BettaBeats Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) Hi there, I am new to the forums and obviously new to Aquariums. My friend has gotten me into keeping fish and live plants afterI fell in love with his 10 gal nano reef. At the moment I am figuring out what works best, is cost efficient, and is easy for me to get to (big als and Pices can be over a 1.5 hr bus ride) I purchased Cabomba, Java Fern and Vallisneria spiralis from PetSmart since it is close to my work and a CTrain. All are doing quite well. Aside from the cabomba 'melting' because I had planted them criss-crossing, I have been able to successfully grow clippings. However, I also bought 'Mondo Grass' from PetSmart. Google search says these plants are not fully-aquatic. They are doing well in my tank, hardly need to clip off dead leaves. But I dont want to allow these plants to die. I like the look of them but I know there are other plants I could possibly get to replace them and get the same aesthetic value. My shrimp and Betta really enjoy the 'garden' of these Mondo grasses. How to I sustain these healthy plants if they are not fully aquatic? Thanks for your help. Also, when I get a good video done I will do an introductory post to my tank. however, here is a good pic of the one side of my 10 gal. with a lot of my fauna showing too! Edited July 25, 2009 by BettaBeats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishclubgirl Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 This is an interesting question as I had heard the same thing about mondo grass. I love to get new plants and will buy anything that I've never heard of and ask questions later. So far, I have 3 plants that are not considered true aquatic plants and after 2-3 months immersed, 2 out of 3 are growing well, the other may be one of the rare "plasticus" kind for how it's doing. None of it is rotting so don't believe everything you read!! I may have to try that mondo grass myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qtheepie Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 This is an interesting question as I had heard the same thing about mondo grass. I love to get new plants and will buy anything that I've never heard of and ask questions later. So far, I have 3 plants that are not considered true aquatic plants and after 2-3 months immersed, 2 out of 3 are growing well, the other may be one of the rare "plasticus" kind for how it's doing. None of it is rotting so don't believe everything you read!! I may have to try that mondo grass myself. The experience I had with mondo grass is that it stayed nice for months and all of a sudden leaf, leaf after leavh yellowed and died, until it was all gone. But it took several months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 Lots of fish stores sell non-aquatic plants. Many non-aquatics actually last longer in tank conditions that aren't plant-friendly. They won't really grow, but they may take several months to die, while the real aquatics disintegrate in a week or two. Some stores' management/staff don't know the difference and just sell what their supplier sends them. If you're interested in keeping more live plants, you might want to check out The 101 Best Aquarium Plants. It's a good (and cheap!) little book that describes commonly available plant species, plus has a list of ones to avoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaBeats Posted July 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 Lots of fish stores sell non-aquatic plants. Many non-aquatics actually last longer in tank conditions that aren't plant-friendly. They won't really grow, but they may take several months to die, while the real aquatics disintegrate in a week or two. Some stores' management/staff don't know the difference and just sell what their supplier sends them.If you're interested in keeping more live plants, you might want to check out The 101 Best Aquarium Plants. It's a good (and cheap!) little book that describes commonly available plant species, plus has a list of ones to avoid. that you, i have been looking for a good read on the aquatic plant subject. right now i have to contend with live birth Fry.. from my Platy. I just thought she was dumb but she definately was popping them out today I'm happy because this is my first ever fish tank and things seem to be going quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 that you, i have been looking for a good read on the aquatic plant subject. The 101 Aquarium Plants is a good ID guide, but a little sparse on general planted tank setup and care. You may also want to have a look at The Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants for more info on plant biology, water quality, lighting, etc., etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 A good replacement for Mondo Grass would be Micro Sword or Pygmy Sagitaria. If you have an HOB filter, you can take the lid off and place your Mondo Grass in there. The roots will grow down thru the media while the leaves will be out of the water and grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 The experience I had with mondo grass is that it stayed nice for months and all of a sudden leaf, leaf after leavh yellowed and died, until it was all gone. But it took several months. My experience with mondo grass was in 2 small 3L betta tanks a coworker and I have at the office that we had consistently been doing water changes on every 3-4 days. It looked great for a few months and then a few leaves would yellow and die off and then I noticed a white cottony growth that I think was some sort of fungus spreading from its roots out across the gravel in one of the tanks. It looked very similar to a bacterial bloom but grew out in a hexagonal grid like pattern almost like webbing. It happened about a month later in the other tank so we decided to toss them rather than risk something nasty affecting the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Yes again, an old thread but info can still be given. I'd have to say 50%/50% . I mean that 50% of the fish stores lack knowledge of what is an aquatic plant and what isn't an aquatic plant The other 50% have the knowledge, know the difference and still have it for sale. Why then? Because someone bought something that looks pretty at the time...and the store knows when it dies you'll be back to buy another plant. It's a business...they want you to buy over and over...they need your $ for their profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanie1978 Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Mondo grass looks like a cousin to my spider palnts. A good current in the tank might help. I have spider plants in my tank, definitely not aquatic by nature and they do die off quickly if there's low/weak current in it. They yellow, fuzz up and mold within a few months. A nice bubble wall with a high pump or powerheads might keep them moving and stop them from dying off. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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