Help with my plants please.

[Jgeezer1986]

I apoligize for the stupidity on my part here. But yesterday i decided i wanted a couple of plant for my 20 gallon tank. never owning any before , i asked the lady at the store what would work with my plant. I wanted something that the fish could hide in ,and also something that maybe they could nibble on. She pointed out two of them to me, and I picked out the healthiest looking of them and bought them. One was only 2.99 and the other only 1.99.

The question i have is , she told me the names of these things , but i completely forgot about them in the excitement of getting them into my tank. Can someone help me identify them..

I can email photos to someone who can help me , and i will explain them here

Plant one... The pet store lady told me this one they are less likely to eat , better for hiding. Its approx height is about 10" tall, and diameter at its widest point is about 5 inches at around 8" up. It has spade shaped leaves that range anywhere from half dollar size to dime sized. Its had 5 stems at the bottom about the diameter of a toothpick.
The issue i have is with this plant. It has some browning leaves on it that i could really see until i got it under the light of the tank and there are little brown spuds here and there on the stems. Any help? Should i take the plant out and trim the brown off ?

And plant number two , also stands about 10" tall. it also had 5 different stems at the base about the size of toothpicks , or slightly larger. The stems on this plant are semi transparent. The leaves are dense but small, ranging from 1/16" to an 1/8" wide, spanning anywhere from a half to one inch long. the bottom leaves are a darker green , where as at the tip there are lighter color greens where it looks as its sprouting new plant. This plant has two leaves that are very slightly browning.

Im sorry for the vague descriptions but that all i can do.. I do have pics but i dont know how to put them on here... I have looked on google and cant seem to find pictures to compare to , so i figured the seeming most knowledgeable source on the net might help me... Im a beginner here so please help, thanks in advance!

 

[Jgeezer1986]

Add ON: I have identified the number two plant as an anacharis. Still cant find anything on the first though

 

[mfdrookie516]

can you post a few pictures of the plants? Anachris is a really easy plant that doesnt require a whole lot of light. I started with 3 stems a couple months ago, now i throw out about 15-20 once a month when i trim my plants

 

[Jgeezer1986]

how do i put up pics

 

[Jgeezer1986]

Ha ha ha im such an idiot.. wife knows all about this thing

 

[mfdrookie516]

you can either put them on photo bucket or some other image hosting site, or you can click "go advanced" down at the bottom next to "post quick reply", click on the paper clip icon and a new window will pop up that says 'manage attachments', just click browse, find the pic on your computer, then click upload. You will start with four "browse" buttons, once you've clicked upload, after the pic uploads, the "browse" button that you used to find your pic will dissapear. I always click "preview post" before submitting to make sure it looks ok. Its easy, once you see it, you'll figure it out

EDIT, nevermind... while i was typing that out, you posted the picture lol.. btw i have no idea what that plant is, but im sure somebody can tell ya

 

[Jgeezer1986]

Ok after some more constant research over the internet , i just keep feeling more and more stupid that i did not remember what that lady told me the name of that plant was..

BUT, after reading about the anacharis , I found one thing i was mistaken. After running fish tanks for the last 7 years or so , i have never owned one single live plant, and its showing . I did not realize they sold the plant in a group, thought it was one single plant.

I drained off about 2% of my water so i did not overflow my tank , considering i did a 20% water change yesterday when i put the plants in. I definitely did not want to shock the system with excessive fresh water.

Anyway, i took the plants out , and figured i would cut some of the dead off and replant them all separately about 1 to 2" apart. Neat thing was , and this is something that i have never seen before, my zebras came up to my hand and started pecking at me, and the swordtail started swimming circles around my arm. She got pretty close too.

Thought i might share that , and get some criticism about it. I am usually a self learner with fishtanks , but i am seriously clueless with live plantS.. THANKS EVERYONE , GREAT SITE YOU HAVE HERE

EDIT: before the remodel , the fish did not even realize the plants were there.. NOW, they are swimming through the plants , picking at them here and there. The fish seem to love them now!

 

[mfdrookie516]

well a 20% water change isnt going to shock the system. i do a 50% water change in my tanks every week... a while back, every day for two weeks i did a 50% water change in my 150g because of a disease that my fish had. just thought id shed some light on that. Some of my fish will attack my hand and arm when i have to reach in the tank. Ive heard, and now realize, that it can be easier to catch some fish by hand than to use a net

 

[Jgeezer1986]

Well my tank has not completely established itself yet, its only 4 weeks old. When i had my 55gal up , i did a 50% every month. The fish all thrived for a couple years. But i made a fatal mistake.. i moved the tank and changed all the water and filters not realizing that i would recycle until it was too late. Right now a recycling could happen fairly easy with only 20gal at such a young age i would believe... adding too many fish at one time would also cause a recycling too if im not mistaken. Never did anything less than a 55gal to this is kinda new to me as well as the plants.

As for the plants , i can see that they are already playing a beneficial part to the community.. the fish seem more active, more interested in the plants. I would like to add more but im not sure if adding too many at one time , or in general can effect the tank... For now i want to stay with cheap starter plants that are easy to take care of , require lower lighting.

I will someday have a more exotic tank for primarily plants with a less amount of fish. BUT right now i have to learn first.

 

[bluerose]

Don't worry about water changes as long as you leave your filter alone. The bacteria that colonize and "cycle" the tank live in your filter, substrate, on decorations, etc.

Water changes are very rarely a problem (usually only with "old tank syndrome," which you certainly don't have). Change away as long as you're using dechlorinator and temperature-matching the fresh water.

Plants are easy-- the only thing you have to pay attention to is nutrients, if the lighting is correct. You may need to supplement if they're growing poorly or showing signs of deficiency. Anubias and java fern would probably do well for you-- the anubias particularly are sturdy plants. Anacharis are easy but grow quickly; the anubias and java fern are rather slower growers.

Plants also help keep your tank healthy-- absorbing ammonia/nitrate. Always a good thing!

 

[Purrbox]

Plantgeek.net is a great site for finding out information about plants and identifying many varieties. Take a peek and see if any of them look similar to the plant that you have.

 

[Jgeezer1986]

Reviewed that site three time to no avail... i think im going to head down to the pet shop where bought them and find out. They had a bunch of them. Need to grab a couple other things anyway so....