Help choosing plants for my 10gal, to later use as plant filters.

redchigh

I'm looking for plants for my heated 10 gal 12 in deep tank. It gets 2 wpg of cfl lighting, but admittedly, the reflector doesn't look very efficient. I was thinking of waterweed (Egeria densa / elodea densa), Vallisneria (vallisneria Spiralis) and Hornwort (ceratophyllum submersum). I will weigh the Hornwort down since I have no interest in floating plants. I already have an Aponogeton crispus hybrid, (that amazingly grew from one of those packs of "live aquarium plants" that are sold dry at wal-mart) Java Fern and Java Moss.

I have guppies out the wazoo, and they're multiplying faster than I can give them away. I have 3 guppies in a "beta vase" probably a quart and a half , so I'd prefer to have plants that propagate readily, and can survive in a coldwater aquarium with indirect sunlight.

Also, I apologize if one of the scientific names is wrong, I was doing it from memory.

Would those plants stay the right size, and does anyone have any other suggestions?

Water Parameters:
Not soft but not really hard, PH between 6.8 to 7.2.
2 wpg of a dual spectrum plant growth CFL.

Byron

The stem plants are fast growers (all stem plants are), so perhaps not the best ideas if you want plants that "stay the right size." With this in mind, I would suggest substrate-rooted plants, Vallisneria is one, others are the swords (Echinodorus) esp the Pygmy chain sword with its light green leaves [see photos of my present 90g flooded Amazon forest tank, this is the substrate cover along the front] and as a contrast Echinodorus parviflorus which is very dark green and remains small [you can see this plant in the left foreground in the photos of my present 115g Amazon Riverscape tank]. The light and temperature should be fine for these. Other suggestions are Java Fern and Anubias if you have wood or rock to attach it to; and although you have no interst in them, floating plants which could be as simple as stem plants allowed to float as this will be good cover and food source for fry.

Byron.

Angel079

Stem plants as Byron mentioned will need quite some maintenance to keep them trimmed short.
My pers perf set up for 10g's are plants like cryptocoryne wendtii and walkeri cause these won't quickly 'outgrow' your tank for the back parts or something like narrow leaf Chain Sword that'll be about the same height and then maybe something like a small piece driftwood with small Anubias attached or dwarf hairgrass to carpet the front end of the tank.
Alternatively carpets made of Java Moss are nice too IMO just get some regular window screen and "sow" the Java Moss spread out on to it (so it won't float upwards) and let it grow.
If you go under my aquarium log to the left here you'll find pictures in the "New Shrimp Farm" half way down that has 2 carpets in it, one as a back wall piece and the other one on the ground up front.

redchigh

actually stem plants that require pruning is perfect, i just dont want something that would completely outgrow the tank like my apon. has. i almost bought jungle val, but i read it can get 1m tall and i don't know if the val would take to being trimmed. i just am looking for cuttings that do well in med to low light, shoots or cuttings can be placed in coldwater tanks and grow quickly. the Java Fern and moss are growing a little slow for my tastes. ive suddenly decided to seperate my guppies to control breeding and so they were gonna go into some smaller coldwater unfiltered tanks. i was thinking the plants could help keep the water balanced in between water changes. i want the max height to be no more than 15 in so they dont hit the lid and rot. forgive the spelling and grammar, im checking this board on my phone.

if anyone wants to message me on aim, my name is duodeadlypeace
or
redchigh

sorry if im a pain. lol.

Angel079

Yes they do grow VERY long to say the least I once had one in my 15g and it covered the tank left-right top-bottom in almost what can be described as one big ball. And no yu can't really cut these short, you cut the tops off the leaf will die.
That's why I'd get something similar but shorter, either a narrow leaf chain sowrd Sword, Narrow Leaf Chain (Echinodorus tennelus)(sold 10 per order) or Hairgrass Giant Hairgrass (Eleocharis montevidensis)

Java Moss is about one of the quickest growing things out there next to Pennywort.....Whats your light set up there on that tank you say you have problems with it growing?

redchigh

[quote=Angel079;309632]Yes they do grow VERY long to say the least I once had one in my 15g and it covered the tank left-right top-bottom in almost what can be described as one big ball. And no yu can't really cut these short, you cut the tops off the leaf will die.
That's why I'd get something similar but shorter, either a narrow leaf chain sowrd Sword, Narrow Leaf Chain (Echinodorus tennelus)(sold 10 per order) or Hairgrass Giant Hairgrass (Eleocharis montevidensis)

Java Moss is about one of the quickest growing things out there next to Pennywort.....Whats your light set up there on that tank you say you have problems with it growing?

2wpg of cfl light. lights of america aquarium light. i suspect maybe the pet store gave me the wrong moss. 80% of it died the first week but ive only had it a month or so.

redchigh

[quote=Angel079;309632]Yes they do grow VERY long to say the least I once had one in my 15g and it covered the tank left-right top-bottom in almost what can be described as one big ball. And no yu can't really cut these short, you cut the tops off the leaf will die.
That's why I'd get something similar but shorter, either a narrow leaf chain sowrd Sword, Narrow Leaf Chain (Echinodorus tennelus)(sold 10 per order) or Hairgrass Giant Hairgrass (Eleocharis montevidensis)

Java Moss is about one of the quickest growing things out there next to Pennywort.....Whats your light set up there on that tank you say you have problems with it growing?

2wpg of cfl light. lights of america aquarium light. i suspect maybe the pet store gave me the wrong moss. 80% of it died the first week but ive only had it a month or so. it might just take time to settle in.

Angel079

I honestly don't know this particular light you have there. Do you know its spectrum or a Kelvin rating? Or does it look more yellowish in the tank or more towards a blue tone of light color?

Let me put it this way on the Java Moss: I bought a little (~1/4 cup) in Nov 09; by the end of Dec when I made the Carpets I had about 1.5 cups of Java Moss there in the tank - So much for its growth rate

redchigh

the bulbs are bluish, like cool white. i'll check the package and make sure they're not actinic but i dont think they are. is it possible to just use cool white bulbs? or a mixture of cool white and warm white?

i eventually want cabomba, straight or twisted vallis, Egeria densa, and Hornwort. maybe a brazil sword at some point.

Angel079

Sounds like a good light to me. Often these lights are labeled with names like "Daylight or ultimate daylight"
In my tanks where I have the option of 2 lights, I always get one ~4800 Kelvin and one of 6500K. That mixture works well for me.

Sounds like a nice assortment of stem plants...if you have troubles locally finding plants...here's the company I always use (due to lack of plants locally) Sweet Aquatics