South American Plants?

[austrian_predator]

i'm planning on setting up a piranha tank, and i want to replicate the setting of a SA river like the rio negro or the amazon
i'll probably get some elodea with a lead weigth to keep it down and a few different echinodorus' rooted in the ground, but what plants can i strap to bogwood similar to java fern, and what floating plants could i use?
any advice would be greatly appreciated

ps: will a peat filter (for blackwater effect) affect my plants negatively?

 

[t0p_sh0tta]

http://plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=6

It's not region correct but the only other thing I can think of are the Anubias sp.

 

[austrian_predator]

yeah i thought of anubias at first too but i really don't want any "foreign" species in there...best would probably be some ceratophyllum (and maybe water hyacinths if i can find a way to to rid them of the parasites, bacteria and stuff prior to putting it into the tank) floating around and lots of cabombas/echinodorus/vallisneria planted on the bottom
if i can manage to get a hold on some brazilian pennywort, i'll strap that to my bogwood
all of these plants (not sure about the pennywort though) should be well suited for blackwater and the conditions that it brings with it (little light, soft water, etc), so i think this setup is pretty much perfect for a SA-blackwater-tank
if i can find these at a LFS, that is

ps: any advice on keeping a sand-substrate tank with rooting plants? or maybe a mixed gravel/sand tank? would be cool: gravel for the plants, sand for the corys...but is this even doable?

 

[t0p_sh0tta]

I keep vals in sand substrate. They grow like weeds. Sometimes they'll send out a runner and growing plants above the substrate, but that's my only issue.

 

[austrian_predator]

I keep vals in sand substrate. They grow like weeds. Sometimes they'll send out a runner and growing plants above the substrate, but that's my only issue.

ok that's good to hear, because i remember reading somewhere that plants in sand substrate will rot at their roots

 

[mgamer20o0]

nope not true.