# Need help ID all plants in tank (individual pics)



## jfishy (Oct 2, 2013)

So I set up my tank for 2 1/2 months and put in plants about 1/2 month ago. All is good and many are growing, but I bought them all as "assorted plants" which is bad considering now I don't know how to truly take care of them, how to trim, and their growth potential (noob mistake). Well I need your help  I tried to take the best pics possible with my phone of each one. Trimming tips and size would be cool too. If it would get too big for my 10, scold at me aha, I need to learn  .
Specs of tank:
2 fluval plant nano led's
10 gallon tank
activ flora substrate 
diy co2 with diy diffuser
fish: 3 tetras 1 julie cory 1 otto
some ghost shrimp
seachem flourish and api root tabs
aquaclear 50

Since it is a ten gallon, any cool nice carpeting plants that wont grow too tall? but not too fast that its like java moss making a mess everywhere?


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## jfishy (Oct 2, 2013)

more


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## jfishy (Oct 2, 2013)

last one


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Most are quite common plants and are in this great tool on this site: Plantfinder 

Try to guess which is which and we'll help you with the ones you can't find


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## jfishy (Oct 2, 2013)

Yo-han said:


> Most are quite common plants and are in this great tool on this site: Plantfinder
> 
> Try to guess which is which and we'll help you with the ones you can't find


Aha thanks for the link 
So this is what i got so far:
1. Ceratophyllym demersum
2. some kind of Nymphaea? It looks close to the red but it isn't also
3. Ludwigia repens
4. Amannia praetermissa  aww it says it's difficult to keep. It's so nice looking with the red hue in the tank, I would hate for it to die on me.
5. Couldn't find it but some kind of Echinodorus
6. Hygrophyla difformis
7. Some kind of Cryptocoryne?
8. Cryptocoryne parva
9. Cardamine lyrata
10. Some Sagittaria?
11. Cryptocoryne Wendtii "red"

I'm pretty bummed about the Amannia Praetermissa. What can I do in the meantime to ensure its longest survival? Cause I don't think I have the strongest lights, best fert, or a good constant supply of co2. Should I prune it now to have the most stems and the bottoms won't die, or let it grow out so its leaves can be at the top?

How do I trim down the Nymphaea? or is it just a big plant? it is covering some light to the smaller plants below. same with the Echinodorus. Thanks


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I think that's _Ammannia gracilis_.

9 looks like _Clinopodium brownei_. Probably has a minty smell.


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## jfishy (Oct 2, 2013)

Cavan Allen said:


> I think that's _Ammannia gracilis_.
> 
> 9 looks like _Clinopodium brownei_. Probably has a minty smell.


Well if it is the gracilis, im pretty relieved that it isn't incredibly difficult to keep. 
and Ill see if i can sniff the brownei when I get home aha. Btw how do you guys memorize all of these names for them? Is it just acquired over time in the planted tank hobby?


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

jfishy said:


> 3. Ludwigia repens
> 4. Amannia praetermissa  aww it says it's difficult to keep. It's so nice looking with the red hue in the tank, I would hate for it to die on me.
> ...
> 10. Some Sagittaria?
> ...


If you have enough light, the Ludwigia repens will develop a reddish hue... give it some time to grow and see. The Ludwigia sp. 'Red' is also easy to grow and will give you a nice red color if you keep an eye open for it in the for sale / trade section...

As for the nymphaea, the trick with those plants is that they CONSTANTLY send up new leaves trying to find the surface of your tank. You have to be relentless and not allow any of the leaves to reach the surface, otherwise the plant will then try to send leaves ONLY to the surface, shading all of your other plants. To remove the leaves, just cut them at the base or pull them out. And if the plant gets too big in general (it can in soil substrates), just hack all of the leaves off and it will regrow from the bulb.

The echinodorus are pretty similar in regards to trimming. Just trim off some older leaves as they get ratty or just hack all of the leaves off if it gets too big...

To me, 10 looks more like a Blyxa (japanica) than a Sagitarria ... thoughts? Both are nice plants, though...


