# Tell me what I bought



## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

we wanted to add some plants to our 3 gal tank. We have black sand substrate. the Pet store had what they called assorted bunches for 2 bucks they were of no help identifying any of the plants I bought two bunches one of which I think I know what it is but im not certain. The other I have no clue but it had beautiful color so I thought why not its just 2 bucks. I also got a small pot of dwarf hair grass but I knew what that was. I took this picture of them tonight in our quarantine tank. How long should I quarantine them for. They will go in a tank with a betta. what do i do if it has snails. Are they floating plants or do they need to be planted in substrate. How fast do they grow how to they multiply what do I do with cuttings or trimming of them how do i trim them. How about fertilizers we did not get any today but I can get some at the small pet store in town. Care advice is welcome we are first timers. they seemed like nice healthy bunches to me I hope they do well. 









thanks julie


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

The purple ones are Purple Waffles. They are non-aquatic plants, unfortunately.

The yellow ones, I have no idea. They seem to release a lot of yellow seeds in the water. Do I see correctly?

I usually don't quarantine plants unless they are originated from the wild.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> The purple ones are Purple Waffles. They are non-aquatic plants, unfortunately.
> 
> The yellow ones, I have no idea. They seem to release a lot of yellow seeds in the water. Do I see correctly?
> 
> I usually don't quarantine plants unless they are originated from the wild.


 Why do places put non aquatic plants in tanks and tell you they are. grrr. The leaves are green on top and purple on the under side I thought it might be Cardinal Plant or lobelia cardinalis.

The yellow ones are actually a light green color and its not seeds your seeing its air bubbles they started forming in the tank about 20 min after I put the plants in. I thought it might be Hornwort but i am new to this and identifying them is harder than I thought.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

hotrodprincess said:


> Why do places put non aquatic plants in tanks and tell you they are. grrr.


It seems that often also the sellers don't know it better. In the shops, under bad conditions, these plants are often more durable than the true water plants, look striking, and are bought by the customers...


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Hmm...can't see clearly whether it's cabomba, elodea or hornwort. Maybe you can take a close-up photo after the bubbles are gone...to speed up, maybe you can add anti-chlorine. I suspect the bubbles are chlorine. Well, they're probably gone by the time you see this post 

Well, every newbie in planted tank always falls into the non-aquatic plants trap including myself. It's best to find out on the web before you purchase any plants. I know it is not easy to search without knowing the names...and you cannot search by images  Maybe it's easier for you to identify common non-aquatic plants sold in LFS. Another common non-aquatic plants sold in LFS is mondo grass. There is a long list actually. Try to google for non-aquatic plants sold in LFS. Some of these plants are used for ponds..planted next to the ponds..not inside the water.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> Hmm...can't see clearly whether it's cabomba, elodea or hornwort. Maybe you can take a close-up photo after the bubbles are gone...to speed up, maybe you can add anti-chlorine. I suspect the bubbles are chlorine. Well, they're probably gone by the time you see this post
> 
> Well, every newbie in planted tank always falls into the non-aquatic plants trap including myself. It's best to find out on the web before you purchase any plants. I know it is not easy to search without knowing the names...and you cannot search by images  Maybe it's easier for you to identify common non-aquatic plants sold in LFS. Another common non-aquatic plants sold in LFS is mondo grass. There is a long list actually. Try to google for non-aquatic plants sold in LFS. Some of these plants are used for ponds..planted next to the ponds..not inside the water.


Thee tank still has tones of bubbles in it. Its not chlorine because we dont have chlorine in our water. So what to I do with the other plant. I cant take it back it would cost me more in gas than its worth but now my tank is going to be rather empty. I noticed a couple baby baby snails this morning. I took them out but how do I know if I got them all one in our tank would be ok but I dont want them breeding in there I hate tossing them out


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

To be honest with you, I am unfamiliar with purple waffles. I think it will stay alive for a while in the water, if you want to have them in your tank. If not, you can try to grow them in your garden. I cannot guarantee whether they will stay alive or not with the weather of your region. I have seen them in my former office's garden (I hope I recognised the correct plants) but I live in a tropical country. Maybe someone else can provide a better advice.

