Easy Tall Aquarium Plants?

[mecula]

Hi All,
I was just curious if there are any easy to acquire, easy to grow (20"-24" +/-), tall aquarium plants available. I have a 75 gallon TruVu aquarium running 220W of lighting. The light fixture sits about 10" off of the tank on top of the canopy. The tank is 24" tall. Lights are on a timer set for 11 hours per day. I have normal black gravel as substrate with 55oz of laterite. Currently, I have a few Anubias barteri var. nana plants which are doing quite well. I prefer not to have to add any substrate tabs, etc. Any ideas? Am I asking too much?
Thanks for any help!
CJ

 

[kennef]

swordplants of the larger variety would be good Radican swords come to mind...

 

[squawkbert]

My Bacopa, Crypts, sword and vals are all regularly breaking the surface of my 2' deep 46g bow. The crypts don't do it as fast, but they'll get there... Cabombas should reach the top w/ adequate lighting too, as should Alternanthera reineckii or Ludwigia or Rotala (if you want some red among background plants...). Sunset hygro will also get that tall, but you'd be pulling it out by the pound in no time.

 

[Purrbox]

First off Welcome to AA!

You make no mention of CO2 or Fertilization with your tank. With the amount of light that you're running (assuming no actinics) if you are using CO2 and Fertilization, it's a recipe for algae. Also just in case you aren't aware, the laterite will not last forever, and eventually (about a year I think) will either need to be replenished or switch to root tabs etc.

Luckily you've got lots of options when it comes to plants. I'd definately recommend checking out the PlantGeek.Net PlantGuide. It's a great resource for researching plants.

 

[jsoong]

If you are looking for easy ... then green hygro / sunset hygro will fit the bill. Mine are growing like weeds without any special care, except for a weekly haircut to keep it in check.

But with the amount of light you have, you have a lot more choices: swords, vals, etc. as mentioned in previous posts.

 

[shayfish]

If I uncoil my jungle vals, they would likely be long enough to stretch over there to your house to show you.

 

[Sidi]

Crinum will also rapidly grow well beyond 2'. Plus, I love the bulb look.

 

[BillD]

Val spiralis, grows to around 24', and is only 1/4" wide. Doesn't need a ton of light or CO2 to do well.

 

[patryuji]

Hornwort grows like a weed, can do okay with low-mid light (gets crazy with medium light and CO2) and is easily obtained. It took no time at all for a 7" piece to reach the water on an 18" deep 29G tall I had. It grew along the top of the water too and probably could have stretched up 30" by the time I stopped being lazy and trimmed it. Easy plant IMO

 

[SeanMurphy]

I bought a small clump of rotala last year and now it populates both of my 30g tanks, and i've given a lot away to friends and thrown out tons of it. It grows straight up and is kind of weedy looking if you don't have it in a large cluster with it's friends. A single stalk in my tank grows to the depth of the tank, maybe 18 inches, in a month or so., and then it can be cut off and stuck back in the sand and it'll reroot. Every time it breaks surface I usually mow it off at around 8 inches tall and pick the tallest trimmings out and fill in any thin spots then throw the remainder away.

 

[happygirl65]

Ambulia too it reaches the surface of my 55 gal and then floats along the surface. Really fast grower too . I second the hygro even at 1.7 wpg they are fast growers and need regular trimming.

 

[travis simonson]

Aponogetons are also great tall tank plants that grow like mad. One of my favorites is Aponogeton ulvaceuos. It can easily get three feet tall in very little time. They are fairly easy to find, but be prepared to deal with explosive growth once they acclimate to your tank.

Oh, and welcome to AquariumAdvice

 

[Algenco]

Aponogetons are also great tall tank plants that grow like mad. One of my favorites is Aponogeton ulvaceuos. It can easily get three feet tall in very little time. They are fairly easy to find, but be prepared to deal with explosive growth once they acclimate to your tank.

Oh, and welcome to AquariumAdvice

Thats a fact!! Mine hit the surface in a 55 one week after the first spout appeared! A few days later they had blooms ,the stalks were over 3' !!