How to get plants to "take over"?

[aparker2005]

Hey everyone.........whenever I get my 130watt system for my 55g tank, I'd really like to have a nice "jungle" of plants if you know what I mean. I'll be having Wisteria, Cabomba, Anacharis, and maybe Java Fern. That will put me a 2.36 WPG. Is there any trick to getting them to really take over? I want them to be really thick and provide a lot of cover so that maybe some of my platy/swordtail fry can live and not get eaten by my angels. Any advice?

[Squawkbert]

Be careful what you wish for.

I have a 46g w/ just 96W of PC lighting & DIY CO2 - and several of the plants you've mentioned.

Once a plant reaches "critical mass", it will make a bid to takeover. For stem plants, breaking them off ~1/3 up from the substrate & replanting the tops will help. For Crypts, just have patience & locate 'em where there's at least some current.

I had to do serious pruning twice in the first 7 months...

[aparker2005]

Whenever you prune the Wisteria, do you need to leave the old stem in there? I've trimmed 2 plants and now it's nothing but a green stem and roots. Will it grow back? Do I need to take it out and put the top where the stem was?

[aparker2005]

And, is it safe to leave the plants in the plastic wraps they come in, or should I take them out of them when I plant them?

[Mgamer20o0]

take them out of the plastic. co2 and ferts would help speed up growth. Anacharis goes really fast. there are a couple other really fast growing plants. guppy grass pennyworth hornwort... java moss grows fast for me. vals are nothing nice one.

[aparker2005]

They have a lot of hornwort at my Petsmart and it looks great.........but I've read a lot of bad things about it on here. What are your thoughts on it?

[ThePBM]

hornwort is a great plant. what kind of bad things have you read about? the only one i can imagine is someone putting it in a bad tank and had the hornwort shed its leaves.

[phanmc]

Hornwort is one of the best beginner plants to use. It doesn't require alot of light and rivals anacharis in terms of growth and nutrient uptake. Only problem with it is the fine needle leaves can be a mess when it starts dying off.

In fact, only plant you listed that is a slow grower is java fern, the others will grow very fast if they're healthy. Wisteria likes to grow horizontally as well as vertically and can easily fill in a tank, cabomba likes to grow tall. To keep them healthy, provide CO2 and nutrients (NPK+traces).

[GirlieGirl8521]

I agree.....fertilizing and injecting CO2 will help the plants grow faster. I have to trim the stem plants in my 29g high light, co2 injected tank every week or week and a half. :)