# wanted - plant selection for startup tank



## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

i have all my materials ready - 55 gallon tank - 110 watts light - soil substrate - existing gravel from established tank - so..... - i need some one to sell me a nice startup selection of plants - i imagine you guys produce an excess with some of the photos i have been seeing - hahahahahahaahahha - have mercy on this poor noob - hahahahahaahahaah


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## colinsk (Dec 29, 2008)

When I chose my plants I looked for plants that would tie the soil to the air with strong root structures. I have purchased most of my plants from freshwateraquariumplants.com. I have been very happy with the selection and quality. I really like the dwarf lilly, water sprite, fox tail and Cryptocoryne Wendtii De Witt (Red). I would like to get some hornwort at some point but I have not picked it up yet.


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## 1aqumfish (Jul 28, 2008)

Look for a local club. I just went to the SCAPE meeting and the plants at the auction were so assume you could not believe the quality variety amount and price. Also grown in the local water with the info on the care for them. So you could avoid the high light, high tech plants that wont work in the tank you describe and focus on the ones that will do good in your set-up.

Tony


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

I've also obtained plants from freshwateraquariumplants.com and I've been happy with the selection. My favorite plants though I've gotten from azgardens.com. I like their Asian habitat package as it contains a nice variety of crypts which I find do awesomely well in NPTs. 

-ricardo


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

i want something rooted that grows aggressively and spreads as a ground cover - any ideas ?


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

My dwarf hairgrass is doing really well, and grows quickly. I also like E. tenellus, but haven't been able to get it to grow well in my tanks. Could be because of the super hard water I have. You could also try dwarf saggitaria.

-ricardo


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

surpera1 said:


> i want something rooted that grows aggressively and spreads as a ground cover - any ideas ?


You need to try several different plant species. Don't put your eggs all in one basket!


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

ahhhh - there you are - love your book BTW - but my plants look like crap right now - they are pearling a lot and bubbling - i dunno - its depressing with this plant thing - i must be a complete idiot is all i can figure - course the soil substrate has only been down since thursday - theirs something going on with it though - its putting off fairly large gas bubbles here and there - i'm thinking i might make a diy co2 setup and add that - i see all these awesome photos - and then i look at my plants - sigh......


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

surpera1 said:


> ahhhh - there you are - love your book BTW - but my plants look like crap right now - they are pearling a lot and bubbling - i dunno - its depressing with this plant thing - i must be a complete idiot is all i can figure - course the soil substrate has only been down since thursday - theirs something going on with it though - its putting off fairly large gas bubbles here and there - i'm thinking i might make a diy co2 setup and add that - i see all these awesome photos - and then i look at my plants - sigh......


Patience is part of the game. Gas bubbles are fine, since most of it is CO2 that plants love. Give the plants time to sort it all out.

Three months into the future, you can give us your final verdict.


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

patience grasshopper - hahahahahahahaah - while i have an expert on hand - maybe you can explain something to me - many years ago - i had an absolute explosion of growth with java fern - it can grow very fast if the conditions are right - i have never been able to repeat that since - but the pearling is a good sign i know


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## drtechno (Mar 31, 2009)

well, there is alot of things that should be in mind when you setup the tank.

things to ask yourself:

what region of the world I am trying to recreate in a tank?

what plants grow in that area?

what is soil like in that area?

whats the water like?

what fish live in that water?

now recreate it...


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

thanks - but i'm not to the point of being artistic yet - i just want some success with growing something well.....i wish i could do some of the stuff i have seen


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

surpera1 said:


> maybe you can explain something to me - many years ago - i had an absolute explosion of growth with java fern - it can grow very fast if the conditions are right - i have never been able to repeat that since -


Me, too. I had a tank with low-moderate light. The only plants were various Java ferns attached to lava rocks. There were lots of fish in the tank, which brought the pH down to around 6. The Java fern grew like crazy.


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

ok - whole story - this was over 20 years ago - i have a 40 gallon long tank - an old dynaflow HOB way undersize filter - the kind that used siphon tubes where you had to add the floss and a bag of carbon to the sump - a totally nondescript 40 watt light fixture - i dont even think it was a grow bulb in there - had it set up for a while with a smallmouth bass minnow i caught - named him jaws - used to keep a 10 gallon tank going with shiners to feed him - one day a friend gave me some water sprite - ok - threw it in there - it went absolutely wild - grew like crazy - i was throwing away double handfulls every week just to clear the top of the tank - it was the wide leafed variety - then i got a piece of java fern - and it just sat there and did nothing - bass got too big - released him - started trying angelfish - well they all died but one - i moved - drained th tank low as i could and moved - refilled it - all the water sprite died - java fern took off - and i mean it grew FAST - top to bottom and back to front - out of the water and hit the glass on top - i couldnt see out the back of the tank - and this all with fine plain gravel substrate , no soil or other additives , no ferts , no special light , no added Co2- and no knowledge of what i was doing - and now - i know all kinds of things - and i cant seem to grow anything - hahahaahaahahah - so - i know for a fact that low tech can work and work tremendously well - i'm just discouraged right now


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## Morbida (Aug 15, 2005)

I dont think drtechno wasnt saying to be artistic. I believe he was encouraging to duplicate , to the best of your ability, certain environments in nature to have a sucessful tank. Not nessicarly the over all look. The look can come after.