You won't know whether you have removed the snails completely or not. There may be some eggs attached to the plants. As long as you can find snails, you're likely to be able to find more in the future. As long as you keep the population of snails low, it's ok. There are a few species of fishes that will get rid of snails - clown loach, Botia sidthimunki (dwarf loach) and puffer. Clown loach will grow too big. Botia sidthimunki (I call them Botia "Sick Monkey" haha) are good but quite expensive. Puffers are generally too big and aggressive + require brackish water. Mini puffer - depend on your luck...some are aggressive. Another good option is by using assassin snails.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> To be honest with you, I am unfamiliar with purple waffles. I think it will stay alive for a while in the water, if you want to have them in your tank. If not, you can try to grow them in your garden. I cannot guarantee whether they will stay alive or not with the weather of your region. I have seen them in my former office's garden (I hope I recognised the correct plants) but I live in a tropical country. Maybe someone else can provide a better advice.
> 
> You won't know whether you have removed the snails completely or not. There may be some eggs attached to the plants. As long as you can find snails, you're likely to be able to find more in the future. As long as you keep the population of snails low, it's ok. There are a few species of fishes that will get rid of snails - clown loach, Botia sidthimunki (dwarf loach) and puffer. Clown loach will grow too big. Botia sidthimunki (I call them Botia "Sick Monkey" haha) are good but quite expensive. Puffers are generally too big and aggressive + require brackish water. Mini puffer - depend on your luck...some are aggressive. Another good option is by using assassin snails.


thank you for the information. I heard bettas will eat small snails and they will be going into a betta tank so I hope he will eat any remaining snails. My sister has has a tank for several years and said to dip them in some water and aquarium salt and it would usually get rid of most of the snails and eggs. So I did that today and well watch them and see if we find any more over the next week. I have read in several places that the purple waffles some times do well in aquariums and several people have had them last a year or two so we are going to give it a try we have nothing to lose with it. any tips on the dwarf hair grass.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Yes, the purple waffles may last for quite long. I have no idea how long as I ban this plant since day one. 

Hair grass - which type of hair grass do you have? Japanese hairgrass (the one with leaves curl downwards) or common hair grass (the leaves face upwards...spiky)? Japanese hair grass grew too slow in my tank and trapped a lot of algae and debris. I gave up on them. I have not tried the common hair grass although I have emersed ones. Not the easier carpet plants in my personal opinion. The fast growing easiest carpet plant is Helanthium tenellum/Echinodorus tenellus but some people consider them as weeds.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

I have the spikey hair grass


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

What type of substrate do you use? I failed to keep Japanese hair grass using top soil (or is it clay loam? I forgot) + Holland sand.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

I just have regular aquarium sand I plan on giving it some of those root tablets for fertalizer.i hope it works


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

What root tabs are you planning to use? You can try. Don't forget to update the outcome. :wink:

Good luck.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> What root tabs are you planning to use? You can try. Don't forget to update the outcome. :wink:
> 
> Good luck.


I am not sure what type of root tabs are available at our local pet/fish store. I have never used them so if someone has a recommendation that they have had success with in the past i would love to hear it.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

hotrodprincess said:


> I thought it might be Hornwort but i am new to this and identifying them is harder than I thought.


Surely the ID wouldn't be difficult by closeup photos. It looks to me like something common, probably Egeria najas or E. densa (see APC Plantfinder).


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

miremonster said:


> Surely the ID wouldn't be difficult by closeup photos. It looks to me like something common, probably Egeria najas or E. densa (see APC Plantfinder).


I got some better photos today so may be that will help with Id in them thanks for all the help everyone


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

OK, IMO it's Egeria najas: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/details.php?id=126 It's similar to Egeria densa but has narrower leaves with conspicuous teeth. Hydrilla verticillata has similar leaves but its internodes (stem parts between the leaves) of older stems are mostly longer than the leaves. In E. najas and E. densa shorter than the leaves.

