Question: What plant is the most common?

Hi guys,

Just wondered, what plants are your favoured? Can too many do damage?

And finally, if they are weighed down with lead is this dangerous to the Axo?

Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike,

My favorite plants are Anubias because they look beautiful, there are so many different types (I have Anubias bacteri v. coffeefolia, and v. round leaf, also Anubias congensis), they do well in low light and cold water, and they can be attached to things like driftwood or ornatments where they will take root. Awesome plant. The only thing I don't like about Anubias is they grow so agonizingly slowly.

Java fern and Java moss (or Willow moss for colder tanks) are also very popular. I love Java fern to attach to driftwood. They grow daugher plants off leaves which you can pick off and replant elsewhere.

Elodea/Anacharis are also great plants because they grow like crazy and they are not picky about tank conditions. Mine are doing very well under low light and cold temps (they actually hate warm water) and have doubled in size in a month. Clip them off (below the dropped roots is a good choice) and replant, the easiest plant to propagate!

Other plants worth mentioning are:

Crypts: C. Wendtii (red and/or bronze) are the easiest to care for. I am really regretting not getting more than one C. Wendtii bronze, beautiful plant. C. Walkerii is also a good choice. But crypts are not beginner plants because they are prone to "Crypt melt" or rot if your water quality changes, and they do not like to be moved at all. This has happened to a few of my leaves upon transplant but I just clip those off. The new leaves that grow are much hardier because they are used to your tank conditions.

Lotuses: Nymphaea zenkeri (Tiger lotus) actually is a good choice for low light aquariums. They will also flower and produce floating leaves which could shade your axolotl. I haven't had the best time growing them from bulbs, but others seem to have an easy time with this plant.

Good luck.

Hi Tran!

Thanks very much for your input. Are these plants you mention readily available from the likes of Aquatic stores? I'm sorry but I'm very new to the whole thing, but brimming with enthusiasm!

One more thing, lead weighted plants...would the endanger the Axie?

Cheers, Mike

Oh yes, please do not use lead or any heavy metals when weighing plants! You should already use water conditioner to remove heavy metals you already have in tap water so it's not a good idea to add more By this I mean Prime, API, or other tap water conditioners/dechlorinators that already do this...not that you need to buy one especially for it.

To weigh down plants, just use big rocks or tie it to ornaments or driftwood with fishing line or thread. I didn't need to weigh down plants. I just pushed them under the sand, and put a rock near them. The axies don't bother them. But if yours do then tie plants to a big rock.

As far as availability, not all are available at local fish store (LFS). I bought some at LFS and most at aquariumplants.com. Yes, the shipping is like $10-15 for second day air (required for live things), but the plants are much cheaper than at LFS, you get a HUGE selection, all of them arrived healthy (super roots) and you get a very nice quantity for what you paid. Packaged nicely too. Dont buy java fern from there though, haha, that is actually not a good deal for what you get. But java fern should be available everywhere locally.

My favorites are Anubis sp, Java moss and fern sp. Willow moss, Spongia sp., various Aponogetons, Crypto Walkerii, and various Nymphaea.

Hi Mike

I'm having quite a good experience with live plants at present - if you use sand as a substrate, bury the roots into this and then put some big stones on to weigh them down, it seems to really do the trick.

Also (and I know this will seem like common sense to everyone, but I didn't do it at first!!!), don't put the plants in the corners of your tank where they're not directly under the light.

I have the lights on a timer, so they come on for 3 hours every night - need them on for the plants to survive, but don't want them on too long, as axies don't have eyelids, so don't like bright light - for this same reason, ensure you have a couple of hiding places, where your axie can go to shelter from the light.

I have found one plant absolutely great, really easy to grow and it keeps growing new shoots all the time - it's threatening to engulf my tank!! Also, it's really common and quite cheap, they sell it at most aquarium/garden shops - but I don't what it's called! I'll post the link with pics of my tank, so you can see the plant I'm on about. :happy:

Cheers

Zoe x

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61435

big a little a said:

Hi Mike

I'm having quite a good experience with live plants at present - if you use sand as a substrate, bury the roots into this and then put some big stones on to weigh them down, it seems to really do the trick.

Also (and I know this will seem like common sense to everyone, but I didn't do it at first!!!), don't put the plants in the corners of your tank where they're not directly under the light.

I have the lights on a timer, so they come on for 3 hours every night - need them on for the plants to survive, but don't want them on too long, as axies don't have eyelids, so don't like bright light - for this same reason, ensure you have a couple of hiding places, where your axie can go to shelter from the light.

I have found one plant absolutely great, really easy to grow and it keeps growing new shoots all the time - it's threatening to engulf my tank!! Also, it's really common and quite cheap, they sell it at most aquarium/garden shops - but I don't what it's called! I'll post the link with pics of my tank, so you can see the plant I'm on about. :happy:

Cheers

Zoe x

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61435

Click to expand...

That looks like you have some type of Vallisneria growing in your tank. Very prolific and very cheap.

Java moss, java fern and elodea. Those are my favourites because they do great in cool tanks.
In my experience there is no such thing as too many plants. I have my tanks filled with them, literally, and my newts love it.
Bare in mind that this applies to species that inhabit planted water masses. When you deal with stream species, i guess you can have too many plants.

What are some good floating plants that will work with c. orientalis? (if there are any)

Hi Nightmarejack,

I am not familiar with many species of floating plants nor with C. orientalis. However, i know that some floating plants, especially those that are rather tiny such as duckweed can quickly overwhelm your tank and potentially clog up your filter. You might like to look at some plants with bigger, broader leaves or at least bunch up neatly on the water surface.

Cheers.