tall background plants for cichlid tank?

[Ramirezi]

apparently my Kribs do not like Ludwigia.....they tore it up and only left the very tops. it was just starting to take root too...
they leave all the other plants alone, i have amazon swords, dwarf sagitarius (sp?), and red crypt. but these are all low lying or mid ground plants. i would like something tall and hardy to fill in the back of the tank.
any ideas?

[NowherMan6]

You could try moneywort.

Or if you really want hardy, try the larger anubias variations. a. Barteri can grow quite large, as will a. heterophylla and a. gigantea (a variation of a. heterophylla) and a. congensis. They're slow growing but they have nice large leaves that your cichlids probably wont be able to rip apart. You can grow them out yourself, or buy them large (which can be quite expensive, but they are very nice plants) Most plant websites will sell "mother plants", or try aquabid.

[reiverix]

Jungle val grows tall and fast. The leaves are also quite tough, at least compared to other val types.

[TONO]

Vals work they don't need much light either.

[Ramirezi]

cool thanks, i didnt know there were taller anubias. i'll look into those and the vals.

[Swimfins]

a very tuff and hardy one are the jungle vals as mentioned (vals. americana)
The leaves are straplike and can get up to 5 to 6 feet in length under good conditions. Mine were about 2 to 3 feet long when I removed them for shorter ones.

[Robert H]

Crinums, grow two to three feet, lay across the water when they hit the surface. Cryptocoryne usteriana, balansae, and spiralis grow to 20" or more. Giant hairgrass, 20" plus. Aponogetons are large plants, but the leaves may be tender enough for cichlids to tear up. Crinums are pretty tough.

[Ramirezi]

thanks. i got some vals. i found some java fern and a ruby sword too. they've left the crypt and other sword alone so they should be ok.
unfortunately, i had to get all of these at petsmart. all my lfs are not carrying much for plants anymore. most are only carrying cabomba and anacharis which is just as bad as the ludwigia. weak leaves. i bought cabomba once because i thought it would look great. it lasted about a day and it just made a huge mess.
i'm sticking to the tougher leaved plants from now on.

[rill2004]

Cryptocoryne usteriana is a beautiful plant. we have low/med lighting and wanna give this plant a try in one of our tanks. the red Cryptocoryne usteriana is beautiful

[Vince G.]

Crinums, grow two to three feet, lay across the water when they hit the surface. Cryptocoryne usteriana, balansae, and spiralis grow to 20" or more. Giant hairgrass, 20" plus. Aponogetons are large plants, but the leaves may be tender enough for cichlids to tear up. Crinums are pretty tough.

I agree about Crinums. Those, along with my java fern mats are the only plants that my severums have not even attempted to uproot. They are very tough.

[WeedCali]

Crinums for sure. larger Anubias species may work too ;)