I agree with totziens, the other plant is Purple Waffle, some variant of Hemigraphis (colorata?), a tropical ornamental. I also have only the info that it isn't suitable for tanks, but it may also be good to document what happens with a terrestrial plant like this when drowned.
Favorable conditions for aquatics - much light, CO2, O2, good current, nutrient supply - surely prolong the survival of terrestrial plants under water, too. And there's no clear boundary between aquatic and non-aquatic. But I'd say, a plant is suitable for tanks if it really increases in living biomass underwater, even if it does it very slowly.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

thank you for the information we are going to put some of the purple waffle in and see what it does may be it will survive Some of what was in the tank at the store looked like it was forming roots. time will tell I guess. at least I know the dwarf hair grass is ok for the tank.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Yeah, should be Egeria najas - the Egeria I have never seen in real life. It looks different from Egeria densa although similar - my goodness, this sentence sounds like the Indo-China English, "Same Same But Different" hahaha...

Yes, maybe hotrodprincess can be the person to document down the outcome of keeping Purple Waffle under the water. Information like the following would be interesting: 

1. how long it could last under the water?
2. Will it rot?
3. Amount of lighting?
4. CO2 or without?
5. Type of substrate
etc

I have bought 2 types of non-aquatic plants in the past when I was new to planted tank. One of them was mondo grass. It didn't rot for several weeks but I removed it upon realising that it's non-aquatic. So, I didn't get to see the result of keeping it under the water for a long time. I gave it to my mother-in-law but I think she put it into the bin.  The other plant I cannot recall the name but it rot after several weeks - this one was a nightmare, the rotting plants attracted algae at the same time. I had to tear down the tank to clean up the mess.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

since the hole tank is a homeschool project we will keep track of what happens to it. The cuttings are developing roots they are about a half in long and the plant still has vibrant looking leaves non of them seem wilted or look like they are dying. We have a low tec tank standard kit tank lighting but it does sit by a window so it gets a little extra boost from that. Its planted in black aquarium sand. I plan on getting some root tabs nest time I go in to the pet store. Now I am dreaming of moss for our little tank. Ill keep a little up date on how its doing if everyone would like me to. O tank temp is 76-80


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

By the way, the root tab I have used in the past are:

1. Seachem's root tab - quite effective but it's not cheap in my personal opinion
2. Osmocote Plus (DIY root tab) - I am not sure how effective is it because I have Kribs destroying plants at the same time in this tank.

I've just noticed you used the word "we" and this is a school project. So you're a group of students. I thought you're a hot rod driver or something like that...haha


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> By the way, the root tab I have used in the past are:
> 
> 1. Seachem's root tab - quite effective but it's not cheap in my personal opinion
> 2. Osmocote Plus (DIY root tab) - I am not sure how effective is it because I have Kribs destroying plants at the same time in this tank.
> ...


thanks for the root tab suggestions.
I am a home schooling mom I teach my two girls 5 days a week. I do Build Hot rods a 53 custom cab Chevy is in the works at the moment my girls are also involved with the build. they are not only learning the core subjects but they are learning various trades too they will be well rounded.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Interesting - homeschooling and building a hot rod. I am not aware of any homeschooling in my country (Could be illegal here. The government is a bit backward/outdated + their education system is getting worse). You should share the photo of your hot rod when it's ready - no woman would build any car in my country. Hardly any women are interested in fish keeping too here....out of 100 people in the hobby...maybe you can get less than 10 female fish keepers.

I admire the abilities of American women.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> Interesting - homeschooling and building a hot rod. I am not aware of any homeschooling in my country (Could be illegal here. The government is a bit backward/outdated + their education system is getting worse). You should share the photo of your hot rod when it's ready - no woman would build any car in my country. Hardly any women are interested in fish keeping too here....out of 100 people in the hobby...maybe you can get less than 10 female fish keepers.
> 
> I admire the abilities of American women.


I am very thank full for our freedoms hear. Many of our founding presidents were home schooled. I am working hard to provide my girls with the best education I can give them. I want them to feel they have the ability to do anything they desire. That's how we got started with the aquarium project they expressed a desire to try it out and I thought why not it will be a great learning experience and it will look good too. I have been around classic cars all my life its a wonderful hobby. It teaches my girls skills that they will need in life to take care of them selves and there families.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Hope you and your kids will learn something new in this hobby. Many of my friends pick up this hobby because of their kids. Usually the kids got fed up after a few months and the parents have to take over the hobby ...then the hobby becomes addictive to the parents...hahaha


