Help Identify/ Distinguish these plants

[Tek]

Are these the same plants?

HW 1576576.jpgHW1356.jpg

The Former I bought as Hornwort, the latter I pulled up from a ditch. I was told the latter is Hornwort. which is which and could anyone tell me a little more about the latter.

It was growing 'rooted' in the soil (it has no roots btw) but I was told that hornwort does not do well rooted. This thing is growing rather well in the ditch although it is much much more pale green than my hornwort. Mine is dark green with reddish looking parts

I planted the ones I got from the creek in the substrate cause that is how I pulled it up. Should I keep it rooted or should I pull it up. I didn't see any roots but at least two inches of the thing was deep in sand.


My Cories live in them because I didn't get out all the bugs. Might go out collecting more.

Oh can anyone also identify the plant on the right next to the striped angel below:

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[armthehomeless]

The one on the left is hornwort. The one on the right could be hornwort that has grown under different conditions.

If I'm looking at the correct plant, it appear to be jungle valisneria (Valisneria gigantea).

Keep in my that these are only my opinions and I am not expert when it comes to plants.

[Tek]

Okay, the one on the left was sold as Hornwort so I guess it was labelled correctly. The one on the right I thought it was Hornwort when I pulled it up, but it looks so much different from the one I bought from the store. Thanks, they may be two slightly different varieties.

in the bottom picks I know the one on the left is Jungle Val (Thanks again Toten they are putting up so many babies) its the three little plants to the right that I can't identify. My friend calls them rice plants

[R_sustaita]

JJ think the last one is what tim believes it is. I have the same.

[mnemenoi]

Looks like Dwarf Sag, its a native around here and I spot it regularly

[Tek]

Looks like Dwarf Sag, its a native around here and I spot it regularly

+1 I think that is it.

I am gonna have to look for more. They look much better now than they do in the pic. Took a while to adjust to the aquarium.

Now that I know what it is I can look up how to care for it.

EDIT: That explains a lot. It says Sagittaria Subulata requires an iron rich substrate. No wonder it went yellow when I first put it in. Doing better not.

The Hornwort looking ones I got yesterday so they are still very pale.

does anyone have an opinion on whether they should be rooted or left to float?

[Fancyfish]

Hornwort should be floating. what it looks like really depends on how much light it gets. In my aquariums it tends to look like what you pulled from the ditch. In my pond it gets dark green and very dense.

[LooksLater]

I like hornwort vertically oriented, personally. I tie a few strands together and tuck the bottoms under a rock or in the substrate. They don't seem to mind, I have a few strands floating and they seem to grow at the same rate, either way.

[Tek]

Hornwort should be floating. what it looks like really depends on how much light it gets. In my aquariums it tends to look like what you pulled from the ditch. In my pond it gets dark green and very dense.

Oh cool. Might be the nutrients and light then. It must have been getting tons of nutrients in that ditch but not a whole lot of light. It is flourishing in that ditch. I may keep the ones that I planted planted and get more to float to see how they do.

Thanks so much for the input

I like hornwort vertically oriented, personally. I tie a few strands together and tuck the bottoms under a rock or in the substrate. They don't seem to mind, I have a few strands floating and they seem to grow at the same rate, either way.

Tying them down is an idea too. I may tie some to the drift wood in the tank, cause I don't really like how the store bought ones are drifting around and wrapping themselves randomly.

I have heard that Hornwort dies planted, but they seemed deeply planted in the ditch, so I dunno. We will see what happens. I just took two small tuffs so if they don't survive planted I guess it won't cause too much of a mess

[Totenkampf]

hornwart, val americana gigantea, and sag oh my! those are my guesses too. you can plant hornwort but the stem my rot where it meets the soil eventually. i just weigh / tuck them down if thats the look i want but you can also get that look from other true rooted stems like cabomba.

[Tek]

hornwart, val americana gigantea, and sag oh my! those are my guesses too. you can plant hornwort but the stem my rot where it meets the soil eventually. i just weigh / tuck them down if thats the look i want but you can also get that look from other true rooted stems like cabomba.

Thanks. The Vals took a hit when I first planted them, but they came back nicely after a few days. One plant has about 9 plantlets and I think it would have had more if it didn't run into glass on two sides and a rock on a third. I guess that leaves her with one more side. I am gonna pull up the anacharis to give the vals the entire back of the tank to grow. Thanks so much for the Vals, they are some healthy growers.

My Amazon sword finally put out a runner. It has 4 babies on there. It is odd. The Swords I have had in the past had vertically growing runners and the plantlets would float. This runner is growing along the substrate and the plantlets are rooting naturally. Unfortunately they are on a collision course with the Vals so I need to do a little planning.

The Hornwort and the sag are kind of isolated so they won't be bothering anything soon.

Oh and I forgot. a tiny ball of Java moss (less than 1/4 inch) hitched a ride with the Vals. It set up shop in the corner and that too doing nicely. Its about an inch now

[Totenkampf]

lol yes i have had both java and peacock moss in that tank. u never get rid of them completely.

[Tek]

lol yes i have had both java and peacock moss in that tank. u never get rid of them completely.

Oh, well I have not had a good look at the moss to tell what it is. Just left it to do its business. Its growing at the back behind the vals. From a quick glance it looks like Java moss because the fronds are not as fancy as that of peacock moss.

And Yes they never really die. I have had rock with Java Moss removed from the tank for months and when I throw them back in they grow right back up again. anyway, I don't have a problem with it. I want it to grow, that is why I left it alone.

Talking about hitch hikers. Two Rams horn snails hitched a ride with the sag. Its been about 2 months now and its still just the two. They have not yet been seen on the plants, but keep going round the rocks, glass and driftwood. Should I get rid of them in case they do get out of hand or should I let them be. The rainbows and Angels are always trying to eat them but have not been successful.