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Post by babygeige on Nov 8, 2008 11:39:18 GMT -5
I just bought some new tall plants for my tank and thought I'd put a little log of all the plants that I have on here. This way, I can keep track of stuff and maybe it will help others as well.
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Post by murdock6701 on Nov 8, 2008 11:45:19 GMT -5
have regretted getting rid of the javas you sent me since the day I did......you are a good plant keeper! maybe will try again now that my giant pleco is gone - he uprooed EVERYTHING mutiple times a day and 10x as bad at night!
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 8, 2008 15:17:15 GMT -5
I regret that I had to get rid of mine too. THey kept growing alage in them (forgot the name but it was one of the kinds that kills plants) Am sorry, I wish you lck wit these plants!!!
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Post by babygeige on Nov 8, 2008 17:42:44 GMT -5
10 Gallon: Basic 15 watt aquarium light from hardware store Anubias barteri: Very easy plant! Just tie to a rock or piece of wood and leave it alone. Grows very slowly.
Java Fern: Also very easy. Tie to rocks or wood.
Java moss: Another plant to tie to rocks or wood. Will create a nice mat and is a great place for fry or shrimp to hide and find food to nibble on. I vacuum mine very gently every now and then to keep it from getting too nasty.
Cryptocoryne lutea: Needs to be planted and fertilized. I've had good success with this plant in regular gravel. Goes through a period of die-off when first planted, but recovers after a couple of weeks. This plant spreads its roots very far, so if you remove it, be careful to not yank it too hard or you will have a big mess on your hands!
All of these plants have been in the tank for over a year and a half and are still very healthy.
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Post by babygeige on Nov 8, 2008 17:52:52 GMT -5
30 gallon: 36 inch 96 watt CF light. In here I have 2 more anubias barteri plants and an anubias nana, which is much smaller has nice ridges on its leaves.
3 crypt lutea: 1 is doing very well and the other 2 are having a hard time recovering from the algae outbreak from several months ago. They are very small, but I haven't given up them yet! On 11/6, I placed a Flourish tab in the gravel near them.
2 Echinodorus tennellus: Plant in the gravel. Nice midground plants. These are also still recovering from the algae. They also each received a Flourish Tab on 11/6. I'll give them a few weeks to see if they recover.
I used to have some cryptocoryne wendtii in this tank as well. It did very well up until my algae outbreak, and did not recover. I plan on trying it again. This is a very plant because it is easy to grow and care for. It's a short-growing foreground plant that is a very nice rusty brown color, which is a nice contrast to all the green plants.
And now for my new experimental plant: On 11/6 I planted 2 Eleocharis montevidensis. According to my research, these need nourished in the substrate like the crypt lutea. I placed 4 Flourish tabs near them to keep them happy. I am hoping that this will work and they will spread and get fuller. Right now they are about 18 inches tall, which is perfect for my tank. We'll see how well they do in gravel!
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 8, 2008 20:02:02 GMT -5
Excellent setups! It seems like you're taking very good care of your fish and plants. Great job!
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Penycat
Full Member
Angels, Guppies & Bettas
Posts: 104
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Post by Penycat on Nov 9, 2008 15:03:09 GMT -5
Renee, the algae that you had that killed the plants, what did it look like? I had gotten the blue/green stuff in one of my tanks. was draped all over the java moss and sides like a carpet (groww nasty stuff!) But I learned though a tank friend that using the maracyn (not 2) will kill the bga and not harm fish nor other plants. I used it, had to go through 2 treatment cycles, but it cleared it up, no fish lost (this was in my son's habrosus tank) and the java moss came through just fine. So, all that to say, if you get that algae again (it's really a bacteria that'll live in your filters and come back), use the maracyn...great stuff.
