Mondo Grass....?

[kbaker721]

I wanted to try real plants so tonight I went out and bought four groups of "Mondo grass" and one moneywort. This is my first try with plants and have been reading some on plants, and one of the threads here said I didn't need extensive lights, CO2 or chemicals to have some plants. Does anyone know about the Mondo Grass (got it at PetSmart)?
My tank is a 55 gal (1.5 yrs old), with:
Penguin 330
Normal lighting strips
epoxy blue substrate
1 convict
1 aurustus
2 shark cats
1 electric yellow
1 red fin borleyi

Do I have any hopes or did I just waste money??

[Fishiebusiness]

http://www.tropica.com/productcard.asp?id=159

Mondo grass will not do well submersed in aquariums. They are a more paludarium/terrarium type plant.

[kbaker721]

That sucks....
Well, do you recommend any plants for my tank? I want a more "natural" and decorative look to my tank and wanted to try some live plants. What should I look for (I don't want to get into "difficult" plant keeping - just basics)? What are some common plants I can get at places like PetCo.....?
Thanks for the help - I really don't know a lot about keeping plants - just what I've read in these forums....

[NJ Devils Fan]

I would recommend anacharis, they are a good, hardy plant. A lot of people have them, so they shouldn't be hard to find.

[Starry]

For no-maintenance, low-light plants, try Java fern (Microsorum pteropus), Vallisneria, Sagittaria and water wisteria (Hygrophila difformis). Possibly Limnophila species as well. Try Cryptocorynes as well - they will be fine in low light, but they don't like to be moved or disturbed at all.

I would like to warn you though, it's very hard to go halfway with plants. Most plants will just stagnate or die altogether (very bad for your water quality, and doesn't look pretty either) if they don't have enough light and carbon dioxide. By all means, go ahead and buy some plants and see if they work, but they usually require a lot more effort than just plopping them into a tank.

[kbaker721]

So what should I look into doing - to help, but still not get too expensive? I want plants but can't afford Co2 systems and heavy lighting, but I also don't want to waste money on plants that will just die in a few weeks....

[NJ Devils Fan]

DiY CO2 is the best inexpensive way to inject CO2 into your tank. It cost nothing really.

Clean a 2 liter bottle out and fill it half way with warm water. Put 4 tables spoons of sugar in and a teaspoon of yeast. Shake up the mixture. Get some air tubing and drill a hole in the cap of the bottle cap that is the approximate width of the air tube. Put the tube through the hole and put hot glue(or another sealent) around the tube so the no air will leak out of the bottle by the air tube. Put an air stone on the other end of the tube and put it in your tank.

You just made yourself a CO2 system. It will last about 2 weeks or so. Sometimes, the yeast will not ferment if it is too cold. It is recommended to place the bottle in a bucket with warm water so that you can keep the yeast warm and it will ferment. You can buy a cheap heater to use in the bucket to keep the water warm.

If you have any questions, just ask.

[Anaxus]

I was also wondering what would be good plants for lower levels of light. I have a 40 galon tall tank but only 2X18watts of ligthing(kinda stuck with only 36watts unless someone knows how to retrofit a eclipse3 hood with better lighting). The CO2 wouldnt be a problem, I was just concerned being right under 1 watt per gallon. Would the plants Starry mentioned work ok for my tank, or should I just stick with plastics?

[tfish]

I had a 55 gallon with only the lights that came with it (two 15 watt hoods), no CO2 injection what-so-ever, and I had an Emperor 400 for my filter. I tried to grow crypts -- very little success. The only other aquatic plant I tried was the java fern. It did wonderfully! I started with just 2 and now have 6. :) I've decided to upgrade in a lot of different ways though and now have a completely different setup. Still have my java ferns though. :D

Kbaker, Just a hint too, if you ever get really serious about plants, you might want to reconsider your filter. If it has biowheels and makes as much surface disturbance as my Emperor 400 did, you would be wasting your time with CO2. Biowheels and lots of surface turbulance will get rid of any CO2 you will try to put in. I know. I did the DIY CO2 for a long time and could never get it to work right...until I turned my filter off for a day. I got rid of the Emperor filter and got an Eheim canister filter and am much happier! And so are my plants! Just a tip.

Good luck!

[superstein61]

Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias are all plants that will survive with low light, no CO2 setups

[Anaxus]

For some reason I thought I had a 40 gallon but after measuring (its 30" X 12.5" X 23") I found out it was only a 37 gallon. So it looks like I have approximatly 1watt per gallon. After I finish cycling I might try a few of the plants that were listed here. Hopefully they will work out.