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> Hope you and your kids will learn something new in this hobby. Many of my friends pick up this hobby because of their kids. Usually the kids got fed up after a few months and the parents have to take over the hobby ...then the hobby becomes addictive to the parents...hahaha


We have already learned a lot and I hope the girls stick with it after this school year is over. they are having fun with it and are enjoying designing there tank.i hope we have alot of success with it


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Don't forget to share your tank's photo one of these days. Maybe in a different thread.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> Yeah, should be Egeria najas - the Egeria I have never seen in real life. It looks different from Egeria densa although similar - my goodness, this sentence sounds like the Indo-China English, "Same Same But Different" hahaha...
> 
> Yes, maybe hotrodprincess can be the person to document down the outcome of keeping Purple Waffle under the water. Information like the following would be interesting:
> 
> ...


Well the Egeria najas died already it basically melted and made a mess all over the tank. So i spent the last 30 min sucking all the bits off my black sand. The purple waffle how ever still seems ok. and so does the dwarf hair grass. I have now planted the dwarf hair grass in the substrate yet tho. Its still in its little pot how long can it stay in the pot.?


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Egeria najas melted? Sounds like you don't have sufficient light. Egeria najas does not die so easily. It's not a demanding plant. You're supposed to be able to keep it alive just by leaving it floating in the water. It's very simple.

Sorry, I have never left any hair grass without substrate for more than 30 minutes upon entering my tanks. So, I can't help answering your question  Try not to leave it without substrate beyond 1 week - that's my personal belief that some plants may die off (excluding hornwort, Egeria densa, Egeria najas and other plants that float)


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

I was a little surprised it died where the other plants are still doing fine. even the purple waffle is still alive. The tank has more light than the tank the plant originally came from. So i don't know. The tank also sits in a window so its getting added light from that. I guess we will see.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I find Egeria densa and its family & hornwort grow nicer with sunlight. I have experienced those plants melted in my indoor tank as well when the more demanding plants survive without any issue in the same tank.

I believe you're not dosing Seachem Excel, right? That may cause plants to melt if you dose it directly onto the plants or overdosing it.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

No I haven't dosed them with anything yet. The tank sits in a window and has the light on about 11-12 hours a day. I wonder if may be it was not all that healthy in the first place it was a really light green to start with. I am a little bummed about it I thought it was a neat plant, but someone is giving me a couple different kinds of moss so we are excited about that. I hear they are easy to grow any tips for Taiwan moss and peacock moss and may be Christmas moss


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

I found one of those twisty bulbs today its a 13w bulb so its ok to use in my hood it says up to a 15w. It seems brighter than the other bulb I had in there so may be it will help my dwarf hair grass and the moss that will be coming this week. I planted the DHG not sure if I picked the right spots for it though because I dont have any drift wood for the tree yet. so I had to sort of guess on its placement hopefully it will look good when its all done.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

You could tie moss on rocks too. Very tedious to tie on small stones though - some people like to tie them on small lava rocks. Moss should be easy for you as you have colder temperature than what I have. They love colder temperature. I suggest you to "pet" your moss every week when cleaning up the tank to prevent debris from getting caught in the moss. The debris often lead to hair algae after that. Once I called moss as hair algae magnet.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> You could tie moss on rocks too. Very tedious to tie on small stones though - some people like to tie them on small lava rocks. Moss should be easy for you as you have colder temperature than what I have. They love colder temperature. I suggest you to "pet" your moss every week when cleaning up the tank to prevent debris from getting caught in the moss. The debris often lead to hair algae after that. Once I called moss as hair algae magnet.


I think petting the moss will be a great job for the girls. They do a wonderful job rinsing out the marimo ball every week. They really want to make a TREE in the tank but Im not sure if I can find any driftwood that looks like a small tree so we may just attach it to some rocks we have beautiful red granite here. I dont want to take too long getting it planted in the tank. Our betta is loving the DHG I think I may have to replant a few pieces as he keeps swimming around in it and I think he has dug some up.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

What is DHG?

You don't have to be too worried about moss not getting into the water as long as they're in humid condition (they are unlike stem plants). You can easily keep it alive by storing them in a fridge for several weeks or even up to one month. I have a friend who accidentally left the moss in the tank for several months and the moss were still doing fine.

