some criticism for the novice grower

[Lauren]

Added some more plants to my low light set up today. I'm horrible at remembering names, they are the ones with the fuchsia leaves. I have no books on aquatic gardens with layouts and ideas, so your feedback would be appreciated.

What I plan on doing:

I have another piece of drift wood that’s going in shortly
I know I need more java moss, they were sold out
thinking about some more java fern and annubia as well

I'm thinking about moving all of the new plants to the back, not sure yet.

What you can't see: two bulb plants that are just starting to sprout.

so here's what I have going for me thus far (If my gold barbs don't destroy it all)


http://mail.roadfly.com/little740girl/IMG_2373.jpg

http://mail.roadfly.com/little740girl/IMG_2374.jpg

http://mail.roadfly.com/little740girl/IMG_2375.jpg

http://mail.roadfly.com/little740girl/IMG_2377.jpg

http://mail.roadfly.com/little740girl/IMG_2378.jpg

[djlen]

Not a bad start. The Anubia and Java are well located in the front as they will stay relatively small. If you have the Anubia planted into the substrate, you may want to raise it a bit so most of the rhizome is out of the substrate or attach it to some wood. They have a tendency to rot if totally under.
The reddish plant looks to me like it might not be amenable to an aquarium, but rather a terrarium plant. This means that it will not live totally submerged. I might be wrong on that plant though. The pictures don't show it too well.
Something I learned early on was that patience is the key to growing plants. First, you have to learn what will grow for you and what won't, so don't be too concerned about placement until you see what works and what doesn't.
When you pick out plants at the LFS, ask if they are fore,mid, or back-ground plants and plant according to the recommendations of the store folk.
The placement of the wood is good.
You need to start thinking about a background to stick on the back of the tank to hide the filter etc. This will help with the ambiance of the entire tank.
You may not need to buy more Java Moss. It grows quite readily and you'll be snipping away at it before long. I would try to keep it short or it'll quickly get out of hand.
Tell us a bit about your lighting and water parameters(pH,kH etc.).
You say 'low light'......how low?
Are you considering fertilization? For your tank, Seachem's line of ferts would work well.
Some sites that might interest you:
http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_frontiers/Aquatic_Horticulture.html
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1998/may/aquatic/default.asp
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm
http://www.hallman.org/plant/booth1.html
Those will keep you out of trouble for a while.

Len

[Lauren]

The lfs had the new plants planted in the gravel as well, so I did the same when I got home. I should have asked more about the plant before picking it up. My barbs are natural trimmers, so my java moss is getting smaller, not bigger. As I type they are chowing down on the moss. Plus, i'd like some more for my new wood pieces too. I had the anubia on a rock when I first got it, but it quickly started to brown. I stuck it in the gravel, and its doing much better. I'm not sure what the rhizome are that you speak of, but i assume they are the new stems that come up for new leaves. If so, two are exposed right now. I’m going to do some more moving tonight. The new plants are blocking off most of my sag, so things will look different come tomorrow.

Oh, 22watts for 20 gallons.

[medge00]

22 watts for 20 gal is pretty low... java fern may do ok... try anachris (did i spell that right?).... give your plants a little time to see how they do... in the long run, you may find a better substrate like flora base (what i use and am happy with) or flourite may do better. gravel doesn't hold nutrients as well as some substrates designed for plants... i do like your plants though. if all goes well, it should be a nice little set up. :)

[NGerdes]

The red plants look to be Red Temple. Here's a link for them. They are recommended for high light.



http://www.aquaticplantdepot.com/redtemtelros.html

Submerged

Midground

Light: Bright: 3.5-4.5 watts

Temperature: Medium: 73-83 F. (23-28 C.)

Neutral: pH 7.0

Distribution: South America

Reproduction: Cuttings

Difficulty: Medium

[Captain Hook]

The rhizome kind of looks like a little stub that all the stems shoot out from. Then the roots are underneath the rhizome. You want to bury the roots but not the rhizome. Hope that clears it up for you.

[F.sparverius]

I'm fairly certain that java ferns do not have to be burried at all. They get most of their nutrients out of the water collum and the roots are used more to fasten them to things.

[NGerdes]

I agree with F.sparverius. Java Ferns normally are not burried in the substrate, though they can be as mentioned before. The are normally attached to rocks and driftwood. This is an excerpt from an "how to plant" article on Floridadriftwood.com... note the very last line...


3. Anubias-like Plants
Special instructions are required for planting this group. I also include Java fern and Bolbitis in this group b/c they have similar structures. Never cover the rhizome (from which both the roots and leaves grow from) of these plants with soil or gravel! If you are planting them directly into the substrate, make sure only the roots are covered. Covering the rhizome with soil will kill this plant. This is especially true of true Anubias sp. Of the three; Anubias, Javafern & Bolbitis only Anubias produce true roots and we recommend only Anubias the option to be planted in substrate. Anubias, Javafern & Bolbitis are usually tied to driftwood or stones. Javafern & Bolbitis should only be attached to objects, not planted in the substrate.

[loachman]

Lauren,

The "red" plants look like the Alternanthera reineckii family - they could be either "Lilacina" or "Roseafolia" variants.

Visit www.tropica.com for full colour images.

Hope this helps

Rohan :)

[NGerdes]

I think that is the same thing that I posted, but under a different name. I recently ordered these from Aquatic Plant depot, but they where called red temple. They didn't arive in very good shape.

[Lauren]

yeah, the plants are red temple. So far, they aren't doing all that well. I'll just replace them with some more bulb plants and take it in as a loss. My lfs doesn't get them in very much, so the guy I talked to didn't know much about them. He thought they would work in low light.

The ribasomes are not covered up on the anubia. that plant seems to be doing quite well.

Thanks for all of your comments and opinions.