zayackylepga Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 Does anyone have any good recommendations for hard water plants? Looking to rescape my tank this week and looking for some stem plants that do well with this liquid rock water here in South Jersey. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 We have pretty hard water here. We have good luck so far with crypts, anubias, and swords go nuts in our water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 Hard water here also, with pH at 8.2. In addition to those mentioned by @GameCzar, I've had good luck with water wisteria, corkscrew val, guppy grass, and pearl weed. Subwassertang is also doing well, but it took a very long time to get acclimated. I thought it had all died, but months later I started seeing a little bit of it. Now it's thriving. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 9:21 AM, JettsPapa said: Hard water here also, with pH at 8.2. In addition to those mentioned by @GameCzar, I've had good luck with water wisteria, corkscrew val, guppy grass, and pearl weed. Subwassertang is also doing well, but it took a very long time to get acclimated. I thought it had all died, but months later I started seeing a little bit of it. Now it's thriving. Add guppy grass to our list as well, it propagates like crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 hornwort likes minerality, all Val types will do well in there, it will take patience as usually the sources we get our plants from have softer water so they will take months to adapt. If you have an LFS that sells plants and their water is similar you'll have a jump start on the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayackylepga Posted December 6, 2021 Author Share Posted December 6, 2021 How do you guys handle water changes? Do you mix tap water with any RO water or Distilled water to soften it, or just roll with the tap water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 i try not to mess with mixing things, as it adds variables. i tend to set up a tank, and just roll with it. if you have hard water, start with that in mind, but dont hesitate to experiment, as despite what many say there are many things folks say wont work in hard water or soft water, that cross over just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman12r Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 @JettsPapaSame water here and I throw out handfuls of guppy grass every week. I also have lots of dwarf water lettuce, narrow leaf Anachris, various Anubius species, Java Fern, Java Moss. In my dirted tank I have several crypts growing. What I've found is that most of the plants take a while before they start growing. The guppy grass, Java moss and Anachris sat for 2+months before anything really happened. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 11:50 AM, zayackylepga said: How do you guys handle water changes? Do you mix tap water with any RO water or Distilled water to soften it, or just roll with the tap water? I use straight tap water for water changes, but I recently started using distilled water for top offs to replace water lost to evaporation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 11:50 AM, zayackylepga said: How do you guys handle water changes? Do you mix tap water with any RO water or Distilled water to soften it, or just roll with the tap water? We've tried to pick species that thrive in our tap water parameters, but as @JettsPapa said you can use distilled water to bring it down in smaller tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayackylepga Posted December 7, 2021 Author Share Posted December 7, 2021 Would turning the light up melt crypts? Experiencing some crypt melt and thought it was the hard water but now wondering if brighter light could have caused it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle murfitt Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 8:13 PM, zayackylepga said: Would turning the light up melt crypts? Experiencing some crypt melt and thought it was the hard water but now wondering if brighter light could have caused it? In my tank it definitely did. Had cryps in my big tank with a 3.0 led fluval and they did not like it. Moved all to my 30 with a finnex that's more mid or low light and they're growing awesome now. Also hard water here in Houston. Lots of Val, Dwarf saggitaria, cryps, and swords . Wisteria is going ok but took a loooong time to acclimate and start growing submersed style leaves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 8:41 PM, Kyle murfitt said: In my tank it definitely did. Had cryps in my big tank with a 3.0 led fluval and they did not like it. Moved all to my 30 with a finnex that's more mid or low light and they're growing awesome now. Also hard water here in Houston. Lots of Val, Dwarf saggitaria, cryps, and swords . Wisteria is going ok but took a loooong time to acclimate and start growing submersed style leaves We're just down the road, near Beaumont. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle murfitt Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 8:43 PM, GameCzar said: We're just down the road, near Beaumont. Lol nice. I'm south of town near Galveston and worked over there for a while at the plants. I-10 to 146 suuuucked 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 8:41 PM, Kyle murfitt said: In my tank it definitely did. Had cryps in my big tank with a 3.0 led fluval and they did not like it. Moved all to my 30 with a finnex that's more mid or low light and they're growing awesome now. Also hard water here in Houston. Lots of Val, Dwarf saggitaria, cryps, and swords . Wisteria is going ok but took a loooong time to acclimate and start growing submersed style leaves On 12/6/2021 at 8:43 PM, GameCzar said: We're just down the road, near Beaumont. On 12/6/2021 at 8:45 PM, Kyle murfitt said: Lol nice. I'm south of town near Galveston and worked over there for a while at the plants. I-10 to 146 suuuucked It's a southeast Texas party. I'm up between Navasota and Hempstead. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Averus Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 The above are all good choices, but I would also like to add Tiger Lotus, Pogostemon Stellatus 'Octopus', Moneywort and Frogbit. I have reasonably hard water here in North Jersey, and all are doing great. The Lotus took a little bit to establish itself, but is really growing now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Another consideration could be Taiwan Lilly, pretty hardy and with a root tab it almost always takes off. I think you have a great plant list to choose from that won't break the bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Vallisneria will be your best friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindabee53 Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 On 12/7/2021 at 7:53 AM, JettsPapa said: It's a southeast Texas party. I'm up between Navasota and Hempstead. South-central Texas, out in the country between Austin and Temple. Too far to party, I guess. Our water is very hard here, but my plants seem to be doing well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman12r Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 8:41 PM, Kyle murfitt said: In my tank it definitely did. Had cryps in my big tank with a 3.0 led fluval and they did not like it. Moved all to my 30 with a finnex that's more mid or low light and they're growing awesome now. Also hard water here in Houston. Lots of Val, Dwarf saggitaria, cryps, and swords . Wisteria is going ok but took a loooong time to acclimate and start growing submersed style leaves On 12/6/2021 at 8:43 PM, GameCzar said: We're just down the road, near Beaumont. On 12/7/2021 at 7:53 AM, JettsPapa said: It's a southeast Texas party. I'm up between Navasota and Hempstead. On 12/7/2021 at 12:27 PM, lindabee53 said: South-central Texas, out in the country between Austin and Temple. Too far to party, I guess. Our water is very hard here, but my plants seem to be doing well. You are all northerners. From Laredo here. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmurray407 Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 I just got some Bacopa caroliniana. There are several species of Bacopa (Moneywort is another Bacopa) My water is very hard and alkaline and I have read that it should do great in my water so I just got some to try. I think both orf those are available from the Coop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Everyone mentioning guppy grass here, I must have the wrong stuff. I can't seem to get it to acclimate to my 320ppm water. Also, I just saw Corry's new walk through is urban fish farm, and he pulls up a plant of guppy grass by the pot and it holds together! The stuff I have basically shatters at the slightest touch. I'm starting to think I definitely have a bad clone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 You’re all southerners. From DFW here! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayackylepga Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 (edited) Has anyone had Anacharis or cabomba? Was looking at those two. Like bacopa carolinia too, may go that route as well Edited December 8, 2021 by zayackylepga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaitieG Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 For stem plants specifically, I've had great success with Hygrophila angustifolia in my super hard Wisconsin water. I've had failures with Brazilian Pennywort, Scarlet Temple, and Water Sprite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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