Just make sure the girls hand are clean but not too clean with detergent/soap...hahaha. I am sure they know it since they deal with the moss balls before.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> What is DHG?
> 
> You don't have to be too worried about moss not getting into the water as long as they're in humid condition (they are unlike stem plants). You can easily keep it alive by storing them in a fridge for several weeks or even up to one month. I have a friend who accidentally left the moss in the tank for several months and the moss were still doing fine.
> 
> Just make sure the girls hand are clean but not too clean with detergent/soap...hahaha. I am sure they know it since they deal with the moss balls before.


DHG Dwarf Hair Grass. I bought a small pot of it at the pet store it was the only plant they had there that I was sure of. I planted it in the back corner of the tank and a little on one side the Betta sure likes it. I am hoping with the new light bulb it will get greener. We are looking forward to the moss coming should be hear thur. He is sending me taiwan moss and peacock moss and may be some other moss if he could get a cutting off of it. the girls are going to study the differences between them before we put them in the tank. I hope we do well with them


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

You should be planting the hair grass in front. It's a foreground plant. 

Any photo of your tank?


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> You should be planting the hair grass in front. It's a foreground plant.
> 
> Any photo of your tank?


Hear is a photo of the tank as it is right now. I am not loving the purple waffle I think it looks out of place. what can I do to improve it. any suggestions for moss placement if I cant find a great piece of drift wood to make a tree. I am getting Taiwan moss peacock moss and may be some Christmas moss and Singapore moss if he could find any in his tank that he could get a cutting from.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Yes, the purple waffle is out of place  Looks odd in a small tank.

Does the hair grass looks yellowish or it's the lighting? I'll be a bit worried if they're yellowish - possible insufficient lighting.

Can't think of any specific place to put the moss. I can only imagine that it will look nicer on a driftwood. You may want to consider adding some background plants with tiny leaves. In a small tank, don't get any plants with big leaves because it will look awkward like what has happened to purple waffle. If can form a slope with your substrate (higher at the back and lower in front), so that viewers will have a sense of depth when looking at the tank. To prevent landslide, you could use rocks to block the sand. You can even bury some rocks you don't want to be seen underneath the sand to form an "underground concrete". Even out the front substrate to the same level.

As for the rocks/stones, you should consider getting same type of rocks/stones (not multiple types of rocks/stones with different colour). So that the tank looks uniform and more natural. There should be multiple sizes of rocks. In the nature, the rocks do not come in one size, right?  Not too many large rocks though as the tank is small for your case. Don't choose square or round rocks (they're boring to look at). Try to get something with uneven structure.

If you purchase driftwood, look for something with a lot of branches if possible or you can combine multiple single branches if you can't get any multiple branches one. Frankly speaking bogwood does not look very nice in my personal opinion - it looks somehow like a rock or even a pile of cow dung unless it is a huge one which has some branches but the big one cannot fit into your tank. Don't get driftwood that looks straight like a ruler (again this is boring to look at).

Hope the comments above help


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> Yes, the purple waffle is out of place  Looks odd in a small tank.
> 
> Does the hair grass looks yellowish or it's the lighting? I'll be a bit worried if they're yellowish - possible insufficient lighting.
> 
> ...


The Dwarf hair grass is greener than what it looks in the picture but I don't think its as green as it should be. Yesterday I found a better light bulb that's brighter and I have been leaving it on a longer in the evening so I am hoping it will get greener. I have been thinking of ditching the purple waffle and just stick it in our holding tank to see what it does in the water. The girls picked it out and I am hoping they will get excited about the new moss and let me take it out. We still have not found a great piece of drift wood to use I would like something with multiple branches tree like as my daughter calls it. Hoping to go to the river this weekend for a little drift wood hunting.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I am imagining your tank having driftwood that looks like these. I think the roots one is what you want. I am a lousy artist but I just want give you some idea. You can also ask your girls to surf for various scape that they like to get some idea. You're likely to fail to find any driftwood that match your liking. So, it's good for you to have some alternative ideas.

Branches:

__
https://flic.kr/p/8117628774

Roots:

__
https://flic.kr/p/8117629206


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> I am imagining your tank having driftwood that looks like these. I think the roots one is what you want. I am a lousy artist but I just want give you some idea. You can also ask your girls to surf for various scape that they like to get some idea.
> 
> Branches:
> 
> ...


