More plants for my water parameters/situation?

[Kit Craft]

I am looking to expand my plant keeping in my tanks. We will focus on 12-16 inch tall tanks for this. PH 7.8, GH 300ppm, KH 180 ppm. Dirt tanks capped with sand. Lights are random depending on the tank but are medium-low to medium. I do have easy green too. My water is high in calcium and iron. No C02.

Plants I have had success with: 

Jungle Val. (super good results)

Dwarf Sag. 

Salvinia

Java Moss

 

Plants that struggle:

Java Fern

Bacopa

Duckweed (not a flow issue)

 

Plants I am interested in: 

Dwarf Chain sword

Pogostemen Stallatus Octopus

Various crypts

 

Any suggestions welcome! Thank you.

 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/15/2023 at 9:13 AM, Kit Craft said:

Lights are random depending on the tank but are medium-low to medium.

Alright so, step one is that we need light to be consistent. If you mean random as in, not on a timer.... That's a pretty major first step.

In terms of plants that you've had success with vs. struggled with, I would keep the above in mind if that is an issue.

Bacopa is generally an easy stem. Dwarf sag is where I was going to start as well as something like microsword or the other one you mentioned. I tent to choose just one because they all grow and act very similar.

PSO is going to be extremely too big for a tank with only that height, you need 20+ inches tall at best and even then you will have to keep it from overtaking everything and being too big.

Staurogyne species (esp. S. Repens) can be a good place to start for a stem plant that works as a foreground or midground. Small crypts and stems would be a good choice as well if you're looking for that texture.

Salvinia and your dwarf sag is going to be the primary focus for the sake of reducing excess nitrates. If you just want interesting visual plants val, crypts, and something like S. Repens would be a good choice.

I would also recommend pennywort, pearlweed, or baby tears.

[Kit Craft]

On 11/17/2023 at 4:50 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Alright so, step one is that we need light to be consistent. If you mean random as in, not on a timer.... That's a pretty major first step.

In terms of plants that you've had success with vs. struggled with, I would keep the above in mind if that is an issue.

Bacopa is generally an easy stem. Dwarf sag is where I was going to start as well as something like microsword or the other one you mentioned. I tent to choose just one because they all grow and act very similar.

PSO is going to be extremely too big for a tank with only that height, you need 20+ inches tall at best and even then you will have to keep it from overtaking everything and being too big.

Staurogyne species (esp. S. Repens) can be a good place to start for a stem plant that works as a foreground or midground. Small crypts and stems would be a good choice as well if you're looking for that texture.

Salvinia and your dwarf sag is going to be the primary focus for the sake of reducing excess nitrates. If you just want interesting visual plants val, crypts, and something like S. Repens would be a good choice.

I would also recommend pennywort, pearlweed, or baby tears.

No, I mean I have different lights on each tank not that the timing is inconsistent. Example: I have Hygger and Aqueon Planted lights depending on tanks size. Each light is on an Xmas timer for 6 hours. I find that anything more gives me hair algae and anything less and they don't grow well.

As for the PSO, I've read you can trim it and make it branch out instead of up. Do you think something like that might work? Just thinking ahead here. If not, I'll keep it on the list for later.

Anyway, for whatever reason I am having no luck with Bacopa. First, the leaves droop, then the whole stem melts from the bottom up. The Dwarf sag has recovered. One leaf would melt, and a new, different type would grow. Super slow though. My Val. has exploded, runners everywhere and already 3-4 inches tall on all new growth. I got about a cup of salvinia, maybe 9 chunks with six leaves/pads each and now I have it in three tanks, lol. Duckweed hasn't died it just isn't multiplying. (It was a hitchhiker anyway.)

I'm not really worried about visual. I want places for fish to hid, lay eggs, etc and for plants to remove nitrates.

I guess I will go ahead and look into the Dwarf Sword since I already have Dwarf sag. I do want to try some Crypts just because though.

I think I have a better idea of where to go now, thank you. I need to check out the micro/dwarf sword, S. Repens, Pennywort and Pearlweed. 

 

 

 

[JE47]

I would try crypt wendetii, dwarf water lettuce could be fun I have had success growing that, I have heard around the forum and Girl Talks Fish has a video that mentions Java fern needing a lot of potassium which might have been your issue. I will link the video here with the time stamp

4:16 is the place where she talks about the java fern. I will say the some plants do grow better in some environments then others. Some of my plants have melted away for know apparent reason and I have reordered the same plant over and over and done various things to ensure it survival but it dies.

[Kit Craft]

On 11/17/2023 at 1:48 PM, JE47 said:

I would try crypt wendetii, dwarf water lettuce could be fun I have had success growing that, I have heard around the forum and Girl Talks Fish has a video that mentions Java fern needing a lot of potassium which might have been your issue. I will link the video here with the time stamp

4:16 is the place where she talks about the java fern. I will say the some plants do grow better in some environments then others. Some of my plants have melted away for know apparent reason and I have reordered the same plant over and over and done various things to ensure it survival but it dies.

