# Acuatic Plants for Dummies



## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Hi!!!

As you can see i'm new to this site, forum, and a new born acuatic plant lover.

So far... i don't understand a thing  all thos abreviations and cientific names, also english is not my native language so add that to it!  

Any way couls anyone of you can give me a quick list maybe a site with photos where i can look at the plants and see which i can add and mantain in my 60G tank?

I'm decided to get rid of all plastic plants and replace them with live ones since they RULE! so far i have a couple of crypts (took me an hour to find the name and a photo to know what kind of plant it was! Duh!), that are growing like crazy and i just love them!

Thanks in advance! congrats on the site and forums, i hope i learn fast and soon post a pic!


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## shannon (Jan 30, 2004)

*aquatic plants for dummies*

Hi Falstaf and welcome  
Don't feel bad, we've all been where you are now..The Honeymoon :wink: A few of my favorite low tech (and low light tolerant as well), in thier common names are Java moss, Java fern and many of the anubias as well as many of the cryps as you've discovered..Good luck with your new love. Oh...Moss balls (or Marimo balls) are great too!!
Shannon


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Falstaf,

Bienvenido (welcome) a APC y el mundo de las plantas acuaticas (and the world of aquatic plants)!

Please look at our Album to see plants that you may include in your aquarium. We will soon have a plant database that you will be able to search. In the meantime, can you tell us more about your aquarium?

Saludos,


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Yes lets hear about that aquarium. Got any pics?


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Hi!!! thanks for the warm welcome! 

Sorry for all the typos! it was late i promise to pay more attention.

Ok here are some crummy photos (web cam) but they might give you an idea, i've marked the live plants i now have, the rest are silk or plastic.

The tank is 40x24x24 inches it holds 60G
The light is a 120V fluorecent light
The substrate is white marble gravel
PH is 7.8 constant
Temp: 82F
Fish in the tank:
3 Angels
5 betas (2M 3F)
8 Loaches (Yo-Yo, clown, Blue/ red tail, weather and hillbilly)
2 dworf gurami
4 mollies
3 Plecos (common, albino and lepard)
5 guppies
18 Neon tetras
4 goldfish (moore, lionhead, pearlscale)

Thanks for all your help you gys are great!

GRACIAS!


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Hi Falstaf,

How many Watts of lighting to do have?

Do you know the hardness of your water? The KH (carbonate hardness) and the GH (general hardness)?

Regards,
Steve Pituch


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Looks good. You might want to think about changing the substrate to something that would be beneficial to the plants, like flourite or laterite. It made a huge difference for me.


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Hey!

Hmmmmm i don't know the hardness, the only thing i test for is PH and that's 7.5

And it's a 40W / 127V


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Falstaf,

You should shoot for 2 watts per gallon for a low light setup. You only have .67 Watts per gallon. If you want to try co2 injection & nutrient addition (more of a hi-tech method), considering the height of your tank, you should try for 3 watts per gallon.

I would first try the low light approach. You've got to add at least one more 40 Watt bulb for a total of 80 Watts. I would try Java fern, various Anubias, and Crypts, because of your low light, as these plants generally tolerate low light pretty well, and are generally universally available.

Regards,

Steve Pituch


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Falstaf,

Do you use good old Mexico tap? Are you in the D.F.? You may want to call you water company to see if they can tell you what's in it. Use that as your starting point.

Also, I would second Spituch's recommendations on lighting and plant choices. Therefore, you need to focus on feeding the plants so they can grow.

Get yourself a good combination fertilizer like Flourish or Tropica's MasterGrow and follow the directions.


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

hey Steve!

Thanks i'll add another bulb this weekend so it can go up to 80W. I just went to my aquarium store and i got some new plants i watched the tanks that they where in so i could more less match what i have and i got the ones that were in darker tanks i hope they grow fast, tank looks amazing!

I also visited your home page and looked at UNIDENTIFIED PLANTS section, i know i'm no expert here but the Unidentified Plant #3, and your description of it and the place you found it, i think is a very common plant here that we all use for decoration, it lives both in soil and just in water, the common name for it here is "bad Mother", that is because when it flowers, from the vine that the flowers grow a new plant is born and it grows in the the vine till it falls away from the mother plant and starts growing there. For what i've found so far on them (no scientific name yet), on a gardening book, they are from the family of orchids, but let me found some more and i'll let you know.

thanks and best regards!
F.


