my first live plant

[lovemybarbs]

I'm thinking of getting one live plant and going from there instead of buying a few more talk silk ones.

What kind do you suggest that I won't kill without adding CO2.

Also, I see them at Petco in little packages on the shelf and also floating in tanks with little baskets on their roots. Which would be the best idea for me. Also, does it matter that I have gravel.

TIA!!!!!!!!

 

[dmac]

I bought some Amazon Swords that have thrived with little effort on my part. I have two others but their names escape me at the moment.

I basically was told to take them out of the little black pots, and the sponge as the base should be buried under the gravel. I put in a few drops of plant grow from the LFS weekly and thats it.

 

[JustOneMore20]

How much light is over the tank? And what size is it? That will help decide what you can grow.

 

[talloulou]

Java fern seems to do okay no matter what. Also I like to put clippings of pothos in my tanks. Long roots grow and the fish seem to like playing in them. I just let the pothos float around at the top for awhile till it gets too beat up from my severum playing with it.

 

[lovemybarbs]

it is a 55 gallon tank with a 40 W 48" long bulb. It is an Aqua-Glo blulb and is ideal for planted aquariums.

 

[DarylF2]

I've had good luck with the plants from PetCo that are in the little plastic tubes on a shelf. The plants in the tanks sometimes have snails, or snail eggs, and that can be a REAL pain if you don't want snails.

I've had great luck with Amazon Sword (Echinodorus aminozicus), Argentine Sword (Echinodorus argentinensis), Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis), Peacock Fern (Selaginella wildenowii), Umbrella Plant (Spathiphullum wallsii), and Tropica Fern (Microsorium pleropus) from those plastic tubes.

You can also find bare bulbs in packs. I've also had good luck with them, especially the Aponogeton bulbs. Aponogeton bulbs always seem to do really well for me, and are quite inexpensive.

 

[tropicfishman]

alot of people put way to much emphasis on the whole 1 watt per gallon rule, and CO2, most cheaper live plants such as cabomba, and anachris will do fine with what comes with your tank and no CO2, I put both in my tank and its just the 29 gallon walmart special, and they are as beautifu las the day they were bought, using your gravel is fine, as long as they have something to root to, they should be fine, now don't get me wrong I'm sure some of the other plants do require alot, but those two I know of can livei n mud pretty much lol I have found that a lil bit of flora excel does help with the green color of the plant

 

[JustOneMore20]

Well you have less than 1 wpg, so I'd stick with java fern, anubias, crypts, and maybe wisteria. Sometimes it does ok in low light. The java fern and anubias shouldn't be buried in the substrate though. If they won't stay on the bottom, tie them to a rock or piece of driftwood.

 

[Zezmo]

The plants in plastic tubes from PetCo, are mostly non-aquatic plants that take a long time to die in your aquarium. Be careful with those.
Many of these plants, which come from those tubes, are land plants. They will take a while to die and rot in your tank. They may even seem to grow for a while. This is not aquatic growth. This is a land plant making one last desperate attempt to get to the surface to survive.

a few to avoid are:
Peacock Fern (Selaginella wildenowii)
Umbrella Plant, Peace Lily (Spathiphullum wallisii)
Aqua Fern (Trichomanes javanicum)
Gold Ribbon (Dracaena sanderiana)

 

[Musket]

Zezmo
thanks for that. I thought some of those were not aquatic plants. Like that bicolored one whose name escapes me at the moment.
I will have to double check to see if the fern I got from there is one you mentioned.

 

[DarylF2]

Zezmo, wow, that's a shame! I wish I'd have known that earlier! I bought two Peacock Ferns (Selaginella wildenowii) and one Umbrella Plant (Spathiphullum wallisii)...

Should I remove them from my tanks and plant them in a pot like a regular house plant?

 

[lovemybarbs]

Do you think the bare bulbs would be my best bet??? Sometimes the plants in the stores look a little beat up.

 

[DarylF2]

I've had fairly good luck with Aponogeton bulbs (and I love the look of these plants!). The onion bulbs have always just rotted on me, and I've had mixed luck with other types of bulbs. I wish they would have a "buy before" date on them, as I think some stores keep them on the shelf for too long and the bulbs are dead (or dying) when purchased. Luckily bare bulbs are usually pretty inexpensive.