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what's the toughest plant around?

9K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  Angel079 
#1 ·
What plant can I absolutely NOT fail with? I'm looking for something that will grow out of control and cover the tank. I'd rather prune daily than fish out dead plants every week. So far my ferns haven't died (at least they don't look dead), but they haven't gotten any bigger, and some amazon swords that are doing OK, but the fish keep digging them up before they get a chance to root.
 
#2 ·
what light do you have, we could help with more info, because some plants will grow very slowly in different conditions.
 
#3 ·
I don't think there's any plants that are extremely hardy yet fast growing even in the worst conditions.
 
#4 ·
If you have plant troubles tell us what light you have (wattage, size, kelvin rating?) and what ferts you are using?

Apart from that plants that thrive in a wider variety of conditions then other "touchier" plants...My first thought would HAVE TO go to the mile long Pennywort that you can trim, cut abuse and rip out and it still thrives followed by the larger Hygrophilias and the Rotala which can go from a few stems only to taking over your tank like the Pennywort in just a few weeks.
 
#6 ·
Are you remembering to water them? J/K. It's possible it could also be that your bulbs have lost their intensity. How old are they? I replace mine every six months. I forget the exact exponential rate of loss of intensity but I know they need to be replaced periodically. Less intense bulbs, combined with your fish constantly disturbing the roots could be a factor.
 
#8 ·
Plants that can't be killed?

Lets see.... Algae, Duckweed, Azolla, wait you wanted attractive plants. hmm. ;)

I would say... Anarchis is the fastest growing plant I have. If it gets ripped up it could care less. It works as a floating plant.

A Close second would be hygrophila... The only one I have experiance with is hygrophila difformis because polysperma is illegal in my state. Then again, so is anarchis... so don't tell anyone. ;)

So.. you have Java fern already right? You could try java moss if your water isn't too tough.

Anubias is tough but it's slow growing like java fern... For your amazon sword, try putting some large rocks around the base. Also, instead of root tabs, If I was only going to use one type of fert I'd use a liquid. People around here like Flourish Comprehensive. It's probably the one I'm gonna buy soon.

Daylight t8s should be almost perfect- another option is maybe the lights are too bright? If everythings not in balance your plants won't grow well. If your tank is well-stocked then you don't need CO2. Go buy a fert if you can, and see if growth improves. If it doesn't, then try replacing the bulbs.

If you can't buy any ferts, then try taking a bulb out and see what happens. You have to have balance, but sometimes lowering the light levels is the easiest solution. *shrug*.

I originally had too much light in my 10G- about 20 watts. Now the surface is covered with azolla and duckweed it's almost dark. Plants are still doing well though. I just want ferts to make some of my plants red.
 
#11 ·
Daylight t8s should be almost perfect- another option is maybe the lights are too bright? If everythings not in balance your plants won't grow well. If your tank is well-stocked then you don't need CO2. Go buy a fert if you can, and see if growth improves. If it doesn't, then try replacing the bulbs.

If you can't buy any ferts, then try taking a bulb out and see what happens. You have to have balance, but sometimes lowering the light levels is the easiest solution. *shrug*.

I originally had too much light in my 10G- about 20 watts. Now the surface is covered with azolla and duckweed it's almost dark. Plants are still doing well though. I just want ferts to make some of my plants red.
I have some Flourish as well as Nutrafin Plant Gro w/Iron, but I haven't been using them. I figured I didn't have enough light to need ferts yet. I'm working with about 1watt/gal. It's a 65g tank stocked with 7 adult & 2 swordtail fry, and 6 yellow barbs.
 
#10 ·
There seems to be more at issue than is being noticed. Swords are quite hardy plants and should not die within two weeks unless something is drastically wrong and this could be the plants as much as the aquarium conditions. To try and sort this out, can you provide some info please:

- tank size in gallons and length (not mentioned yet)
- water parameters (pH, hardness, temperature)
- substrate type and depth
- fish in the tank (species)

Two 36-inch tubes is a fair bit of light but we need to know the tank size this is over; it may be fine, it may be too much, it may be too little.

Water parameters will help in case liquid fertilization is necessary (it usually is). And substrate will help sorting out why plants are being uprooted (this is detrimental but should not be a problem with adequate substrate).

Byron.
 
#12 ·
There seems to be more at issue than is being noticed. Swords are quite hardy plants and should not die within two weeks unless something is drastically wrong and this could be the plants as much as the aquarium conditions. To try and sort this out, can you provide some info please:

- tank size in gallons and length (not mentioned yet)
- water parameters (pH, hardness, temperature)
- substrate type and depth
- fish in the tank (species)

Two 36-inch tubes is a fair bit of light but we need to know the tank size this is over; it may be fine, it may be too much, it may be too little.

Water parameters will help in case liquid fertilization is necessary (it usually is). And substrate will help sorting out why plants are being uprooted (this is detrimental but should not be a problem with adequate substrate).

Byron.
65g 36"L x 24"H x 18"D
NO3 ~0
NO2~0
GH ~75
KH ~40
ph ~6.8
temp 78-80 (no heater)
substrate is dark Flourite, about 2" deep.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the data. I see nothing wrong that will prevent good plant growth, but I do have a couple suggestions.

