Amazon Ecosystem Plants - your experience wanted

M

MtnFish

AC Members
Mar 18, 2007
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0
Bozeman, MT
Hi,

Returning to the aquarium world after a prolonged absence. I'm starting an Amazon biotope in a 25 gal. Specifically I'm trying to recreate an Amazon tributary environment in Bolivia or Peru (an area I've spent some time). I know generally what I'm doing with the fish, but looking for some advice on plants...I don't want anything that is too difficult to grow.

Here's info on my setup:
-25G (24"wide x 12"deep x 20"high)
-Eclipse 2 Hood
-66W fluorescents (orig. 2x15 + 36w AH kit)
-CO2 diffuser (hagen ladder + DIY bottles)
-20lb Bio-Complete covered with sand (2-4" depth)
-Massive (for 25G) driftwood piece (originally tree roots)

Tank is currently cycling, I'm planning on stocking with:
-4-6 Hatchetfish
-5-10 small tetras of one species (suggestions?)
-2 Bolivian Rams (pair, hopefully)
-2-4 Corys
-Possibly 2 otos
-Snails (will probably go against biotope and add Malaysian Trumpets plus mystery snails - ideas?)
-Shrimp (suggestions?)

Tank is visible from 360 degrees, which is why I went with the Eclipse as I didn't want a HOB or internal (also no place for cannister) . So far it is working well, though I know some don't like it.

I have a lot of SW experience and some FW, but little with plants. I'm not 100% committed to being accurate to the exact locale, but would like Amazon plants.....any recs are appreciated. Any options for stuff that can be grown on the driftwood? There are some small pockets/cavities.

My options for obtaining plants are limited to local Petsmart and strange LFS...so common plants are best--though I suppose I could mailorder.

Photos to come.

Thank you for reading this long first post. Input from experienced folks on plants or any aspect of is appreciated.

MtnFish
 
I just ordered a bunch of plants for my orinoco biotope (firs. Its tough to sort through everything to find south american species, but http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/

is a good place to start. primarly, i found swords to be the most common variety. Amazon swords are very common, but can get very large. I picked up a couple knowing they wil outgrow my tank, but they buy me time to play around.

I ordered the following from thatpetplace.com

hornwort (worldwide)
amazon sword
anachris
ruffled sword
amazon compacta

another couple of species they had that would probably fit are:
green cobomba
brazilian sword
melon "
chain naroow leaf "
grandfolia "

I'd love to hear other SA native species, but I had a tough time finding much varity.
 
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I have had the best luck thus far with amazon swords and narrowleaf chain swords. Anacharis is sensitive to Excel so I stopped keeping it in my Amazon tank. I'm thinking about trying out red temple plant. I'm sure other swords would also do well.

Hornwort loses too many needles over time and makes a mess. So does cabomba if not given serious amounts of light.

The narrowleaf chains grow well even under moderate light and produce a nice lawn effect in a matter of weeks.

So for easy maintenance I'm staying with the three as I have mentioned. Plus in native habitats, you usually get patches of one kind of plant covering a few square feet anyway. So to achieve a truly natural look it really is best to stay with no more than four different species at a time, and plant lots of each kind in patches.
 
thanks echo, I will be keeping that in mind. I know plant wise, i'll have to do some tweaking befoee i'll be happy.
 
Yeah tweaking is the key word. I've had my Amazon pseudo-tope up and running since Jan of '06 and it has gone through several incarnations already. I have had hornwort, cabomba, anacharis and vals with varying success...but none of them were worth the trouble in my opinion. The swords were the only plants that have tolerated varying conditions and have required no maintenance whatsoever aside from root tabs. The rest either required more light than I wanted to give (Amazon blackwater tanks should be somewhat lower light really, so cabomba never did well after its initial growth spurt) required frequent pruning (hornwort) made a constant mess (hornwort, cabomba) or was sensitive to Excel and died off from me using it. (Vals, anacharis)

That's how I came to stay with just the swords. The most work they have required is pulling a few dead leaves with normal water changes and placing root tabs in the substrate. I'm looking forward to trying the red temple plant. My only concern is if the bottom leaves fall off from my low-med lighting.
 
well, i guess my anachoris won't last long since I will be using excel as well. I knew vals were, but hadn't relized anachris was. I was hoping to have soemthing besides just swords. How much light are you running? The red temple looks interesting, please let me know how it works out since i might have to try some.
 
A good biotope resource is fish.mongabay.com, it lists both fish and plants in many different habitats of the world.
 
I'm running two shoplights. Altogether I have 160 watts over a 55g...but lately the fixtures have been acting up and one of the bulbs is often out unless I mess with it. So basically I'm at about 2 or so wpg steadily of normal output fluorescent.
 
I'd hold off on the Amazon sword in a 29g. It'll get huge and eat up a ton of space. Mine's getting to big for my 55g. All the rest of the suggestions so far look good.
 
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