Planted angel and rummy nose 55 gallon

[Torrey]

Snow?!?

[Mydonkeyfish]

i live in virginia and we got about 4 inches of snow today and we got out of school early!

[Torrey]

4" on top of the earlier storm, that's a lot of snow for VA!

[Jennifer V]

On 1/18/2022 at 2:34 PM, Odd Duck said:

These are certainly plants that would likely do well in this tank but they are definitely not all from South American.

Anubias are from central and western Africa, Cryptocoryne are all from Asia and some nearby countries, and Lloydiella/Lysimachia is native to Central Europe.  Check out “The Crypt Pages” for great info on Crypts including pages listed by country of origin.

 

 

Do you know of a site with a correct list of South American plants? I'm kind of overwhelmed by all the research I'm trying to do. 

[Odd Duck]

On 1/21/2022 at 3:37 PM, Jennifer V said:

Do you know of a site with a correct list of South American plants? I'm kind of overwhelmed by all the research I'm trying to do. 

I was never able to find a fully correct list.  There are certainly retail sites that do list by continent, but the lists are not 100% accurate (or I wouldn’t have Crypt usteriana growing up in one tank).  I had hoped to find an article about an angelfish biotope and I did find one, but it didn’t have a very thorough list, IMO.  Of course, now I can’t even find that article.  I’m not sure how helpful this will be as there are plants on the list that are not easily available nor specific to angelfish habitat.

 

This is the closest I could find to accurate with only South American plants, except for the Crinum purpurascens which is from Africa.  This is from Laboratore Francodex and it’s not very well written since it’s not always clear when they are listing a species within a genus.  I’ve done a copy/paste on the list as written.  Then I’ve typed it in with a bit more appropriate notation when listing within a genus to hopefully clarify some plants.

I’m leaving the list exactly as posted to show that the list is more comprehensive than any other I’ve found, but not all these plants are readily available and not all are correct.  I’m skipping the Crinum since there are no Crinums from South America, I believe Crinums are all from Africa or nearby.  I added notes about some similar species from other areas, added common names where I could find them, and added some of my own suggestions at the end.  I’ve also bunched alternate names together [the AKA’s] instead of listing them as separate species.  If anyone has corrections or further suggestions, please let me know.

 

Alternanthera reineckii, Bacopa lanigera, Cabomba piauhyensis, Crinum purpurascens, Cabomba, Echinodorus angustifolius, E.argentinensis, Aschersonianus i, Bolivianus i, Bleheri, Cordifolius "mini", Grandiflorus, Horemanii, Macrophyllus, Opacus, Osiris, Latifolius, Longiscapus, Palaefolius, Portoalegrensis, E.scaber, Subalatus, Uruguayensis, Egerias najas, Eichhornia diversifolia, Azurea, Eleocharis minima, Gymnocoronis spilanthoides, Hygrophilia guianensis, Heteranthera zosteraefolia, Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Hydrothrix gardner, Limnobium laevigatum, Mayaca fluviatilis, Myriophyllum elatinoides, Mattogrossense, Potamogeton gayi, Salvinia minima, Ludwigia inclinata, Myriophyllum aquaticum.

 

Alternanthera reineckii - Scarlet Temple, there are several varieties and other Alternanthera sp. from South America also.  Look at A. bettzickiana - Calico Plant, A. ficoidea - Joseph’s Coat

Bacopa lanigera - Hairy Bacopa (same genus as Bacopa caroliniana which is North American)

Cabombaca caroliniana - Fanwort or Green Cabomba, C. piauhyensis - Red Cabomba Plant

Echinodorus angustifolia [AKA E. vesuvius] - Vesuvius sword, E. argentinensis [AKA E. grandiflorus, AKA E. longiscapus] - Argentine Sword, E. aschersonianus [AKA E. uruguayensis, AKA E. osiris, AKA E. portoalegrensis] - Melon Sword, E. bolivianus [Helanthium bolivianum] - Bolivian Chain Sword, E. bleheri [AKA E. grisebachii, AKA E. Amazonicus] - Amazon Sword, E. cordifolius - Spade-leaf Sword, E. horemanii, E. macrophyllis [AKA E. radicans] E. opacus, E. latifolius [AKA Helanthium tenellus] - Pygmy Chain Sword, E. palaefolius, E. scaber.

