Easy care plant that provides lots of cover for potential CPD babies?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

So, my 4.12 gal Aquatop cube with 9 CPDs is apparently not a suitable home for my now very unhappy Subwassertang. It was a lovely medium green and fluffy now it's gone dark and flat....which is funny since it was that lovely green and fat in a 3 gallon with the same light!

I think I'll have to replace it. I love me an easy plant. What would be good for cover if I got CPD babies. I'm not really looking to breed but ok with the whol Darwin's game in that tank. It will be a back corner behind a piece of chola which has a small Anubias and Narrow Leaf attached to it. 

[Patrick_G]

My first thought is Java Moss, but a thick bunch of Rotala H’ra would look good. I use it in my very low tech three gal. The tips are a really pretty red color. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

ugh @Patrick_G unfortunately for some reason I suck at Java Moss. Rotala looks like my Ludwigia Red Needle leaf (same plant different name???) which grows very well in my parent tank maybe I will propagate that. 

 

update: hmm possibly a google miss. Rotala looks different..but maybe my red needle would work.

Edited November 8, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[StockEwe49]

Guppy grass is very bushy and grows fast, great cover for fry. 🙂 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@StockEwe49 I was JUST looking at that online, thank you. It looks like a neat plant. Guppy grass just sits above ths substrate? No planting needed?

I'm just bummed my Subbwassertang doesn't seem to like me right now, it's so cool. 

[StockEwe49]

@xXInkedPhoenixX You can float it or plant. It will send out white long roots to root to the substrate.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@StockEwe49 ah ok cool, thanks much that will be on my radar for sure. 

[Mmiller2001]

Pearl Weed

[Brandon p]

I bought some of the little trees they sell online and on eBay. And glue moss from my yard one spot. I stoped buying and found branches around. I typically stand them uprights look like trees. I think you could use a thick branch and set the bushing part down and glue the moss so it faces the light. You could make it as thick or or thin  to protect fry’s very easy if you are interested . You get super glue(gel type) and place the moss where you want , and grow nice and slow. Remember the pics were meant to look like trees. I’m marking a Christmas tree that won’t be done be Christmas. Just an idea for for

[anewbie]

My frys mostly hide in rotala and hornworth combo. Having said that do cpd frys hang at the top or bottom of the aquarium ? I know guppy frys are at the very top and swordtail frys are at the very bottom (always for both).

 

[JettsPapa]

For fry cover I agree with @Mmiller2001about the pearl weed.  It's a great-looking plant that provides good cover, and can be grown floating or planted.

And by the way, don't give up on your subwassertang just yet.  I had some that I bought online and dropped into a 10 gallon shrimp tank.  It looked great, but eventually just seemed to get smaller and smaller until I thought it was all gone, but months later I saw a few green patches of it, and after that it expanded to the point that I removed a sandwich sized bag and sold it at my local LFS.  Apparently it can take a really long time to get acclimated to new conditions.

[StockEwe49]

@xXInkedPhoenixXlike @JettsPapaand @Mmiller2001 said pearl weed is also very good. It is similar to guppy grass but it grows slower in my tanks.  It is also a plant people recommend if you want a carpeting effect but don't run CO2. you can plant it in bunches and trim it and it will look like a carpet.

[Dwayne Brown]

I have had success with endler fry hiding in the roots of water lettuce. 

[Jennifer V]

On 11/8/2021 at 8:02 AM, JettsPapa said:

For fry cover I agree with @Mmiller2001

And by the way, don't give up on your subwassertang just yet.  I had some that I bought online and dropped into a 10 gallon shrimp tank.  It looked great, but eventually just seemed to get smaller and smaller until I thought it was all gone, but months later I saw a few green patches of it, and after that it expanded to the point that I removed a sandwich sized bag and sold it at my local LFS.  Apparently it can take a really long time to get acclimated to new conditions.

I had the same experience with some of my susswassertang. One bunch was fine but the other looked like it completely died at first. I removed the really bad looking parts and what I left in the tank eventually started to grow like crazy. It took a couple months but now it's everywhere in my tank. It grows so quickly I'm running out of room. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

On 11/8/2021 at 4:53 AM, anewbie said:

My frys mostly hide in rotala and hornworth combo. Having said that do cpd frys hang at the top or bottom of the aquarium ? I know guppy frys are at the very top and swordtail frys are at the very bottom (always for both).

 

That's the thing, since I haven't raised anything but Otos, not sure where the fry will hang out, they may not even hang out in these sorts of plants. All I do know is CPDs aren't supposed to be paternal and will eat their eggs, which I assume also means eat fry. 

On 11/8/2021 at 8:37 AM, Jennifer V said:

I had the same experience with some of my susswassertang. One bunch was fine but the other looked like it completely died at first. I removed the really bad looking parts and what I left in the tank eventually started to grow like crazy. It took a couple months but now it's everywhere in my tank. It grows so quickly I'm running out of room. 

I've had my Subwassertang for about 8 months, granted it has been moved 3x so it's probably mad at me- plus what it's in now is a relatively new tank while the other tanks were seasoned. It actually hasn't grown much since I've had it- but I don't use ferts or anything fancy in my tanks.

On 11/8/2021 at 7:02 AM, JettsPapa said:

For fry cover I agree with @Mmiller2001about the pearl weed.  It's a great-looking plant that provides good cover, and can be grown floating or planted.

And by the way, don't give up on your subwassertang just yet.  I had some that I bought online and dropped into a 10 gallon shrimp tank.  It looked great, but eventually just seemed to get smaller and smaller until I thought it was all gone, but months later I saw a few green patches of it, and after that it expanded to the point that I removed a sandwich sized bag and sold it at my local LFS.  Apparently it can take a really long time to get acclimated to new conditions.

I won't give up on it, but I think it's going to take an exceptionally long time to come back from what I've done to the poor thing. It's a bummer- it's actually one of my favorite plants. 

[anewbie]

My guppy frys hide in h'ra rotala mess that floats at the top of my aquarium: This stuff is 2 or 3 inches deep and covers about 40% of the top (or it did until i ripped most of it out the past couple of weeks):

 

[Guppysnail]

Fanwort and hornwort are fantastic for CPD fry. They are smaller than eyelashes when they become free swimming. The adults love to lay in the bushiness but don’t stick their nose in deep enough to eat the eggs and wrigglers until they can swim. They will stay tight in those until large enough to not get eaten. It also will house a lot of microfauna essential for these wee ones. 

They also cling to walls plants etc when they first start trying to swim. This is where adults pick many off. These protect from that a bit as well

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I ended up getting a pretty good deal on some "pest free" Guppy Grass (3 handfuls for the price of 2- the rest of it going into another tank and a relative's). I'm going to try it first though it really reminds me of bermuda grass. Hopefully it grows on me (ba dum dum!). If not I'll try one of the others suggested here. I'm pretty well convinced my Subwassertang is going to give up the ghost, it is SUPER dark and seems like its deteriorating. I didn't pull it out because I'm sure if it IS going to come back taking it out probably won't help it as I've said before- moving it 3x probably didn't make it happy. Anyhow here is the Guppy Grass. Don't mind the Sake glass that is holding my crushed coral 😄

Edited November 10, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
1 more thing.

[Hobbit]

Looks good @xXInkedPhoenixX! I’m late to the party but I was going to recommend anacharis, which is sometimes called Elodea. Many big box chain stores sell it, and it grows super fast and seems to need no attention. It will float unless you weigh it down with plant weights or beads or something. I’m using it in all my growout tanks along with hornwort.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Hobbit oh I'm still taking suggestions cause....you never know!