Plants in gravel ok?

[anasfire23]

I have a 10g community tank which I have stocked with the various fish listed in my signature and added a lot of plants to. I've got a large bunch of Elodea and 2 others I don't' know the names of but have taken pictures for someone here to identify if they like. These all came bound with either elastic bands or some kind of plastic coated wire stuff at the base so I've just pushed these into my gravel substrate and they are staying put for now but what I am wondering is whether I should buy some kind of soil substrate to place a layer of under my gravel so they can take root, if they indeed can take root. I've had elodea start to grow roots in my tank but I rearrange it so often that it never gets a firm hold in there. I do fertilise the plants in my tank once a week with a liquid fish safe fertiliser and none of them look as though they are dying or anything. I'd just like to know the best course of action to keep them happy. I am kind of new to the plant thing (had elodea before and it is hard to kill lol) but none of any other kind of plant.


Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[MyraVan]

So you want to know the best course of action to keep the plants happy..

Well, I don't think you're going to have much luck keeping those plants in the picture happy. I don't know what the first one is, but in my experience any stem plant with red or reddish leaves is going to be very demanding, and is best left to people with high light & CO2 injection (in other words, too difficult for me!). The second plant I do recognize: it's a common houseplant called an aluminum plant. It's not an aquatic plant and it will die no matter what you do.

There are plenty of nice easy-care plants you can try that will succeed without too much effort on your part; you've discovered that elodea is one of them. Look up others in the sticky "Beginner plants for new planted tank owners" for others.

[anasfire23]

If the second one is Aluminum plant and is a house plant and not aquatic then why in the hell was it in the plant tank at my LFS? I've not just gone out to the garden, chosen some plants I like the look of and jammed them into the gravel hoping they look nice. I'm not that "new" to plants. Sorry, I'm just a little annoyed.. I mean I bought 4 aquatic plants at the LFS for $18 and the woman said that they were all pretty easy to look after as long as they get light and fertiliser. I don't have a problem with light as my tank is situated in the direct path of a window and gets at least 4 hours of sun a day and as I said previously I fertilise them with the recommended dose once a week. So why on earth would an aquarium store be selling house plants in massive tanks of water claiming they are aquatic if they know they are just going to die shortly after and get complaints constantly? Doesn't make any sense to me. I suppose only time will tell.


Edit: I just rang the LFS where I got them from and the woman said that the second one is aluminium plant and it's not a true aquatic plant but it has the ability of surviving under water for quite a while and the other one is called Ludwigia and they should both grow well as long as they get enough sunlight and fertilised regularly.

[goodie]

They sell them because people buy them. I've done the same thing too. If you can take them back. I know that my local Petco does the same thing.

[MyraVan]

Yeah, it annoys me too, that fish shops sell houseplants in the planted tank section! Probably they do it because only newbies buy them, and they think that when the plant dies that it's something that they did wrong, not that the plant wasn't an aquatic plant to begin with, so they just go back and buy more.

I haven't tried Ludwigia yet, so maybe it goes against the usual thing of "red leaves, hard to take care of". Let us know how it does in your tank.

[Christine]

Ludwigia requires high light IME (short tho it is), Myra is right. Most LFS give wrong info about fish... and are even worse about plants. If you are going to shop for plants, its probably a good idea to research them before you buy unless you don't mind coming home with stuff that will die. I usually use the plant guide at http://www.plantgeek.net.

[anasfire23]

Thanks guys. I ended up taking the aluminium plant back yesterday and got some kind of grass that starts with a V but kept the ludwigia. My tank gets quite a few hours of sun light a day as well as I have a table lamp that I keep on the tank for roughly 12 hours a day and I'm going to set up my large bubble stone in a minute. I haven't had it in there since I changed filters from one that required wool and carbon and an air pump to an all in one unit that used a sponge. I'm thinking about 2 courses of action at the moment. 1st saving up to buy a 3ft tank or 2nd saving for a light hood, both are about the same price. I would really love a larger tank because I want to keep more species of fish (tetras mainly, I love them) and can't put any more into my 2ft tank without dire problems. I'd leave my 2 ft as a Guppy tank. I think I'll just start saving and see what I feel like when I get enough money. Also I am still waiting to hear about a job at my LFS and if I get it I'm sure I'd get staff discount on items.

