Anyone else just love seeing plants grow?

[mrhelton]

I just think it's the coolest thing. I have a pretty big variety of plants in my tanks with good lighting and DIY CO2. They grow like crazy.

I love watching the way each type of plant tries to grow around eachother and get a better view of the light. I love seeing the way they branch out and form leaves. I think it's cool how they make new chutes that form new plants.

I also really love the fact that with many of them, you can chop off the top and replant it to get another plant with roots in a matter of days. This is most evident on my wisteria plants. My 10 gallon started with one piece of wisteria from my 29 gallon and now has 8 rooted plants from that single plant in a matter of weeks. It's amazing.

It's also freaking cool how new leaves and stems seemingly come out of nowhere.

I'm sorry I seem a little crazy with this topic but I think this stuff is awesome and love having an aquarium!

[KatieJ]

I started out with a nice, pretty bunch of R. rotoundifolia from my LFS. It was kept in pretty poor lighting conditions, and needless to say it keeled over and died almost right after I put it in my tank. Three teeny little stems about an inch long each, however, did survive. I left them floating for a few weeks and these white roots just exploded from them. Now they're big enough to plant into the substrate, and already they're taking off.

Nature really is amazing to witness up close, isn't it? It's a really satisfying feeling to see something alive in your own tank and have it flourishing under the right conditions (admittedly even more fun if trial-and-error). I think that's why this hobby is so addicting, for all the hard work you put into it really pays off with healthy, happy animals and plants.

[StevesPrettyCool]

i absolutely agree! I actually just received my plants yesterday from Singapore, bought them off eBay. This is my first attempt at Planted, and set up a nice little DIY Co2 that began working overnight.

In my 55 gallon, I got nine Echinodorus Amazonicus, three Cryptocoryne Beketti, three Anubias Eyes, one Java Fern, one Philippine Fern and a patch of Weeping Moss. I potted all the plants in Grodan and little pots because I'm undecided on where in the tank they will go and tied the moss to my driftwood. The potted plants were mainly just stems, and i figured it would take a while for them to get used to the tank and start growing. When I woke up this morning I was shocked to see they already grew 1/4 to 1/2 an inch and leaves starting to open!!

In the beginning I didn't know how I'd like a planted tank, but as of this morning I'm completely sold and absolutely love watching them!! Actually as soon as I finish typing this, I'm going to use a marker and draw a height line on the glass to see how much they grow in a 24hr period, 72hr period, a week etc... Can not wait to see how rapid the growth rate is since they are already taking off!

16 plants may have been a little overkill, but with it being my first attempt I figured I may lose a few before getting the science down correctly but so far so good and I couldn't be happier!

Good Luck with all your growing!

[mrhelton]

haha I thought I was the only one that did the marker thing. I was amazed to see Wisteria plants grow 2 inches overnight once.

[Money_man1688]

Originally Posted by mrhelton

I just think it's the coolest thing. I have a pretty big variety of plants in my tanks with good lighting and DIY CO2. They grow like crazy.

I love watching the way each type of plant tries to grow around eachother and get a better view of the light. I love seeing the way they branch out and form leaves. I think it's cool how they make new chutes that form new plants.

I also really love the fact that with many of them, you can chop off the top and replant it to get another plant with roots in a matter of days. This is most evident on my wisteria plants. My 10 gallon started with one piece of wisteria from my 29 gallon and now has 8 rooted plants from that single plant in a matter of weeks. It's amazing.

It's also freaking cool how new leaves and stems seemingly come out of nowhere.

I'm sorry I seem a little crazy with this topic but I think this stuff is awesome and love having an aquarium!

How did u make the DIY co2 if u dont mind me asking???

[Fishkeeper88]

i love watching all my plants grow my otocinclus catfish love my plants just as much as i do...

[iheartmyed9]

I'm just starting to get my tank planted. I'd like to fairly cover the bottom in plants. It's amazing how all the hard work pays off in a beautiful tank.