Raven Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 The three new plants i bought a couple week back had root systems growing on them, and were doing well. Now though, all the stems of the plants are detaching it seems, from the roots, and i have alot of plants floating on the top of the water. Why does this happen? will the plants die? Or will they grow still? What should i be doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nat Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 Well, I need to say that I am not an expert in maintaining a planted aquarium, but I am about to start one. I like Dutch style aquascaping. I was reading lots of information online about plant care and what is required for abundant plant growth. Here are some sites that I found the most useful. http://faq.thekrib.com/plant.html http://home.infinet.net/teban/ http://www.johnsaquatics.com/aquaticplants.htm Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 What type of plants are they? Some plants are grown emersed and can under go changes when you bring them home and keep them submerged in your tank. I have had swords loose all their leaves after a few weeks in my tank onyl to be replaced by their new under water leaves. Or depending on where you bought these plants they could not even be aquatic plants and won't last long under water. I know a few of my first plants were sold to me as aquatic but turned out to be land plants. Pet stores seems to sell a lot of these types. SO if you can find out a name for your plants that would help a lot in helping you care for it. Tropica is a great site to look for plant info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted September 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 they are new Water Wisteris, a Rotala Indica, and a bocampa (sp) i think. far as i know they were really aquatic plants. ive one whole plat, all its stems i mean floating in the water now, the others seem to be ok... but are loosing them aswell. Maybe my snails are the reason? But ive never heard of a blk mystery and a ramhorn eating plants before, and ive never had any problems till now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 How much lighting do you have on the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 it fits for a 29 g, comes in those blue box kits, with the tank and lid and all that you get from walmart. im not sure what the wattage is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 is there a chance that the stems that are floating arond on the water can grow new roots? or will the roots grow new stems?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 IMO based on my experience you need at least 2.5watts/gallon of light. Preferably 3 or more watts per gallon. And something in the right colour spectrum as well, 6700K is good, I have Coralife 6700K CF's on my 50g. And GE's 9325K CF's on my 55g. I like both. The bulbs that come as part of a kit, to put it bluntly, suck for growing plants. Wrong colour and too little wattage. Rotala and bacopa require lots of light. water wisteria is supposed to be more tolerant of low light but that has not been my experiencewith it. If you want to grow plants you're going to need at the very least a 65watt fixture for your 29g. The bulb you got is probably 15 watts if you're lucky... sorry to be the bearer of bad news... I found all this out the hard way too, a couple years ago... there are some lower light plants like java fern, anubias, java moss and some crypts and swords that you may be able to grow with your bulb. I would try some of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxquo Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 I believe the walmart kits generally carry about 1/4 - 1/2 watt per gallon not really a good choice for a planted tank. I would try for a 1 watt per gallon minimum even on a low light tank. In that much light java fern and moss as well as a few crypts(green wendtii) and maybe aponogeton undulatus would grow okay. Cambomba loves alot more light but it's close relative hornwort may thrive in that lighting Tiger val should do amazing also. Rotala I never had much luck with in hard water or low lighting, though both it and Hygro polysperma went wild outside and the colors were so rockin. Wisteria I can't say much about as my angels killed it down to a nub in days. As far as ramshorns go, yeah they are good plant eaters, I have my convicts borrow the tank for a couple days without food and no more problem there, though I always keep several good batches of MTS as they are great algae controllers, loosen up soil for plants and disappear during the day while I am enjoying my tank. Bad part with MTS is that my convicts can only crush the small ones. Anyways good luck with plants the next ACE auction should have lots of great low light plants unless that is you decide to just add more lighting. Remember to also look for harder water plants unless you are dropping your pH and hardness already. For great plant choices check out, Tropica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 ok, i went looking for pics of my plants on the search engine and found 2 out of 3 of them, the thrid looking close to the one i have but is missing the red tint to the leaves. here they are, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 i went looking or pics of my plants. Of the aquatic ones i found 2/3 of them, the third just looks like it but its lissing the redness. Here they are: http://192.38.244.204/go.asp?plant=032b http://192.38.244.204/go.asp?plant=044 http://192.38.244.204/go.asp?plant=047 It didnt have a pic of water wisteria, does some one have one? im looking for a pic of my myserty plant too... no luck yet. oh, and the hardness is always, usualy on the high side of the scale. ph around nuetral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinalcore Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 Here is the page for water wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) http://192.38.244.204/go.asp?plant=055 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 Unfortunately those are all high light demanding plants... Garhans suggestion of getting lights from Home Depot is a good one, I've not gone that way myself, but I know others who have and it works great at a fraction of the cost. Oxquo, it is interesting that you've found Rotala doesn't do well in harder water... my Rotala is my number one performer... I can't keep up to it!! :well: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 hmm.... so they are of high light demands? I havent even had the plants for 2 weeks yet so, maye i can return them to petsmart, and get different ones. If not maybe i can get new bulbs. Ill check home depot and some petstores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 Yeah i woudl say its probably a lighting problem. I have had luck growing java fern, vals and crypts(c. wendtii and walkeri) and E. osiris in my tanks with only 1 watts per gal. They didn't grow fast but were quite healthy. But i have had more luck with 2 watt per gal tanks, plants grow faster so its easier to recover if somethign happens to then. So i would say that if you stick with low light plants you dont' need much more then 2 watts/gal. I upgraded my lights with DIY lights that i got a home depot. It was WAY cheaper then buying a new fixture at the LFS. ANd if you make it yourself you can add as much lighting as you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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