# Need help identifying non aquatic plants



## budoreo (Feb 26, 2014)

Hello, 

I am new to a planted aquarium, I just recently added plants a few days ago that i got from Petsmart. I was told that these are all aquatic plants and will work fine. I found out yesterday that they may be non aquatic. i was just wondering if i can get a second opinion and if so which ones are not and how many? i called petsmart when i found out and they said that all the plants in the tank are aquatic and the non ones are in a seperate area and tank of there own.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

You've definitely got some non-aquatics in there, I'm sorry to say. Petsmart is lying to you or the staff is just really uneducated.

On the far left is mondo grass, _Ophiopogon japonicus_, which is a lovely border/carpet plant in terrestrial gardens, but isn't aquatic at all.

Third in from the left in the front is "lucky bamboo," _Dracaena sp._, also not aquatic.

On the far left looks like a hedge plant,_ Alternanthera ficoidea_, another terrestrial.

In the background, the things with the green and white leaves are sandy plants, another _Dracaena_ species, and still not aquatic.

It also looks like there are a couple of _Spathiphyllum_ in the background-they're sold as "Brazilian sword plants" but they're not at all related and are bog plants not submersible aquatics.

It's hard for me to ID the front center plants-any chance of a closer photo? At a guess it looks like they include a Java fern and an Aponogeton, both aquatic, but it's really hard to say for sure.


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## budoreo (Feb 26, 2014)

I will take some more pictures tonight and post them. Thank you so much for your help.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Yes, more non aquatic plants than aquatic. But the staff probably doesn't know any better. They are just on the list with aquatic plants. How could they know?


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## budoreo (Feb 26, 2014)

Here is the pictures of my fish tank close up with the images. I am assumming that most of the plants in the back are non aquatic based on the white and green leaves, and the ability to stand on its own. Let me know what you think of the plants, which are aquatic and non. and what image your refering to as well


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Actually, I think all the plants in the back are non-aquatic—the ones that aren't sandy plants (green and white) are Spathiphyllum.

You do have a few aquatics in the front—the Echinodorus (sword plants—the light green, broad, lanceolate leaves in the front), a Java fern, a Cryptocoryne, and the red plant in the second photo looks like an Ammannia, which is a far more difficult plant than the others, but it is aquatic. Also, you'll want to take the Java fern out of the substrate, that species won't thrive with its rhizomes buried. Tie it to a rock or some other piece of decor, it'll attach after a little while.


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

I have seen such non-aquatic plants listed in an online shop with a note how long you can expect them to survive under water. I realy like this aproach: it leaves buyers the coise and at the same time doesn't pretend that they can grow indefinately under water. After all, who is to judge that it is wrong to put a terrestrial plant under water for a while while we all have cut flowers for an even shorter timespan in a vase? 

At the same time I disagree with selling them as aquatics: this is misleading customers, regardless if a nursery, a wholesaler or a retail shop is to blame. It is a shame that even some otherwise very good books on aquarium plants have to deal with this in order to inform aquarists.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

I totally agree with illustrator. I work at an lfs and always tell people that the terrestrial plants won't survive for long submersed. But they are ideal for people with goldfish or plant eating cichlids. They stay alive longer than most other plants. And people can use them just like flowers in a vase, for a few months, than you need to buy new ones. But over here in the Netherlands, only a few nurseries have them on a seperate list, most nurseries don't, so the not so knowledgeable shops order them thinking they are aquatic. 

Why would they think otherwise, those plants stay alive in their shops (nutrient deprived water) longer than most aquatic plants we classify as difficult.


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