would these plants work for a "newbie"

Lady G

Lady G

It's a mafia thing, nothing personl
Oct 6, 2005
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gingersassatelli.bodybyvi.com
Ok I have been to many sites and asked a couple question on here (before realizing there was a forum for plants :huh: Ok I am not wanting a whole lot right now I figure I can alway's work on more when I get my bigger tank for now these can kinda be "experimental" ;) How about ....

1- Cabomba
1-2 Amazon swords
2 Anacharis
4-5 corkscrew Vals
1 pygmy chain sword
something that floats

Would that be ok for a beginer who doesn't want a ton of matinance or to spend to much $$ right now? There really are SO many more I want but I don't want to get in over my head, I already have 2 dogs, a cat, every 2-3 day water changes ( until I get my bigger tank), 4 kids, a husband and house to take care of :eek: oh and I'm taking 3 classes online right now. I want to make a nice home for my fishes but still maintain a little sanity to my life (what little there is for me anyway).

Thank you once again!!
Gin :bowing:
 
I think you first need to make sure you have the right lighting & substrate/gravel for the plants you want. Anacharis is a really easy care plant that grows well in fairly low-light tanks, but I believe plants like Amazon Swords need much more light (& better substrate, ie. enriched gravel).
How much light do you have under your hood? Incandescent or fluorescent? Do you have plain gravel, or a special substrate on the bottom of your tank? This will largely determine what grows well in your tank.
:)
 
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A big NO to the Cabomba.....not a beginnner plant.
 
It really depends on what your "plant hardware" is. Give us some details on:
Substrate, Lighting, Filter, Tank Size and water parameters (PH, KH, GH, Nitrites, Nitrates). Then from there we can offer better recommendations.

Based on basic knowledge and ASSUMING that this is a low light low tech tank now...

Cambomba - requires high light and is picky. Try Asian Ambulia (Limnophila sesiliflora) as an alternative. Both I think both do NOT like hard water.

Amazon Swords will do "ok" depending on the tank size and lighting. I have heard that these produce "toxins" to attack other swords from growing. These are heavy root feeders so a good substrate is recommended or root tabs. You can get away without any but these will help - for the most part. I have two Red Rubin swords that are doing great!!

Anacharis - does well in almost any situation. The less the light the darker it is and more close the leaves are. Does not form roots well and can grow floating.

Corkscrew Vals - do well - ofr the most part - in a variety of parameters.

Dont know anything about pigmy chain swords.

I recommend java fern, java moss and many anubias because these are low light and do well in low tech tanks.

Good Luck

Aries
 
i second the java moss and ferns as well as the anubias. i've found wisteria pretty easy to sustain, though you have to deal with a mess in the beginning from all the broken leaf bits trapped in the bunch. if you get swords, make sure they are in very good condition. any leaves with brown spots or holes will just deteriorate and look bad. pick them off and start with new growth. everyone says anacharis is really easy, but mine melted in a tank where wisteria and swords are thriving. good luck with whatever you choose.
 
And when you do stem plants, try and plant a few bunches of them. They look so much better in groups, rather than just one or two here and there.
 
here is some of the info I can give that was asked

tank- 30/g
lighting- low/med (not sure the exact watts)
bottom- rock (but was looking at other stuff to add)
Filter- whisper 20-40
water- hard, slightly acidic, nitrates 20-40 (but my tap is 10-20), nitrites 0
been doing 30-50%water changes every 2-3days.

I thought I had picked ones that would do ok with my lighting but I must of looked at one while reading another or something on the camboma. (ok I looked at the site and it does say needs high lighting). I will exclude that one for sure then, maybe add another anacharis? I will may eliminate the amazon sword to then and look into some other plant in place of that. The site I went to said that water hardness not important, likes light but will do well in difused light, and very hardy that is why I picked it. As for the pygmy chain sword, it really doesn't say much just that it rarely grows more than 6", produces many plants through runners and ph of 6.8-7.2, it was only .99 that is why I picked it, that and I liked the look of it and figured for .99 if it didn't make it no big loss. I will get some substrate I was just looking into the plants first. Any suggestions would be welcome greatly. Oh yeah I was looking into the Java fern too, I don't remember exactly why I changed my mind but maybe I will add it too then.