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## jfishy (Oct 2, 2013)

JeffyFunk said:


> If you have enough light, the Ludwigia repens will develop a reddish hue... give it some time to grow and see. The Ludwigia sp. 'Red' is also easy to grow and will give you a nice red color if you keep an eye open for it in the for sale / trade section...
> 
> As for the nymphaea, the trick with those plants is that they CONSTANTLY send up new leaves trying to find the surface of your tank. You have to be relentless and not allow any of the leaves to reach the surface, otherwise the plant will then try to send leaves ONLY to the surface, shading all of your other plants. To remove the leaves, just cut them at the base or pull them out. And if the plant gets too big in general (it can in soil substrates), just hack all of the leaves off and it will regrow from the bulb.
> 
> ...


Ah so that's what was going on. When I first got it, the leaves did have a red shade, but the newer stems that grew out came out green and I was so confused as to why. I assumed just the new leaves are like that, now I know how to get em red again.
Aha good thing you told me about the nymphaea cause it's sent some taller shoots today this morning aha. 
And looking at it I agree. The Sagitarria has some rounder leaves in comparison to the one I have. The Blyxa japonica looks more like it. 
Thanks so much btw.

Considering what I have, what lighting range are they considered? I see that some of the plants I have require "medium" lighting, are mine suffice? I mean like with that wpg rule, supposibly I have 1.6 wpg (8 watts per fixture) but since they are led's, I assume their output is more than to be using the wpg rule? it's these fellas:
http://usa.hagen.com/Aquatic/Lightin...Lighting/A3970 
I've called and they never have had any par ratings to give out


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

jfishy said:


> Ah so that's what was going on. When I first got it, the leaves did have a red shade, but the newer stems that grew out came out green and I was so confused as to why. I assumed just the new leaves are like that, now I know how to get em red again.


The color of the leaves is dependent upon how much light you have. If it lost it's color, it was probably grown in a tank that had more light than your tank does. I would give it time to grow and just be patient. If you let it grow to the surface where it is closer to the light, maybe it will color up for you again. I mentioned the Ludwigia sp 'Red' only because it is a very similar plant but seems to retain it's red color better in lower light tanks in case you are looking for a nice red colored plant that is (relatively) easy to grow.

I would say you have med-low to medium light. If you think you've purchased a plant that needs more light than you have, let a stem or two float on the surface where it will get more light and see if it does better than the planted stems.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Definitely looks like Blyxa japanica. It's hard to say how much light exactly since LEDs are fairly new to the hobby. We have people investigating it and collecting measurements.

That said I think you have medium light. Which is enough to grow most plants. I'm surprised you have the Ammannia gracilis growing well, that plant is rather picky in my experience.

We remember the names because we say them 100 times a day. Or type them 100x a day - if you ask us to actually say the names out loud you'll get 100 different pronunciations.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

jfishy said:


> Btw how do you guys memorize all of these names for them? Is it just acquired over time in the planted tank hobby?


Some of us acquired it over time. For some it's the result of lots o' edumacation (Cavan, for instance, works for some institution or other IDing plants). A handful of cases like myself just suck up random tidbits of information like deranged humanoid info sponges, and plant names are just another piece of trivia to add to the mental compendium of information 99.9% of the populace doesn't care about. :mrgreen:



Zapins said:


> if you ask us to actually say the names out loud you'll get 100 different pronunciations.


Speak for yourself, Michael-if I can't convince you to pronounce things like "zebra" and "garage" the American way; it's no shock we can't agree on how to pronounce plant names! :blabla::blabla::blabla:

However, I have heard it said by some aquarium hobby speaker or other that the only appropriate way to pronounce scientific names is "loudly and with authority" :biggrin:


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## secuono (Aug 1, 2010)

hornwort, red tiger lily, crypt, chainsword, wisteria, amazon sword?


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

jfishy said:


> Aha thanks for the link
> So this is what i got so far:
> 1. Ceratophyllym demersum
> 2. some kind of Nymphaea? It looks close to the red but it isn't also
> ...


Nice job! Cryptocorynes are almost impossible to ID and Echinodorus aren't easy either with all the hybrids. I don't think 8 is parva, parva is really really small, I think yours turns out to be C. x wilissii. The other crypts, no IDea.


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## jfishy (Oct 2, 2013)

aha thanks  Just that process of id ing really is getting me used to the more latin name.


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