Other good plants? (cold water, low light)

[keegan]

is elodea good? I think it is fine in cold water, but maybe needs more light?

Also, the LFS has a number of pond plants (they have more in the spring of course) - a few that float on the surface and are quite substantial - seem like they would be good for "newt islands". Some look sort of like floating cabage, and some have inflated bladders that keep them afloat...

any thoughts?

Keegan

 

[katie]

Mike,

Everytime I get hornwort, it drops its leaves. I read online that tropical hornwort doesn't do this. Do you know anything about it? Thanks!

~Moi~

 

[jesper]

I use these species:
Ludwiga natans, riccia fluitans, cryptocoryne wendtii, anubias barteri var. nana and var. barteri, bacopa monnieri, vesicularia dubayana, microsorum pteropus, hygrophila polysperma, sagittaria subulata and Hygrophila difformis.
Those are the ones I can think of right now anyhow.


All grown in ~200l tanks with one 15W tube each.
I would like to get my hands on:
ceratophyllum demersum(hornsworth LOL)

I use scientific names cause I have no chance when you guys use their common name in english.

 

[katie]

Jesper,

The plants were sold loose to me with no ID other than "hornwort", and they look like any hornwort I ever saw. Thanks for providing the scientific name. I looked up ceratophyllum demersum and found very concise info at http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:3_UcOx7guxIJ:home.clara.net/xenotoca/hornw.htm+hornwort&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Apparently there is only one variety--no separate "tropical" hornwort. The site info. tells me my light levels right now are too low (I don't have a light yet...

) for hornwort.

Hopefully things will improve with the addition of a light fixture. I'd thought the natural indirect light was enough for this tank and that the tank would stay cooler that way.

Pretty cool plant...that site says ceratophyllum demersum excretes a substance that is toxic to algae. Good news to me!

 

[katie]

Ok...geeeesh...this site,
http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:Y0z8BOspw1wJ:www.thekrib.com/Plants/Plants/Ceratophylum.html+hornwort+dropping+leaves&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

says there is a Ceratophyllum submersum, called "Tropical Hornwort", AND the Ceratophyllum demersum. So, I'm back to square one. Maybe what I have IS the submersum, and I need the other one.

Anyone out there know hornwort???

 

[alan]

AFAIK, there is only one hornwort commonly found in the aquatics hobby, Ceratophyllum demersum. This species has been introduced worldwide. Quite easy to grow but prefers lower temperatures (<20C/70F) to higher. Does best with moderate light but can struggle along in low light conditions.
What's that you say, your hornwort has dropped all it's leaves? Too hot!

 

[jesper]

There are two species alright submersum and demersum, the one found in tanks are demersum.
None of these species are tropical, both live in sweden for example.

Alan is right, the ceratophyllum family prefers cool water 5-20 C as in Swedish lakes(mostly 10-15C LOL)

 

[juraj]

Hi all
As far as I know Ceratophyllum which is commonly found in shops is cultivated as a most of aquarium plants in tropical Asia. These plants are more tolerant to higher temperatures. I keep my without any problem at 26°C during the summer. It;s really good fast growing plant.

 

[jesper]

Hi Juraj,
You are quite right, I checked and demersum is a true cosmopolitan. It prefers 10-28C and can live in most light conditions!

 

[juraj]

Hello Jesper,
some of my tanks are pretty dark and it grows good in them as well.

 

[katie]

Well...excuse me while I go relearn how to convert Celcius to Farenheit.

Until then, I'll tell you that my tank temp range is 62 to 70 degrees Farenheit. Usually the temp stays at 65. My light was just indirect natural light from being in a room with loads of windows in every direction. Last night, I got a tank light and installed a GE 15W wide-spectrum plant bulb on a timer.

I don't know what else to think. I suspect either the Amquel is harmful to plants, there is not yet enough food built up in this new tank for the plants from the newts' waste, the Amquel locked things up that the plants need, or the light was insufficient. I need to read more on the cycle of what the plants need to have present to "eat". I'm assuming adding aquatic plant food is a bad idea for newts. It may be that my new tank just hasn't cycled sufficiently to support the plants?

I'm giving the plants a few days on the new lighting cycle to see if they perk up. If they don't, I'm going to try this: putting them in an outdoor bucket of tank water (reserved from vacuuming my gravel), adding some aquatic food, and letting them enjoy the natural sunlight until they bounce back. If they perk up, rinse them well, and replant them in my tank.

 

[jesper]

I think you misunderstood me Juraj
I was saying in all light conditions, which you took as in all bright conditions, yes?
It wasn't very well formulated anyhow, I meant to say that it grows well in everything from quite dark to very "bright" tanks.