Thank you!
 
gstoffer said:
I will get some substrate I was just looking into the plants first.
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Good job. I wish when I first started plants I did this - but noooo, I was an idiot :duh:

Even while some say certain water parameters will work - I have learned it is still a hit and miss because there are soooo many water parameters to work with and some we cant test (like potassium). But......in general the parameters utilized cover say 95% of cases.

For the light, they usually state on the bulb how many watts it is - if not - can you post pic??

Anacharis - seems this plant is picky too because ppl at my LFS have had hard times with it - in low light tanks. If you dose Flourish Excel - this could be the reason why it does bad (Excel actually hurts Anacharis - at least it says that on their website). It does VERY well for me in HIGH and LOW light tanks.

Websites can say anything they want - some are even dead wrong (talking about retailers). I would go to mutliple sites and verify information.

Substrate - I recommend Seachem Flourite. Does well and is cheaper than EcoComplete. Many like EcoComplete as well. It really depends on your final list of plants for substrates - but IMO, you cant go wrong with flourite (comes in Red, Redder, Black and Black sand).

Java Fern attached - no substrate required.
Anacharis - water column feeder - gravel not important IMO.
Swords in general are substrate feeders - a good susbstate is recommended (this is not to say they wont grow in normal gravel either).
Vals - hmm, I really dont know - never thought about these.

reiverix said:
And when you do stem plants, try and plant a few bunches of them. They look so much better in groups, rather than just one or two here and there.
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Agreed - but beware. Some stem plants will grow so much that they can crowd themselves out - thus "strangling" themselves. Just prune these fast growers back and you will be fine.

Good Luck

Aries
 
Aries: "Good job. I wish when I first started plants I did this - but noooo, I was an idiot"

I learned a small lesson when starting my tank (actually it was a big lesson when my son went with my mom to get fish) we had MANY mistakes, lost a few fish and had to give a way a couple because they would get WAY to big for our tank or any tank I would ever be able to provide. This is how I first found this site. So when I decided to go with plants I thought I better do a little research and get a little advice!

I looked on my light but I did not see anything saying the watts, it is long and looks floresent, when I turn it off and it cools down I will look a little better, maybe it say's somewhere on there. I could take a picture and post it but right now my batteries are dead (after halloween), so until I get some new batteries that wouldn't work.

I have looked at a couple different things to add and it seems that seachem florite was one I looked at at least the name sounds VERY familure so I must of seen it at least. Was that one that said it helps with nitrates and stuff like that?

Whataugachicken: "everyone says anacharis is really easy, but mine melted in a tank where wisteria and swords are thriving."
Wisteria was another I was very interested in but I believe that was one that said it gets caught in the filter alot so I was worried about that, I know I really liked the look of that plant though, if it is actually easy to take care of and does not need alot of light I may reconsider that one for sure!

As far as the stem plants (that would be the vals right?) I had planned on putting them 3 in one spot and 2 in another like 2 after the anacharis and the other 3 at the end or something? I do have 2 plants growing right now in there, have know idea what they are they were at wal-mart the small bag with 5 "seeds" that you throw in the tank and they are suppose to grow well 2 of them actually sprouted and are getting roots, they look alot like grass right now so maybe the are some type of val or sag who knows.

Once I actually get it all here and am ready to plant them I figured I'd figure it all out how I want to put them.

Thanks for all the advise and suggestions, looking forward to any other advice!

Gin
 
the wisteria will muck up your filter quite a bit if you just throw it in. i use those small whisper filters though, which are so easy to take apart and clean out when necessary. it's sold in bunches, and when you take the bunches apart all the broken leaf bits get loose and wander all over the place. it doesn't help that the LFS people tend to grab it and just shove it into a bag. once the first bits are taken care of, it doesn't continue to make a mess over time. might help to separate the stems in a big bucket and swish them around before you put them in the tank. if you'd gone with cabomba, you'd have the same problem. they fall apart at first too.
 
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