Egeria densa - Anacharis, E. najas - Narrow Leaf Anacharis

Eichhornia diversifolia - Dwarf Azurea

Eleocharis minima - a species of dwarf hairgrass that’s very widely distributed on multiple continents.  There are many species of Eleocharis that may, or may not, be adaptable as aquatics.

Gymnocoronis spilanthoides - Senegal Tea

Hygrophilia guanensis - Giant Mint Short Leaf

Heteranthera zosterifolia - Stargrass

Hydrocotyle leucocephela - Brazilian Pennywort

Hydrothrix gardneri

Limnobium laevigatum - Amazon Frogbit

Ludwigia inclinata (same genus as Ludwigia glandulosa which is North American)

Mayaca fluviatilis - Bog Moss

Myriophyllum aquaticum - Parrot’s Feather, M. elantoides - Water Milfoil, M. mattogrossense - Mattogrosso Milfoil

Potomegeton gayi - Pondweed

Salvinia minima - Water Spangles

 

My additions:

Hygrophilia crostata - Gulf Swampweed, Gush Weed, H. lancea - Araguaia

Lilaeopsis brasiliensis - Brazilian Micro Sword

Phyllanthus fluitans - Red Root Floater

Sagittaria guayanensis - Guyanese Arrowhead (widespread across multiple continents), S. intermedia, S. lancifolia - Bulltongue Arrowhead, S. latifolia - Duck Potato, Broad-leaved Arrowhead, S. longiloba - Longbarb Arrowhead, S. montevidensis - California Arrowhead, S. planitiana, S. rhombifolia - Pygmy Arrowhead, S. sprucei, S. subulata - Dwarf Sagittaria (probably best suited for aquariums).  [Not all of the Sagittarias are suitable for the aquarium.]

Vallisneria americana - Jungle Val, Eelgrass, Tapegrass.  
There’s lots of confusion in the trade about the different Vals.  Jungle Val is a common name applied to both V. americana and V. gigantea [from Asia] in the trade.  V. spiralis [from southern Europe, the Middle East, through southwest Asia and northern Africa, is named after the spiral stalk of the flower, not the shape of the leaves which are flat, not spiraling] and is often confused with V. torta [AKA V. asiatica ‘Biwaensis’ (Corkscrew Val) from Japan] and V. asiatica [AKA V. contorta - Giant Corkscrew Val, also from Japan] both of which have twisting, corkscrew leaves.  
The Vals I have sorted as best I can, cross checking with multiple sources as much as possible.

 

Well, that turned into a rabbit hole.  😝  I had some of this reading done and notes made, but I’ve been meaning to create a proper list with a little more info.  Not all of these plants are appropriate for an angelfish biotope, habitat, or for aquariums in general.  Use the list judiciously.  Don’t expect all these plants to be available in the trade, some are uncommon, some downright rare.  This is data roughly put together from info I could find on ‘South American aquatic plants” searches.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Odd Duck
Clarify

[Jennifer V]

@Odd Duck WOW! This is absolutely fantastic! I'm going to screenshot it so I always have it with me. Thank you!! 

[Torrey]

I can't remember who I looked up mosses for.... I had reached out to a friend in Brazil for an indigenous species list. However, since we talk a lot, I have  already cleared the answer from the chat (and over a thousand texts with it😅 we game too🤣).

I can say, if you Google *country + indigenous aquatic plant species* it's easier to find online pdf for countries like Brazil, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina. I haven't found one for Guatemala, Honduras or Mexico, yet.

[Odd Duck]

On 1/22/2022 at 11:15 PM, Torrey said:

I can't remember who I looked up mosses for.... I had reached out to a friend in Brazil for an indigenous species list. However, since we talk a lot, I have  already cleared the answer from the chat (and over a thousand texts with it😅 we game too🤣).

I can say, if you Google *country + indigenous aquatic plant species* it's easier to find online pdf for countries like Brazil, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina. I haven't found one for Guatemala, Honduras or Mexico, yet.

That was for me!  I read through the list you found, but nothing I saw was available in the trade.  So I just kept digging and realized I was probably straining my brain for no good reason.  Most Fissidens look similar enough that it probably doesn’t matter for my habitat style tank and I couldn’t even find good pics of the species I found that were native to South America, let alone finding a source to get the moss.  So I just decided to use what I had.  But I did come across some interesting articles and lists in my searching.