Have seen that one, thanks! Wendetti red is on my list. That is me with Java ferns, for sure. They hate me, lol. I tried them a few years back with some Anubias as well. The Anubias did, meh, okay but the Java fern not so much. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/17/2023 at 9:40 AM, Kit Craft said:

As for the PSO, I've read you can trim it and make it branch out instead of up. Do you think something like that might work? Just thinking ahead here. If not, I'll keep it on the list for later.

Any other version of pogostemon would be better. PSO just gets way too massive. Erectus would be my choice.

On 11/17/2023 at 9:40 AM, Kit Craft said:

I mean I have different lights on each tank not that the timing is inconsistent. Example: I have Hygger and Aqueon Planted lights depending on tanks size. Each light is on an Xmas timer for 6 hours. I find that anything more gives me hair algae and anything less and they don't grow well.

I would focus on raising the lights that you can and the if you can't control the intensity of light, trying to get into a situation where you can (control it).

Hopefully that makes sense.  The algae you're seeing can be controlled with a variety of methods, but the most likely issue will be lighting being too strong (and too focused) on the plants that don't need that intense PAR.

On 11/17/2023 at 9:40 AM, Kit Craft said:

Anyway, for whatever reason I am having no luck with Bacopa. First, the leaves droop, then the whole stem melts from the bottom up. The Dwarf sag has recovered. One leaf would melt, and a new, different type would grow. Super slow though. My Val. has exploded, runners everywhere and already 3-4 inches tall on all new growth. I got about a cup of salvinia, maybe 9 chunks with six leaves/pads each and now I have it in three tanks, lol. Duckweed hasn't died it just isn't multiplying. (It was a hitchhiker anyway.)

It does happen with stems. Having GH that high could be the reason, but it's tough to say. If you're unable to get bacopa going, then it's one of those situations where I would tend to avoid a lot of stems. Things like rosette plants or stems with extremely minimal demands would be the ones I go to first. (Pearlweed being the main, extremely easy one)

 

On 11/17/2023 at 9:40 AM, Kit Craft said:

Duckweed hasn't died it just isn't multiplying. (It was a hitchhiker anyway.)

Very interesting. This indicates very low fert levels.

[Kit Craft]

On 11/17/2023 at 4:10 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Any other version of pogostemon would be better. PSO just gets way too massive. Erectus would be my choice.

I would focus on raising the lights that you can and the if you can't control the intensity of light, trying to get into a situation where you can (control it).

Hopefully that makes sense.  The algae you're seeing can be controlled with a variety of methods, but the most likely issue will be lighting being too strong (and too focused) on the plants that don't need that intense PAR.

It does happen with stems. Having GH that high could be the reason, but it's tough to say. If you're unable to get bacopa going, then it's one of those situations where I would tend to avoid a lot of stems. Things like rosette plants or stems with extremely minimal demands would be the ones I go to first. (Pearlweed being the main, extremely easy one)

 

Very interesting. This indicates very low fert levels.

Check on the Pogostemon. 

As for lights, the clip-on lights cannot be adjusted but just Monday I put them on six-inch risers fwiw. Hoping that would help but I don't think it has been long enough to notice a difference yet. 

Stems, I'll have to see how it goes and look into pearlweed. 

As for the Fertilizers levels. I am doing 1 pump per 10 gallons of easy green. Plus,, most tanks have dirt for root feeders. Maybe the Salvina is sucking it all up? It is growing like a weed. A group of three pads doubles weekly, for example. I have about three times what I started with at this point. If it helps, the duckweed was a hitchhiker and just leaves without roots. They all have roots now but haven't multiplied yet. 

Thank you again for the advice. I appreciate it and will apply it as I can.

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/17/2023 at 2:08 PM, Kit Craft said:

I am doing 1 pump per 10 gallons of easy green.

There's a thread about pumpheads that we're working on gathering information, testing basically, if it's actually pumping out the right amount. Just a note. you might be doing one pump and getting a half dose or something. Keep an eye out!

On 11/17/2023 at 2:08 PM, Kit Craft said:

It is growing like a weed. A group of three pads doubles weekly, for example

Awesome.  For some reason I was under the impression it wasn't growing! 🙂

[Kit Craft]

On 11/17/2023 at 6:00 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

There's a thread about pumpheads that we're working on gathering information, testing basically, if it's actually pumping out the right amount. Just a note. you might be doing one pump and getting a half dose or something. Keep an eye out!

Awesome.  For some reason I was under the impression it wasn't growing! 🙂

Thanks! I will check it out. I have the small bottles too that I count drops on the nano tanks. I might just need to use more regardless. This week my nitrates are pretty low. Between 10-20. They were higher than that before. Also, as for thinking it isn't growing, that is my fault. Sometimes I am replying between doing other things and probably not proof reading well enough. 

As an aside, I just moved around some Salvinia and found duckweed underneath it. Some under one of the leaves of a java fern too. Totally the mystery snails doing that, I bet. They like my floating rings and they parasnail down. Maybe dragging some duckweed with them. 

As an aside, I have a 1.25 gallon snail jar. I put some extra Java fern in there (just single little plants) and they are doing better than in the other tanks. Salvina, Java moss and Java fern only in there. I tried to pu one stem of Bacopa in there, but the snails keep dislodging it. I don't have room for anything else. It has no light. Just indirect sunlight. The java moss I put in there was basically dead and it is super green now.