plant suggestions

[finfan]

well, now that i have my tank finally. and got it set up with substrate/water, its time for plants, i went to LFS to get cycling fish and could not resist when i saw some good looking Crypt Lucens and got three little bunch of them, they look awesome in my tank now and makes up the midlevel anchor plant for my envisioned "aquascape" (how dare i use that word as a complete beginner!!!), anyway, so to balance this out (which is in the left side of the aquarium if you are facing the tank), i want to put something similar in structure in the opposite side to balance it out, but the one in the opposite needs to be about 2/3 in size so that it does not look too symetrical, then i need some tallish plants for the back and sides of the aquarium, and finally i want to have a good carpet plant for the middle and front, my substrate is all eco-complete and i want the plants to be easy growing/maintenance, and medium to low light requirements, given these parameters, what are your suggestions for:

1) the 2/3 size plant on the right side (thinking anacharis right now!)
2) tallish plants for the back and sides (thinking creeping jenny or taller stem plants!)
3) good carpet plant (thinking glosso!)

[Tiapan]

Re: plant suggestions

Im sure Ek will tell you too but you cant grow glosso in low light and it usually needs  CO2. at least if u want it to carpet. think in terms of hieght, if the plant is lower you need higher light to reach it. you can make a sort of carpet using moss if you trim it frequently, also anacharis wouldnt be mid level for long (it will grow so fast your mind will spin) Wisteria grows slow enough to be used as a mid level, Same with som of the Vals, Now Dwarf Sagitaria does fairly well without too much light and can grow pretty thick mind be great for near the front, Bronze Wendii does well as middle to front because it can grow fairly tall in lower light. now Jungle Val or Italian val would be good for back but Jungle is gonna get a little big for your 30 (Italian would be better) or even Corkscrew if you can find it. a lot of you stems would be good for background, several of the easier to keep Rotalas, water sprite, the list goes on, Sagitaria (normal) would not be a horrible choice for middle getting about 6 to 8 inches tall just not real thick

[eklikewhoa]

Re: plant suggestions

1) Hemianthus micranthemoides...pearlweed
2) Creeping jenny looks really bad once it gets going so I rather some sort of Rotala.
3)None other then moss for low light low maintenance but even then moss likes high like/co2/etc. You can try Marsilea Minuta which looks much  better then gloss and is a type of fern. But with low light/etc. a lot of plants will not carpet or grow tight together since they will all be reaching for light.

[Anonapersona]

Re: plant suggestions

A surprise contender for a small fine textured mid to front of the tank plant.... java fern, Tropica variety.

Unlike most java ferns that do not like their roots buried, the fish-tail java fern is fine with roots slightly buried and makes a nice well controlled mound.

Now, that tiny crypt lucens will grow to be easily 17 inches tall, so don't buy to much other stuff just yet. Separate each of the tiny plants and plant about 2 inches apart. I know you don't think it is a background plant, but it is, unless your tank is really huge. Each "pot" you bought will expand to cover about 4 square inches, so tweezer the plantlets apart and put them to the back on both sides of the tank, 2/3 on one side, 1/3 on the other.

Anachris has a maddening habit of breaking off at the gravel if the CO2 and light isn't right, then it floats to the surface where it can get all the CO2 it wants and all the light too. Skip that.

Pearlweed is pretty, and grows either upright or cascading down, depending on light. Low light and it just floats off or won't grow.

the other great plant for moderate light is anubias. Several sizes and colors online, but just one can be lovely as a centerpiece.

Not sure what size this tank is, or light CO2, ferts status.....

[finfan]

Re: plant suggestions

all thanks for the suggestions

anonapersona - the tank size is 24L"*12W"*24"H (~30gal tall), eco-complete substrate  - 3" to 5" sloping up backwards

there are two 18" flourocent tube lights (came standard with eclipse system II hood)

[Anonapersona]

Re: plant suggestions

The Eclipse hood is a problem for CO2 injection, the biowheel makes gas breakout. You will be better off with Excell or a different hood I'm afraid.

When the crypts reach the surface, they will get the CO2 they need, and I think the lucens will get there with enough ferts.

[finfan]

Re: plant suggestions

i don't know what "gas breakout" means, what does it mean?  what are the repercussions?

at this time, i am not planning on CO2 injections, i will try out different plants, whichever one's can do well/stick based on my tank conditions, i will keep, others i guess will perish or stay small

[Anonapersona]

Re: plant suggestions

Were you injecting CO2 into this tank, the turbulence from the biowheel would tend to "liberate" the gas injected, reducing the amount that stays in the water for plant use. My experience while using DIY CO2 and a Penguin HOB tank with the biowheel removed was that Co2 in the water was limited to a moderate value no matter how fast bubbles entered the tank. When I changed to a canister, CO2 values doubled.

So, you will not get much benefit from adding CO2, it will just leave pretty fast. So, stick to plants that can do without CO2, try valisneria, there are a few different sizes, corkscrew val is not too tall, try to find that.

[finfan]

Re: plant suggestions

here are a couple of pictures of the crypt i mentioned when i started this thread

[finfan]

Re: plant suggestions

here is one with a bubble

[eklikewhoa]

Re: plant suggestions

If you started a few months earlier I had tons of crypt lucens.....like 30 pots of them that I had to give away. A really nice fore/mid ground plant in a big tank with high light IMO.

[finfan]

Re: plant suggestions

eklik, thanks, maybe i will take some next time you clean

the first day i put the plant in the substrate, the plant was kind of sloppy (not standing stright), that changed the second day, now it looks more stright and stern, but i do see some (3 or 4) large leaves that are yellowish/yellow/dead, should i remove those?  what is the best way to cut off plants, is there a product that i can buy that will go down to the plants and i can cut them?

[Tiapan]

Re: plant suggestions

a good long pair of twezers is essential in my opinion for plant keeping , both for planting or removing leaves.

[Tiapan]

Re: plant suggestions

oh and with most crypts the higher the light the lower they grow.

[Anonapersona]

Re: plant suggestions

You will really benefit from replanting them now.

Pull that bunch up and use tweeers to separate into individual plants -- you probably have 6 to 18 plants there. Replant an inch apart. You wil have covered a good portion of your tank. They will fill in pretty fast, assuming you add fertilizers and proper light.