and duckweed. (Or any other plants that would be easy to keep alive.)

I have a ten gallon tank that will soon be a sorority tank and I've been interested in live plants for awhile but they seem too hard to keep alive :p I'm not going to do a full on NPT right now. The hood I have right now had incandescent lights but I think (?) I can put different lights in it :p I also have regular aquarium gravel from Walmart and a lot of silk plants.

So far, I have read many threads on live plant care and have even posted previous threads but I am still absolutely lost. I've never been much of a plant fanatic :p I am confused about the specific care of plants... Lighting and nutrient needs and such. I've heard that there are many low light plants that need little care and then I hear that these "easy to care for" plants are dying and turning brown and causing ammonia spikes and all this other stuff that is really making me want to stick to silk plants for the rest of my life, lol.

Specifically... What do I need to do for lighting? I can buy different bulbs for the tank good that would be good for plants, right? (Lol). Amount of light needed? Number of plants needed to keep them all healthy? (Like, I can't just stick a floater or two in the tank and expect them to live?) Any specific additives I need to add for the plants (using gravel substrate)? Will these plants (or other suggested plants) need to be trimmed often? Can I trim them and use the parts trimmed off in other tanks? How would you trim a plant, lol? I've also heard that some plant roots can grow into the sides of the tank and make holes in the sides 0_0 (that doesn't sound great to me!)

I'm sorry these are probably kind of stupid questions and there are a lot of them. I don't want to do a full on NPT at this point and I also don't want to get plants and have them die and cause problems and make me wish I never even thought about live plants :p
 
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#2 ·
You need to go get some Compact flourescent lights, they have the aquarimax brand in the fish section of walmart, 10 watts a piece and 650k. That'd be the easiest way to get them, but if you want a better deal you can look around in walmarts lighting section, or any home improvement store for some CFLs. Try for minimum 2watts/gallon
8-12 hours/day of light
You can have the lowest amount of number you want, really, you could stick two floaters in the tank and they'd be fine, just dont expect them to do much for your water quality that way. Really you could also add as many as you'd like, just make sure you get fertilizer just in case the fertilization source (fish) in the tank isnt enough to keep them healthy.
You dont specifically need anything other than fertilizer, but sometimes you dont even need that, depending on how many fish you have in the tank.
I'd stay away from duckweed, that grows like a weed, I'd get amazon frogbit or water lettuce instead if you want a floater, the water sprite and hornwort could need to be trimmed often, but it depends on all the different factors going on in your tank and water and lighting. trim them like halfway up the plant and re-plant wherever you want. The val's spread runners so you dont need to mess with that, when leaves get too high just cut them like grass, you cant replant those. I have never heard of plants breaking holes into the side of tanks. LOL that'd be interesting, I think you'd need something with stronger roots, most of what you are looking at are stem plants and dont have major root systems.


water sprite is an awesome plant, it can survive through anything. I had it arrive to me dead a few months ago and all I did was put the bits and pieces into my tanks and they started growing new shoots.
hornwort is a floater that can also be planted, it sheds its needles in new water parameters so you'll want to have your gravel vac ready, but its a nice plant!
java moss - I love java moss! it can be grown in practically no light. I keep it in every tank I have just to help a little with water quality. Its a slow grower at first but when it takes off it can take over your tank, all you have to do is break off what you dont want in the original tank when it comes time to trim and transplant or throw out.
jungle val - the only rooted plant in the bunch - nice and easy to care for, doesnt do well with medications so you'll want to move those out if you have to medicate the tank, and it will sometimes melt in new water param's, but all in all a nice plant and I recommend.
and duckweed -- i dont recommend it just because it's hard to remove once it gets in your tanks
 
#3 ·
I would take out the bulbs in the 10g and replace with cfl 6500 bulbs. The are cheap, last long time and most important have a great spectrum for plants. Hornwort, java fern, java moss, moneywort and duckweed work well in my tank. I take long floating hornwort and put plant anchor in the middle to get it to grow to the surface. Looks like a planted in substrate but is not. easy to move around and gives vertical coverage. A few drops of Flourish 2x per week keeps the plants healthy.

Haha..edit. What the very knowledgeable poster above me said! :-D:-D
 
#4 ·
Wow! Thanks for the detailed response :) Another stupid question... Exactly what kind of fertilizer would I need? Do they sell aquatic plant fertilizer that is safe for fish?

Edit: I didn't see the second post. Where do I get flourish?
 
#5 ·
Yes, at petsmart and petco they have plant fertilizer either near the plants or the medications aisle. You want liquid fertilizer, I use flourish comprehensive, it seems to be the most recommended, kind of pricey but lasts FOREVER. for a 10 gallon you'd want to dose 2ml/week if needed at all.
 
#6 ·
Thank you!
Haha, a few more questions. When you QT plants, if I were to purchase them from someone on this site who gets them out of their already established tanks, is it necessary still to QT them? (If so, why?) I mean, if their tank isn't infested with snails.

