plants

[BigFish]

if i just want a couple of plants in my tank do i need a special light or a Co2 tank or anything special for them and how do i avoid algea problems.

 

[rallysman]

there are a lot of plants that can survive without co2 or really special lighting. try some plants like java fern or cobomba and see how they do...they are pretty easy to take care of.

 

[cmersits]

the best plant i've grown are swords, particularly amazon swords. They are really hardy plants. If you dont have the best lighting, substrate, CO2, Swords are the way too go!

 

[USMCtanker]

thats awsome i dittnt know that, but im sure if i wanted nice plants then i would have to upgrade to keep them alive right. but the one they sell at lps they dont need that

 

[blacktip]

Be careful what plants you buy from the lfs. I see a lot of bog plants being sold as aquatic plants. They will last for a month or so underwater, but will eventually die.

As long as you have fluorescent lighting, you can grow some of the lower light tolerant plants. As mentioned previously, java ferns are great for low light, as are anubias. Amazon swords would not be a bad choice although I have found that mine stay rather small under low light conditions. I have had excellent luck with contortion val and italitan val as well.

What is your current light setup, number of bulbs, type, size, wattage, etc? And what is the size and depth of your tank? Armed with that info, we could probably give you some better advice.

 

[soulfly]

How about water sprite. it's a floating plant that requires little light. I have a water sprite jungle in my tnk.

 

[TONY60]

we can't get a lot of plants here. All we get are dried bulbs. There is only 4 or 5 types of bulbs. Did someone mention a reputable internet plant provider?

 

[guppy]

I don't care for water sprite because it overwhelms the tank, easy to grow though. Welcome to MFK Soulfly.
Tony60, I see several online but have never used them.

 

[sohfatfish]

To prevent algae problems you need to make sure that your plants use up all the excess nutrients in the water before the algae get a chance to. Try those fast growing stemmed plants like hydrilla and cabomba. You could use java moss on driftwood or just let them spread over the foreground.Try out water wysteria and vallisneria as well ad they a pretty easy to grow.

 

[Hakon]

Agreed^ There is many fast growing plants, like Vallisneria and Lemna minor. None of them needs much light or CO2. Other low-light plants: Anubias, javamoss and fern and swords, as mentioned above.