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Hi Art!!

Thanks for the tip, yes i'm in D.F. and i called earlier today and they use chlorine to treat water specially in spring. So i treat the water of my tank with Neutra-Stress that gets rid of chlorine and cloramine and also some heavy metals (¿?) as it says in the label.

And let me tell you this, i just learned that all aquatic plants sold here in aquarium stores are imported!!! :shock: I didn't knew that! So if anyone of you what to do a good business just put an aquatic green house here in the city! :idea:


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Hi again, am i an acuatic pest yet???

I just went through the whole site and... WOW!!

I was wondering which plant are in the February 2004 Tank of the Month, the ones that are at the bottom?? they are awsome


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Falstaf,

Your pic didn't make to the post. 

As for the plants in the February Tank of the month, go to the Tank of the Month Forum and ask ekim.


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## IUnknown (Feb 24, 2004)

Yo necisita praticar mi espanol, entonces, bienvinidos!
Check out,
http://www.brainyday.com/jared/aquarium/info.htm


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## IUnknown (Feb 24, 2004)

Also check out,
http://www.iespell.com/
very easy utility to spellcheck things fast on your post. I need to find this in spanish.


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## Corigan (Mar 15, 2004)

IUnknown said:


> Also check out,
> http://www.iespell.com/
> very easy utility to spellcheck things fast on your post. I need to find this in spanish.


I wish I could find one of these for mozilla.

Matt


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Gracias IUnknown!

Hasta ahora así luce la pecera

So far this is how the fish tank looks, i know i need to acuascape, but for now i'm just focusing in plant growth and food.
(i cant post another photo, let me try a link)

http://www.snapfish.com/viewsharedphoto/p=526231080063171245/l=25089259

I also have a question, i read that in order to have moss or algae covered rocks it was a good idea to put the rocks in a glass container submerged in water and leave it in direct sunlight. Is this a good idea introducing algae to the tank?


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I would definately not try to introduce any algae into the tank.


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

You usually don't want to introduce algae covered rocks into the tank. However, you can buy java moss (musgo de Java) and tie that to rocks with fishing line (hilo de pescar). That is very different.

Looking at your tank, the gravel sure does seem very large! It almost looks like dolomite... hopefully, it isn't. 

How big is your gravel? Que tamano tiene las piedritas blancas del fondo?

Carlos


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

thanks Sir and Tsunami,

Yes my gravel is very big it's all white marvel chips and as the tank was originally for fish only i considered it to be a good option for substrate (easy to clean and vacuum), but i'm now considering changing the substrate, today i went to a "professional" aquarium store and looked at some planted exhibition tanks, and ask questions like crazy, so i did looked to some new substrate, one that looks like clay pellets, i just forgot the brand!!, well maybe i can use it in most of the tank and still keep the white marble just a decoration (even if all my friends say it looks like a 70's ashtray! :evil: ).

I just got some Java moss it was SO EXPENSIVE! but well i planted half in the tank with fishing line as you said and the rest of it i put in the sun light and in a jar filled with water and plant food for it to grow up fast. i swear that if i can grow it i would make a good buck out of it!!

Thanks again for all your advice i really truly appreciate it, also the effort on translating, you guys are the best!!


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

I'm not sure, since its been a long time, but isn't marble metamorphic limestone? Wouldn't it still leach out calcium and increase hardness? I would definitely replace it.

Steve


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Hi again,

I just got a Tetratest Laborett, and did all the test this are the results:

PH 8.0
NH3/NH4+ (Ammonia) 0.25 mg/l
NO2-(Nitrite) 0.3 mg/l
GH 5
KH 4
CO2 1.3

For what i've read i have to do a water change for the ammonia (which i do every 3 days, today is the day i'm supossed to do it), but other than that, it all seems fine, at least acording to the leaflet.

What is off the chart is the CO2, which i guess it's good for the plants?


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Folks,

Please note that you have a spell check button on the left when you are writing a post. Please feel free to use it, it works great.

Falstaf,

It seems as if your tank has not cycled yet. You don't want to see ammonia or nitrite. What filter are you using?


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Hi Art!

I swear i use it every time, and also do a spell check on my entourage before posting, sorry about the misspelled words.