And shipping plants in winter... I doubt I'll be able to find any good aquatic plants anywhere around here so I'll probably purchase them online, anyways, but it's freezing here right now (literally). Snow is still covering the ground from the 9 inches we got a few weeks ago and it has snowed more since then! And it also gets near 0 at night and usually no warmer than 20 degrees during the day. I'm assuming I should just probably hold off on ordering any plants?

Any other plants you recommend, aemaki?
 
#7 ·
I would still QT just to play it safe. I'm almost positive my columnaris rode in on an order of plants that I didnt QT, I could be wrong, but better safe than sorry, just leave them in a QT tank or bucket with good light for a couple weeks with un-treated tap water.

Most people will ship with a heat-pack, some say they dont want to and instead will insulate their plants very well before sending them off, I wouldnt worry too much about it. -- My weather is about the same as yours and plants have come in just fine to me! I would definitely pay extra for the heat pack if the seller offers them, or look for a seller that has them if they wont offer them though..

other than that I'm really not sure what else to tell you lol If you have any other questions though feel free to ask!
 
#8 ·
Oh, my 0.0 columnaris? How would you be able to know if a plant had columnaris lol. Does untreated tap water kill everything? haha.

Any other plant suggestions? :)
 
#9 ·
You wouldnt know if a plant has it or not, but from what I've read all those diseases and stuff cant survive in tap. I even qt my snails in untreated water if they are in a tank that a fish died in lol.
Anyways -- my favorites that I have are :: amazon sword, rotala (any species really,I have indica) bacopa, money wort, anarchis, frogbit, water sprite and wisteria, cabomba is a good alternative to hornwort, java moss, anubias, uhm...hmm LOL really, I love all of them. My suggestion is to get mostly stems and floaters, and only like 1/4 total of your order being rooted plants. In my 26 I have about 75% of the floor covered but only like 8 rooted plants in it.
does that make sense? lol
 
#10 ·
What is a stem vs a rooted plant? Are all those hardy and easy to keep in 2watt per gallon lighting?
I always hear good things about anubias.
 
#12 ·
Stem is a "bunch" plant, its just a stem with leaves, no root system, they are normally tied together with lead weights, you plant them like you would a any other plant, just bury the base in the soil...I just prefer them because they grow faster.
rooted actually has a root system like terrestrial plants do. They dont come un-done very easily, but they dont grow like stems.
I think my preferance towards stems is just because I have so many tanks that I like trimming, but also because the faster they grow the better they help water quality.

All of the ones suggested are hardy. I'm pretty much a beginner with plants too, and these are all what worked for me so far.
2 watts per gallon is perfect for them.
I only have 1 anubias nana petit in my tank, but its really hardy, I've got java and lace java fern in the same tank, anubias does best, regular java comes in second, and the lace isnt doing that great, but I think it might be because its baby plants.

You could also try moss balls, those require like no care other than a squeeze in tank water once in a while and rolling to a different side during a water change.

Anyways. I think that petco and petsmart will sell most of the ones I suggested
 
#13 · (Edited)
#17 · (Edited)
What would you suggest for a 50 gal tank?, by the way im just as new and lost as the thread starter when it comes to liveplants. Only plant i know about is moss balls cause i keep reading that bettas love moss balls. Are there any that i dont have to put soil in the tank? Like just plant in the gravel or i can add in after ive already established my tank
 
#19 ·
I'm going to suggest the same plants. I'd definintely add a few pieces of driftwood and get some java moss, anubias, and java fern to tie to it. Try stem plants first then move to rooted like amazon sword or crypts.
You dont have to put soil in the tank unless you want to make an NPT, plants will do fine in practically any substrate. All my plants are in gravel for now.
 
#21 ·
So out of water sprite, hornwort, java moss, jungle val, java fern and anubias, the only planted one is jungle val? Is it the only one that can't be trimmed and transferred?
Which ones are floaters and which are stems? Can the floaters also be trimmed/transferred?

Thanks for your help, aemaki! I'm not near as confused, now :p
 
#22 ·
Floaters will divide themselves, they will send a new shoot out and grow a new plant then divide. The only true floater is duckweed, hornwort can be a floater but you can also plant it.
Water sprite And jungle Val can both be planted, but the sprite I a stem plant and propagates by you cutting it, jungle Val will send out runners and make new plants that way.
Java moss java fern and anubias are plants you should tie to hard-scape, but you can get away with planting it as long as only the roots are buried and not the rhizome, which is a stem holding leaves together.
It's really simple once you see them for yourself, I'd go to the pet store and look at what they have there, look for the stick looking plants and the plants that look like they could be potted
 
#23 ·
I'm gonna jump in ;) Aemaki09...am I getting this right that you can grow just about anything with aquarium substrate? You mean gravel? Reason being, I have a sand substrate in a 20g long with anubias,comba and someother plants can't remember haha, and I am struggling to keep some alive, I give liquid ferts 02,, I would like some feed back on maybe trying to add eco-substrate? If should add on top of sand, or risk crash if I tried to re-do tank..Or can I add eco, then another layer of sand??
I have a 60 gallon with same plants, but fish tear it up!! Geesh..