I would think the light is adequate for the tank, assuming the tubes are full spectrum (natural daylight usually means this or close to it); it would help to know the kelvin rating, it should be indicated at one end of the tube, a number followed by the letter K. If it is different for each tube, give me both numbers. I just want to be certain.

The substrate may need to be a bit deeper for the swords. Echionodorus have extensive root systems; the three E/ bleherae in my 115g have roots that extend out for almost a foot and are well down to the bottom with 4-5 inches of substrate. As the larger swords are usually planted in the back half of the tank, you can slope the substrate up from front to back, or use rock or wood for terraces, or simply add more substrate to the back. With swords I would have at least 3 inches, preferably 4 inches, in the areas where they are planted and this means for several inches out from the plants.

Flourite is a good substrate, but it only provides nutrients to substrate-rooted plants (swords, crypts, vallisneria, etc). Your ferns, by which I'm assuming Java Fern, won't derive any benefit from the substrate since they attach to wood or rock and the nutrients have to be in the water column. Same would apply to Anubias and floating plants. Stem plants usually need liquid fertilizer to thrive.

I would recommend a good comprehensive liquid like Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement (I use this) or the Nutrafin Plant-Gro. But not both together. Some trace elements like iron are also heavy metals and in excess can poison fish and kill plants. Nutrients have to be in proportion and carefully controlled so that only what the plants can use is added. Flourish is ideal in this respect, I would use it once a week at the recommended dose--1 tsp (5 ml) for your 65g tank is all that is needed.

The swords will have to stay in the substrate to take root; increasing the depth should provide this, but if your fish dig them out use a few smallish rocks around the plants. Once they are established they will stay put.

I think this should help you. I find plants easier than fish, but we do have to ensure what they need is provided. As background you might find the info in the 4-part sticky article at the head of the Aquarium Plant section of benefit.

Byron.
 
#14 ·
Reading over all of this now and all your data there I really don't see nothing wrong unless the named "Natural Daylight" is actually not the normal daylight @ 6500K and like Byron said check see if the rating is on the bulb if not look for a manufacture name on it (marlinland etc) so we can figure it out together via googel. That whole set up is like the most ideal set up for plant and your fish are not to blame neither something went wrong there in the beginning when you set this up, maybe something got into the water, maybe the ferts where dosed too high but as you're describing it right now that's wonderful for plants provided that light is indeed a daylight like I said. And I'd pers not exclude that maybe the LFS your bought plats from where poor quality and often they sell plants that are indeed actually not true aquatic plants and THAT would really explain a quick dieing as well.
I had found this as a extremely good quality plant source for all my tanks http://www.sweetaquatics.com , you can gladly check out my tank's pictures under the aquarium log here tot he left under my name.
 
#15 ·
Reading over all of this now and all your data there I really don't see nothing wrong unless the named "Natural Daylight" is actually not the normal daylight @ 6500K and like Byron said check see if the rating is on the bulb if not look for a manufacture name on it (marlinland etc) so we can figure it out together via googel. That whole set up is like the most ideal set up for plant and your fish are not to blame neither something went wrong there in the beginning when you set this up, maybe something got into the water, maybe the ferts where dosed too high but as you're describing it right now that's wonderful for plants provided that light is indeed a daylight like I said. And I'd pers not exclude that maybe the LFS your bought plats from where poor quality and often they sell plants that are indeed actually not true aquatic plants and THAT would really explain a quick dieing as well.
I had found this as a extremely good quality plant source for all my tanks http://www.sweetaquatics.com , you can gladly check out my tank's pictures under the aquarium log here tot he left under my name.
They're Marineland, via Eclipse in Germany. F30T8, 36". I'll see what I come up with on the Eclipse brand. I got some Glosso's on ebay... they did pretty good at first, but the fish kept pulling them up before they could get roots established. After a while they ended up browning and dying. The Amazon's & 2 other types I got from a place called Fintastic. It's THE best fish store in town, but I could tell some of their plants weren't really kept up. I got the ferns and a few other plants from Petsmart. The swords are doing the best out of the surviving plants.
 
#16 ·
The Marineland are the daylights you need. But one its time to replace them I'd suggest to buy the daylights at Lowes, Homedeopt or Walamrt by either GE or Phillips for one I find them a bit better then the Marineland on plants and they're about 1/4 of the price of what you pay for the "aquarium" bulbs at pet stores.

Now I donno the local store you refer to there, but Petsmart and Petco sell a TON of plants in these lil plastic tubes that are anything but aqatic plants, like ours here if I go look at that stuff and there's a 100 plants about 90-95 of them are not suited for fish tanks at all and I'm very sure this is where your issue is coming from.

I can really only encourage you to buy at sweetaquatics and then get different Swords, Vallis, Ludwigia...whatever you like just a mixture and I bet ya they'll thrive just wonderful in your set up there. I'd offer to mail some but I just recently harvested all my tanks twice for a friend :lol: so need at least few weeks to grow some stuff back for good sized clippings.
 
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