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Post by Carl on Nov 9, 2008 15:37:33 GMT -5
Penycat; I believe that both Renee and Stephanie had BBA (Black Beard Algae), or at least Stephanie from the picks they sent. Maracyn (Erythromycin) is excellent for Cyanobacteria (also known as Blue/Green Algae), but I do not think that is what they had. See these article: Aquarium Answers; CyanobacteriaAquarium Answers; AlgaeCarl
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 9, 2008 15:48:11 GMT -5
The alage I had was dark green and fuzzy. First it was growing on the roots of one of the planst that was not doing doing so well. Then I isolated the plant that was doing poorly and it started growing on the other two who were seperate, first their roots, then it spread in the 1 gallon container they were in, then a bit of their leaves. I got so worried and had these plants in quarintine for 3 weeks by this time. I eventaully realized that the plants would definitely grow a lot of algae and possiblty the bad kind if I put them in my tanks. Unfortunately, I had to get rid of them...
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Post by babygeige on Nov 25, 2008 15:55:49 GMT -5
My hair grass is starting to turn brown. I am hoping that this is just the initial die-off that new plants have. I trimmed off some of the brown pieces so I can keep track of them better.
I am thinking about cutting off a leave or 2 from each anubias plant. A couple of the bigger leaves look kind of icky still from my algae outbreak. Maybe if I cut off a nasty old leaf, it will encourage the plant to grow some nice fresh ones...
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Post by babygeige on Dec 3, 2008 13:40:38 GMT -5
I think I'm going to have to give up the hair grass. It's still turning brown and there is no sign of new growth. Hopefully this weekend I'll get to the lfs and will be able to get some more corkscrew Vals. Mine are really starting to take off and are reaching a nice height.
This weekend I'm also going to attempt to remove the huge crypt lutea from my 10 gallon and divide it. From what I can tell now, I should be able to divide it into 3 separate plants!!! Hopefully all 3 pieces will continue to flourish once I do this. I'll put the other 2 in my 30 gallon and cross my fingers! I've never divided a crypt plant before, so hopefully I won't lose them to the dreaded "crypt melt."
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Post by babygeige on Dec 6, 2008 17:15:49 GMT -5
I split my crypt lutea today. It had roots extended about 6 inches away!!! I ended up getting 4 plants out of it!! I put one back in the 10 where the big one was, and then put 4 down in the 30 gallon. I gave up on one of the giant hair grass plants, as well as one sword plant. Hopefully the new luteas will take hold and grow! Here are 2 of the pieces that I put in the 30. They're the ones in the middle and on the right. You can see the one Giant hairgrass plant that I haven't yet given up on in the back.
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Post by goldenpuon on Dec 6, 2008 19:37:47 GMT -5
Very nice pictures. You seem to be very good at splitting plants. Good job. Your pictures make me jealous. lol
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Post by babygeige on Dec 7, 2008 16:02:33 GMT -5
Thanks Renee! This is the first time I've had to split one of my plants. Hopefully I didn't kill them! lol
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Post by goldenpuon on Dec 7, 2008 16:10:33 GMT -5
You're welcome. They look good now. Hopefully they'll stay that way. On the positive side, even if one dies, you'll still have more than you started with before you split the orginal plant.
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Post by babygeige on Dec 14, 2008 15:04:47 GMT -5
On Friday I put a ton of new corkscrew vals in the 30 gallon. They were really tall, about 18-20 inches, I am hoping that they will continue to be that tall as new leaves grow in. Here's a picture of them. They're a little wild right now, but once the new leaves start to grow in, they should look less tangled.
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Post by Carl on Dec 14, 2008 15:20:17 GMT -5
They look nice already IMO! ;D
Carl
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Post by goldenpuon on Dec 14, 2008 15:32:15 GMT -5
Nice picture. You're great at taking photographs. The plants do look nice.
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Post by bikeguy33 on Dec 14, 2008 18:32:45 GMT -5
boy you are lucky. wish i could keep plants. the only ones i have been able to keep are banana lillies.
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Post by babygeige on Dec 16, 2008 22:23:45 GMT -5
Thanks guys!
Plant update: The leaves of the Vals are starting to die off a bit, but if I remember correctly, the same thing happened with my first little batch of Vals. I think it's just until they get rooted and start growing new leaves.
I threw a Val in my 10 gallon too, since I had a few leftovers. I'm not sure how well it'll do in there because the lighting is more for low light plants, but I figured it didn't hurt to try.
The crypts that I split and transplanted all seem to be doing very well so far. Yay!
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