Thanks for any imput...love this post :D
 
#24 ·
I'm gonna jump in ;) Aemaki09...am I getting this right that you can grow just about anything with aquarium substrate? You mean gravel? Reason being, I have a sand substrate in a 20g long with anubias,comba and someother plants can't remember haha, and I am struggling to keep some alive, I give liquid ferts 02,, I would like some feed back on maybe trying to add eco-substrate? If should add on top of sand, or risk crash if I tried to re-do tank..Or can I add eco, then another layer of sand??
I have a 60 gallon with same plants, but fish tear it up!! Geesh..

Thanks for any imput...love this post :D

man! I feel like a pro with everyone asking me questions lol
why lighting do you have? Eco substrate is good, you wouldnt have to add any fertilizers for quite a while after adding that, but plants should honestly grow better in sand, well rooted plants, because its easier for them to send shoots out in sand over gravel. It sounds like you are doing everything right, but you didnt mention lighting so that could be the issue.
If you add eco, I'd take as much of the sand out as possible, then lay a layer of sand on top of it if you want. I dont use eco-complete so I dont know much about it, I dont think you'd have any issues with the cycle if you do it fast enough. -- but that might be something you want to ask OFL.
 
#25 ·
Thanks for reply :D..my lighting is Aqueon 30" Day light LED (4 watt)..thinking of getting another strip..can add at least two more if take out blue light..
Yeah I was thinking maybe OFL will see this and comment, and yeah I think you qualify :D ..you know your stuff!! I'm way new to this..haven't killed my anubias yet!! Hahaha.
 
#26 ·
Thanks for reply :D..my lighting is Aqueon 30" Day light LED (4 watt)..thinking of getting another strip..can add at least two more if take out blue light..
Yeah I was thinking maybe OFL will see this and comment, and yeah I think you qualify :D ..you know your stuff!! I'm way new to this..haven't killed my anubias yet!! Hahaha.

4 watts over a 20 gallon tank? Thats veryyyy low. The 2 watt per gallon rule is a good rule to follow, but if you get t-5 or t-8 you could get away with using like 1watt/gallon. --this is strip lighting. you want your lighting to be a full spectrum 6500k. 5000-10000k works, 6500 is most preferred.
 
#28 ·
go to the home section you need to check for compact flourescent bulbs
 
#29 ·
Okay I found a pack of 10 watt 6500k fluorescent lights. I don't even know if they will fit my hood lol. We'll see... Walmart always accepts returns. And I think my Walmart is stupid. I found no lightbulbs in the home section and they were completely out of the aquarium bulbs and so was the warehouse.. And they haven't had aquarium thermometers for over a month.
 
#30 ·
thats insane!! Hopefully they fit!!
If not I'd return them and try to find some at home depot or lowes, or you can get those ones at petsmart, they sound perfect, but for me, thats more money than I'm willing to spend!
 
#32 ·
Thanks, Choclate. I think I'll try java fern, too.

That pack of 2 bulbs I found at Walmart was on sale for like $4. If it works I might go grab the other two that were there.
 
#34 ·
Thanks, Choclate. I think I'll try java fern, too.

That pack of 2 bulbs I found at Walmart was on sale for like $4. If it works I might go grab the other two that were there.

I've never had luck with the bulbs you get in the packages. I bought one from petco that had apongenton, tiger lotus, and water onion in it and none of them sprouted, actually...the water onions both sprouted but then rotted afterwords...worst smell of my life!!
Hopefully you have better luck!!

Java fern is definitely nice! Try to get the biggest ones the store has that way you have baby ferns faster! I think I have only had mine for like 2 months and one of them already has babies all over the leaves.



Sorry its such bad quality lol I didnt realize that it looked so horrible, but gives you an idea
 
#37 ·
hahah ohhh how did I misread that??

lol

anyways, java ferns propogate by growing baby ferns on their leaves lol so its baby java ferns growing all over my adult java ferns leaf.
 
#38 ·
o_O wow I really know less about plants than I thought I did, lol. This sounds like a whole lot of trimming and removing of plants. Also a whole lot of giving friends some live plants for their tanks, lol.
 
#40 ·
That just seems so weird to me, haha!
I guess I still have a bit to learn about plants. I kind of want to make a spreadsheet for all the different kinds I'm looking at to map out whether they are planted/floaters/stems, how/if they can grow and be transferred to different tanks, how you would cut them, etc, etc...

I figured I would need to print it out and hang it by my tanks somewhere so I don't have to come back and look at this thread every time one of them starts agrowin' and I'm not sure how to trim them! haha.

Also I really need to grab a picture of those lights to see if you think they will work.
 
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