I'm still uncertain as to what kind of plant that is. I'm inclined to say water sprite or wisteria.
plants needs
- Thread starter green_fox
- Start date
You're not related to e-wurm, are you ?! 
Anyhow, WyldFya already gave good advice regarding the sword. I had one survive on just fish poop and a regular light bulb. But if you want it to grow healthy, better lights and ferts are a must.
Get some good liquid ferts
Referring to the other plants, please check WyldFya's suggestions and compare your plants with pics you find under these names in google. That might speed up the IDing. In general, that kind of plant grows denser with good, new, strong lights. CO2 goes a long way. I generally do not recommend CO2 since it does not make too much of a difference for most plants, but these may enjoy it quite a bit.
Here are some questions for you, the answers to which may be able to point us into a better direction to trouble-shoot if your plants start to show signs of discomfort:
HarleyK
Anyhow, WyldFya already gave good advice regarding the sword. I had one survive on just fish poop and a regular light bulb. But if you want it to grow healthy, better lights and ferts are a must.
Get some good liquid ferts
Referring to the other plants, please check WyldFya's suggestions and compare your plants with pics you find under these names in google. That might speed up the IDing. In general, that kind of plant grows denser with good, new, strong lights. CO2 goes a long way. I generally do not recommend CO2 since it does not make too much of a difference for most plants, but these may enjoy it quite a bit.
Here are some questions for you, the answers to which may be able to point us into a better direction to trouble-shoot if your plants start to show signs of discomfort:
- tank dimensions
- fish species (scientific names or pics)
- invertebrate species, e.g. crawfish, snails (scientific names or pics)
- water chemistry (pH, kH, gH, nitrates, phosphates, iron)
- temperature
- lights (wattage, type, age)
- lighting period (hours/day)
- substrate (type, depth, ferts)
- use of medication/ferts
HarleyK
what gallon tank is it? plants will do better with more like 10-12 hours of light. believe it or not they need dark as much as they need light!
Howdy,
I once kept a ramshorn, and it started to eat all of my plants. Needless to say that I was transferred to another plantless tank. You should keep an eye on those guys, they can get very hungry.
The temp is good for the fish you keep, but may be a bit low for the plants. In that temp range, Egeria densa would be the best choice for you.
Fluorescent bulbs decrease dramatically in the (for plants) usable spectrum within a year or less. If your bulb is older, you may want to think about new bulbs or even some extra lighting (wattage). An increase in lighting period cannot make up for aging of bulbs.
15 h light is on the higher end, but as long as you don't grow algae you are fine
Good luck,
and let us know if you have more questions,
HarleyK
I once kept a ramshorn, and it started to eat all of my plants. Needless to say that I was transferred to another plantless tank. You should keep an eye on those guys, they can get very hungry.
The temp is good for the fish you keep, but may be a bit low for the plants. In that temp range, Egeria densa would be the best choice for you.
Fluorescent bulbs decrease dramatically in the (for plants) usable spectrum within a year or less. If your bulb is older, you may want to think about new bulbs or even some extra lighting (wattage). An increase in lighting period cannot make up for aging of bulbs.
15 h light is on the higher end, but as long as you don't grow algae you are fine
Good luck,
and let us know if you have more questions,
HarleyK
It's an Anti-/\/\onsterTankWhat light technology do you have? Incandescent bulb? Fluorescent? screw-in power compact?
For a tank that small you can consider a DIY yeast CO2 system ... I have no clue about those, though, you may want to search this forum and use Google for instructions.
HarleyK
CO2 is cheap for a tank that small. Get a 20oz. bottle, some rigid air tubing that will fit inside silicone air tubing, some silicone airtubing, and a powerhead (small as you can find for that tank). Drill a hole that the rigid tubing will fit very snug inside in the top of cap of the bottle. Attach the tubing, to the powerhead. Place 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp yeast (brewers works longer) and 76-80F water, stop filling at about 3" down from the top. DO NOT SHAKE! Screw on the lid, put rigid tubing into small hole, silicone tubing to powerhead, plug it in. BANG! CO2 in your tank.
Find a good substrait that is high in iron and for down the road a bottle of fertilizer for aquatic plants. The substrait will do most of the nutritional needs your plants will need, fish will cover the rest, fert for when you really need it. Also the best thing you do is get a book on aquarium plants, find one that has pics as well as a good discription so that you may look at your plants and like fish, be able to determin thier conditiom as far a infection, fish nipping at them, low Co2, or needing fertilizer. Also keep in mind that certain plants may look dead but they are in a state of dormancy as part of thier cycle, so you need to learn your plants so you do not remove what looks to be a dead plant whenin accuality it is just going through a rest phase.
Side note: Iron is needed as it is a catylist for photsyntisis, too much can be bad, to little and the plant starves to death.
Side note: Iron is needed as it is a catylist for photsyntisis, too much can be bad, to little and the plant starves to death.