[Damon]

Ludwigia repens (which is what that is) is not a demanding plant. Does require decent lighting but not high (2wpg N.O. will be enough). It would help a great deal to inject at least DIY co2. The second one is aluminum. And as a note, sunlight will cause more problems than solutions in an aquarium. I would not take any more advice from that person at the lfs. There may be a few good ones there but that kind of info sends up a red flag in my book about the quality of the store in general.

[anasfire23]

how would I go about setting up a DIY Co2??

[goodie]

Originally Posted by anasfire23

how would I go about setting up a DIY Co2??

http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/co2-narten.html

The only two things that I found to be a PITB when it came to the DIY Co2 was making sure that nothing leaked(loss of gas) and getting a consistant production of Co2 with each sugar/yeast mixture.

[anasfire23]

WOW that is all way to involved and difficult for me. I think I'll just take my chances and hope they live. If they don't oh well I'll just replace them, they are relativity cheap. Thanks for the info though.

[MyraVan]

I'm glad you got them to take the aluminum plant back.

The one you got in exchange is probably Vallisneria, which is a good choice: it's a fairly easy plant to grow.

Sunlight is OK in moderation, like having a tank against a wall where it gets a few hours of sun a day. As an experiment I tried putting a little tank directly in front of a window with no artificial lighting. It worked well in the winter, but with the increased sunlight of spring, it's covered in algae, so I'm about to move it away from the window and give it a fluoro tube. It might be possible to exactly balance the light entering with the needs of the plants so you don't get a mess of algae, but I didn't manage it!

I also feel that DIY CO2 is too much of a pain in the behind, so I don't do it. But you'll want to remove the bubble stone, if you ended up putting it in. It will drive off what little CO2 you actually have in the water, so it's not a good thing. As long as your fish are swimming normally, not gasping at the surface for air, you've got plenty enough oxygen in the water.

[anasfire23]

Ok, I will remove the air stone asap. I have noticed a few of my fish gasping at the surface recently so with the filter I have in there I can place it so the spray arm is just above the water (I have it below at the moment coz I find the sound of the trickling water, um, distracting hehe) If I put it above the water a little it creates a few gentle bubbles so it won't be as intense as the air stone but yet still infuse a bit of O2 into the water. I will be getting a fluro hood one of these days, I have found algae growing more predominately on the side of the tank that gets the natural light and it's a little too out of control for my mystery snail to keep up. Just waiting for business to take off and to hear back about the job at the LFS so I can make a little more dough. My first pay cheque will go on a light hood for my tank and a deposit on a 3 or 4ft tank .

[Kyoberr]

Oh my goodness, anasfire23, don't be such a jerk, Myravan doesn't have to help you at all (and aluminum plants don't grow in most gardens anyways). You don't have to flare up.

Give the plants a chance (besides the aluminum one), and see if you can do it from trial and error

[Damon]

Originally Posted by Kyoberr

Oh my goodness, anasfire23, don't be such a jerk, Myravan doesn't have to help you at all (and aluminum plants don't grow in most gardens anyways). You don't have to flare up.

Give the plants a chance (besides the aluminum one), and see if you can do it from trial and error

What are you talking about?

[anasfire23]

Yeah what are you talking about? I wasn't a jerk to anyone...and if you are talking about my second post after myra's post I wasn't directing my frustration at them, I was just frustrated in general and it does say ,and I quote, ' Sorry, I'm just a little annoyed.. '.

I also have an update on my plant situation.

The grass I got is called Jungle Val it growns like a freakin weed in very little light!!! I've had to trim it three times since I got it 2 weeks ago. I also got a nice medium sized Amazon sword that already reaches the water level in my tank, but I'm not too sure how to trim it when it gets too long. Should I just cut below the leaves or cut the whole stalk off near the roots?

I'm hoping to buy a 3ft tank sometime in the next few weeks and transfer everything into the new tank. That is, if I can find a surface large enough and sturdy enough to hold the tank. My ex is a wood machinist/cabinet maker so I'm sure he can make something for me.. he's already making me a hood for my 2ft tank. I'm going to leave my 2ft tank as a guppy tank and have all tetras in my 3ft. Well that's my dream anyway.