As for filtering I have a 150 l/h canister filter with mesh and carbon. I also have a submerged 150 power head with 4 chambers attached (2 mesh, 1 carbon, 1 Zeolite)


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I would lose the carbon filters. They are not good to use in planted tanks because they can supposedly affect plant nutrients in the water.


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Thanks Sir,

I'm trying to find a balance through it all, my overstocked tank and the plants, so far i'm gonna do this based an all the kind people who have answered this post.

1. I'm going to change the gravel for a special substrate, i was also thinking unscented cat litter (clay one) since is inexpensive and easy to find, i've been checking stores and they don't carry the special substrate, and the one that does sells it for $50US the 5Kg. bag.

2. This weekend my lamp is going back to the shop and it will have up to 3 40W tubes, that should take care of the lighting problem for the moment.

3. I'm getting a BioWheel filter so i can get rid of the carbon.

4. I'm going to hunt for low light plants! i would prefer to start with those and see how it goes (i tend to jump the beginnings, that's how the tank got overstocked).

5. I'll continue pestering you guys for answers in case something starts to go wrong! (sorry  )

Any comments or suggestions?


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I would go with laterite instead of cat litter. I would go with laterite. You can get a box from bigalsonline.com for less than 15 dollars. You mix laterite and plain gravel to form a one inch layer, then cap that off with about two inches of regular gravel. Its cheap and it works.


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

I just checked, they don't ship to Mexico and if they do, the cost of the shipment will be more than the price of the product.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Try looking around on the web...there has got to be a place that will ship to mexico.....


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## bobo (Jan 21, 2004)

Falstaff,

One possible substitute for the kitty litter that is a bit more stable and less likey to go all mushy and soft after a few weeks in water would be the "Oil Dry" type clay granules one can find in most Auto Supply stores. It's used to soak up petroleum product spills, like gas and oil. Almost all gas stations and garages would have some on hand and could probably tell you where to get more. 

It's dirt cheap-- here in the USA a 50lb bag is $5.00 so I'll bet in Mexico it's like $1.00. It works and I'm sure you can find some.
.
It does tend to be a bit light in weight, making the initial planting of some species a chore but you could always use it to "bulk out" whatever else you find in the way of substrates there.

In any case I'd lose those marble chips like veryone is advising.

Now you will have a good amount of light with your upgrade and can consider more light hungry plants if you can find them. Mexico City is at a fairly high elevation and not exactly tropical -- but I'll bet you could find a lot of plants growing in canals, irrigation ditches, lakes, etc. Doesn't Mexico City have a big lake with lots of canals and floating islands or was that back in the time of the Aztecs? Whatever. Just look wherever you might find shallow water and any plant growing there is a potential candidate for your aquarium.

Good Luck!

Bobo


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## Falstaf (Mar 22, 2004)

Hi Bobo!!

Thanks a lot for the tip, i'll go check tomorrow on auto workshops around (those we have plenty and i'm sure i can find it!

And well the place you mention here in Mexico City is called Xochimilco (awesome place BTW), well today i went there i was most impress to hear in all aquariums that aquatic plants where all imported, it just didn't made any sense since we have such prolific lands.

Well i can happily inform you that there are THOUSANDS of aquatic plants there, and as you mention it is a lake with lots of canals and Chinampas (floating islands), where people grow mostly flowers, vegetables and of course corn. It wasn;t easy finding then though, not many people buy them, but i found this guy that he only grows aquatic plants, he has his own canals where he grows national and imported plants, and he also gives amazing prices!

Of course i was like a kid on a candy store, he has this beautiful tanks to display all his varieties and then you can go back and pick them up yourself (not a nice thing to put your hand in the canal though eewww LOL). Anyway it was a lot of fun, and i spent hours there and got:

2 Trichomanes Javanicum "Aqua Fern"
1 Little pot of Hydrocotyle Verticillata (notice how i'm starting to use scientific terms?!?! :lol: 
1 Moss Ball
2 Peat balls (one for my filter to lower the PH as suggested)
2 Amazonian
1 Daisy (_Margarita_ that's what he called it, and says it's a native plant, looks like a little tree sprout)
1 Cabomba (it was a left over that nobody wanted so i brought it home hoping she will come to life with few care and love)

I'm so excited and it took me like 2 hours to plant them all and give them their right space in the tank, i think it will look awesome once they start growing!.

Thanks a lot everyone i'll keep nagging you and reporting my progress.

PS. Now i want another big tank :roll:


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