We have been looking up different tanks this is the girls favorite so far. I think they like it because its small they say cowboy would be happy there But of course Mommy iv very new to this and i am not an artist so I am having trouble recreating it and finding the plants and hardscape that I can afford.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I see...this is the "tree". I kept thinking about tree roots...hahaha. I have no experience with this kind of tree. I am only aware that the "leaves" of the "tree" is moss. You should not mix multiple moss as the "leaves". I think you can scattered some of the moss in the foreground or around the "tree" to form "bushes" or something like that. You need to keep trimming the moss on the tree to form the shape you want. The idea is originated from bonsai I believe - need some patience.

Actually, all of us copy other people's scapes when we were beginners. Nothing to be shy about it because it will look different eventually because we will never be able to find the same rocks/driftwood.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> I see...this is the "tree". I kept thinking about tree roots...hahaha. I have no experience with this kind of tree. I am only aware that the "leaves" of the "tree" is moss. You should not mix multiple moss as the "leaves". I think you can scattered some of the moss in the foreground or around the "tree" to form "bushes" or something like that. You need to keep trimming the moss on the tree to form the shape you want. The idea is originated from bonsai I believe - need some patience.
> 
> Actually, all of us copy other people's scapes when we were beginners. Nothing to be shy about it because it will look different eventually because we will never be able to find the same rocks/driftwood.


I thought of using the Taiwan moss or the peacock moss for the top of the tree not sure which would look better i believe they used Christmas moss on the original one and both are similar to it. I know it will take a while to fill in but I think the girls will like watching it progress. First I have to manage to find the roots to make the tree. Not sure what I will do with the rest of the moss may be just put it on a small rock and make it look like a bush.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

To form the bushes, you can get tiny lava rocks to tie the moss. Get the girls to help you tying them. It's tedious to do it alone.

Driftwood picked from the wild should be properly cleaned and soaked. Another lengthy process because some fail to sink. I personally prefer to bleach the wild driftwood using non-perfumed bleach to eliminate any potential creatures or fungus attached to the wood. There's no fear of non-perfumed bleach, you can easily remove them with anti-chlorine and leave them soak in the water for a few days.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> To form the bushes, you can get tiny lava rocks to tie the moss. Get the girls to help you tying them. It's tedious to do it alone.
> 
> Driftwood picked from the wild should be properly cleaned and soaked. Another lengthy process because some fail to sink. I personally prefer to bleach the wild driftwood using non-perfumed bleach to eliminate any potential creatures or fungus attached to the wood. There's no fear of non-perfumed bleach, you can easily remove them with anti-chlorine and leave them soak in the water for a few days.


Thanks for the information about the driftwood we will be sure to clean it good and let it soak. I hope we will get lucky and find a piece that work.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

All the best and have fun hunting for the wood  Don't forget the photo after you have added the driftwood.


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## hotrodprincess (Sep 26, 2012)

totziens said:


> All the best and have fun hunting for the wood  Don't forget the photo after you have added the driftwood.


We found a nice piece of driftwood this afternoon at the river I am currently cleaning it. what can I use to get it to stand up to form the tree? I thought I could may be attach it to a flat rock but How what would I use that would be ok for the fish? Its not sinking well in the pan of hot water so I think its going to need some/ assistance in staying down and standing up.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

It depends on the wood regarding how sinkable it is. A bit hard to describe in words. If it floats all the way to the surface of the water, you will have hard time. If it's floating underneath the water, you have some hope. You may need to soak it a bit longer..maybe 1-2 weeks (I have done it for a month but I ended up getting rid of it..it's an ugly wood). You can try to bury part of the wood in the substrate and use some rocks to lock the wood from the sides to prevent it from floating. I believe the sample tank you've posted is using similar concept as you can see more substrate piling up below the "tree" along with some rocks.

Most probably, you have come across this yourself:

http://www.aquascapingworld.com/threads/aquascape-of-the-month-september-2008-pinheiro-manso.1182/

This video may help you as well:


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## Aquaticz (May 22, 2009)

Screw a piece of plexiglass to the base and bury it. The bigger the plexiglass the easier to keep the DW down


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