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## JugBandBanjoCat (Apr 26, 2006)

I can relate to some of your frustrations. I started with a low light tank so I looked around for low light plants. Just bought any that I though looked interesting. If it grew I kept it, if not I looked for something else. One of the first plants I picked up was a java fern. Supposedly one of the easiest plants to grow. I killed it real quick. I have a small amount growing in a tank now but it is still a plant that I can't seem to grow very well. It grows slow and doesn't get very big for me. I have Bolbitis Heudotii in the same tank and you can just about watch it grow. Have you tested your kh and gh? That will give you another idea for what plants will do well in your water.

I just did a trim in my low light tank and I have a lot of little pieces left. I'm not looking to sell these, but if you're interested and willing to pay for shipping I'll send some your way. There are crypts, ferns, several different anubias...um...who knows what else.

Here's a pic of the anubias that was in my low light tank. I thought it looked pretty good so I took a picture while I had it out of the tank.


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

ok - i can pay shipping - email me - [email protected]
yeah - java fern can do things that the book never mentions - it can get huge and it can grow fast - it just seems to be more of an art than a science - i have no problems with terrestrial plants


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

my water from the tap
GH 6
KH 2
PH 7.8 or higher cant tell

i adjusted it up a bit per the dosing regimen i found here with calcium chloride , mag sulfate and baking soda to
GH 30
KH 24
PH 7.8 looks the same

dont know if that was the right thing to do or not - but a simple water change can bring it back down if needed

i'm thinking i might build me a DIY co2 for it - sounds like a fun project - and cheap too - hahahahaahah - right now my water is unfiltered - but i have a NIB eheim in the closet - might hook it up today


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## JugBandBanjoCat (Apr 26, 2006)

I like your tap water numbers before you changed it. The gh is o.k. where it is. When you add co2 the ph will shift towards the 7-6.8 range. You will need to add a little baking soda to for a buffer (this will change your kh). You will want to shoot for a kh around 4-6. The kh will slowly move back towards 2 the closer you get to doing a water change.

I use this calculator all the time to check how much baking soda to add.

http://www.dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/calKH.asp

Here is another page that gives good info and has a calculator for your ph, kh, co2.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

GH 6 = soft-medium
KH 2 = soft (not much buffer here, if it dips your ph will quickly shift = dead fish)
PH 7.8 = alkaline, if you shoot for a ph of 7 you will be nutral = greater range of fish and plant options.



surpera1 said:


> my water from the tap
> GH 6
> KH 2
> PH 7.8 or higher cant tell
> ...


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

ok - its real easy to bring it back down with a water change - i'll do what you suggest


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## JugBandBanjoCat (Apr 26, 2006)

I have a priority mail box that I can put a bunch of clippings into. How does $5 sound? Shouldn't be more than that to ship it to you. Here is a list of the plants that I trimmed on Monday.


Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite'
Anubias barteri var. nana
Anubias barteri var. barteri
Anubias barteri 'Coffeefolia'
Bolbitis heudelotii
Cryptocoryne x willisii 'lucens'
Cryptocoryne (a few others, not sure what they are)
Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica'

I'll put some of these clippings in there too:

Blyxa japonica
Limnophila aromatica


I'll look in my other tanks and what else I can put in the box too and label the plants.

Sound good?


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

sounds AWESOME!!!!! - heres my names and address - how do i pay you ?

james burnett
7683 fresh water drive
spanish fort AL 36527
[email protected]


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## JugBandBanjoCat (Apr 26, 2006)

pm sent.

I'll start getting the package together and will post a pic of what I'm sending you. I can get it out today so you should have it by Saturday.


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

thanks - youre awesome!


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## JugBandBanjoCat (Apr 26, 2006)

surpera1 said:


> thanks - youre awesome!


O.K. here's what I came up with:

Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite'
Anubias barteri var. nana
Anubias barteri 'Coffeefolia'
Blyxa japonica
Bolbitis heudelotii
Cardamine lyrata
Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae
Cryptocoryne x willisii 'lucens'
Cryptocoryne (a few others, not sure what they are)
Cryptocoryne Wendtii var 'Tropica' (small piece from one I got from Tex Gal)
Echinodorus 'Oriental' (my favorite sword)
Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica' (nice sword, stays small)
Limnophila aromatica
Ludwigia repens
Najas guadalupensis
Riccia fluitans (small amount, found a piece in a fish bag so I started growing it)
Salvinia minima (nice floater, not a pain like duckweed)
Shinnersia rivularis

When I first started I had a guy send me some plants and all he asked was I pay for shipping and someday give some plants to a newbie. Pretty cool huh? 

I'm heading out to ship it now. Let me know if you have any questions about these plants.


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

allright - out of all that something should like the conditions i can provide


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