Plants that don't melt?

[North Dakota fish keeper]

Any suggestions for a newbie? Plants that don't typically "melt" that I could try?

[FrozenFins]

I've never had an rhizome plants melt. Rhizome plants would include:

Anubias, Buce, Java Fern, and much more.

They've all done well in my experiance, and will thrive under low tech setups. Good Luck!

[Jennifer V]

I have had Java fern kind of go through an ugly stage when I first added it to my tanks but as @FrozenFins said, I've had great luck with anubias and bucephalandra. 

[North Dakota fish keeper]

I just had an Anubias Nana completely dissolve on me. I think I found the rhizome but it was so small I am not sure. I put it in a crevice of a piece of driftwood and will hope it comes back? This is my first planted tank and everything looked so pretty at first and now I’m worried. I thought from this point on I might try non melting plants. I currently have a Windelov, a Java Fern, 2 Anubias Nana Petite (they are looking rough) and an Anubias Barteri. Also some Java Moss. 

[Torrey]

On 2/16/2022 at 5:13 PM, North Dakota fish keeper said:

I just had an Anubias Nana completely dissolve on me. I think I found the rhizome but it was so small I am not sure. I put it in a crevice of a piece of driftwood and will hope it comes back? This is my first planted tank and everything looked so pretty at first and now I’m worried. I thought from this point on I might try non melting plants. I currently have a Windelov, a Java Fern, 2 Anubias Nana Petite (they are looking rough) and an Anubias Barteri. Also some Java Moss. 

I have only recently (like last decade.... out of more than 4 decades) graduated into successful planted tanks. I have never had problems with hornwort, because I have always lived in places with a fair amount of calcium in the water, and hornwort is never grown out of the water. 

It is an absolute calcium hog, and great to keep with animals who need calcium, because if it starts dropping needles 9 times out of 10, calcium levels are low. 

In the past (like, until last year), I have given up too early on plants, and probably ripped out some thinking they were dead, and they weren't. Snails have eliminated that problem. 

Guppysnail has brilliant ideas where she adapts someone else's idea into something even more amazing.

Plus, joining the forum last year, I finally gave myself permission to fail with plants.... and shockingly they started not only surviving... but actually thriving. Like, I now sell my LFS 5 different types of plants and they know that I can deliver within 48 hours of them placing an order with me.

So my honest recommendation is, give yourself permission to fail, and then go try to fail big. Buy as many different kinds of plants as you can, and find out which plants like you. Which plants like your water.

See if your LFS has a local plant supplier, and buy those plants.

If you are wanting to grow plants and struggling, try the opposite approach: give plants the best you can and see how many you can eliminate from doing well in your tanks.

Everyone quotes Edison, with his "I didn't fail, I learned 700 ways not to make a lightbulb".

I think that sends the message that failing is a flaw, and that's at the root of a lot of problems. 

Celebrate every plant you didn't get to grow as you expected it to, and celebrate BIG. Then, you will have perfected how to celebrate when plants start growing well for you. 

If you don't want to take that approach, start hiking / walking along waterways near you, and look for the plants that already grow in the water where you live. Especially if you notice that they grow in partial or full shade.

That was the secret to my first plant success,  hornwort. It had already invaded the creek by my home.

[Guppysnail]

Bulb plants. Lotus, lily, aponogeton.  When they sprout they go crazy you just sit them on the substrate. Worst case scenario the bulb is a dud (happens occasionally) and does not sprout but at least does not mess the tank or look ugly in the process. Good luck. I hope you share pictures of the plants you choose. 

[North Dakota fish keeper]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your advice and encouragement.  My son just gave me a piece of Hornwort, Torrey, and it has grown from 2 inches to about 6 inches in a month.  I have it floating.  So, I have not killed that one! I have inserted a pic of my tanks.  The 10 gallon has Anubias Petite and it did have Anubias Nana but I think I killed it by using too much super glue when I attached it. I had thought it was melt but after e-mailing Candi from Aquarium CO-OP she thinks it was rot due to too much super glue. 😞 I am preparing my 10 gallon to house a betta. It also has a Java fern and a Windelov and an Anubias Barteri.  I also have a 29 gallon. It has a Java Fern, a Windelov, and Anubias Congensis and some Java Moss.  All of these plants are less than a month old. When the Anubias Nana died I was about to give up until reading all your replies. Thanks again.

[North Dakota fish keeper]

I should mention most of the plants are less than two weeks old.....only two are about a month old.  The new ones came from Aquarium CO-OP.

[Torrey]

On 2/17/2022 at 9:46 AM, North Dakota fish keeper said:

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your advice and encouragement.  My son just gave me a piece of Hornwort, Torrey, and it has grown from 2 inches to about 6 inches in a month.  I have it floating.  So, I have not killed that one! I have inserted a pic of my tanks.  The 10 gallon has Anubias Petite and it did have Anubias Nana but I think I killed it by using too much super glue when I attached it. I had thought it was melt but after e-mailing Candi from Aquarium CO-OP she thinks it was rot due to too much super glue. 😞 I am preparing my 10 gallon to house a betta. It also has a Java fern and a Windelov and an Anubias Barteri.  I also have a 29 gallon. It has a Java Fern, a Windelov, and Anubias Congensis and some Java Moss.  All of these plants are less than a month old. When the Anubias Nana died I was about to give up until reading all your replies. Thanks again.

I am ORD and I 😍 your tanks.

Supergluing plants is a bit tricky to learn, and we have all used too much glue at least once. [An aquascape trick: superglue on a tiny folded piece of tissue paper or paper towel, and hold between the wet plant and the wet hardscape with tweezers. Prevents overgluing, and also prevents the embarrassment of having to call for help due to supergluing one's finger to the hardscape😅].

For a brand new tank, you are doing a great job.

Check out my Walstad journal to see what most tanks look like at the 2 week to a month mark.

Please keep in mind that I have decades of experience killing plants, and try not to judge me harshly.😬🤪

[Jennifer V]

I trick I learned about super glue and attaching to hardscape is to put a tiny amount of glue on the hardscape and then stick some of the roots just below the rhizome to the hardscape/glue rather than gluing the actual rhizome. I think I actually saw that in a thread here when talking about how to avoid rot. It seems to work well for me even though I've still glued my fingers together, glued paper towel to the floor and left permanent glue marks on my bathroom floor and kitchen counter. 😆