Looking for Plant Suggestions

[Klane]

I have a 20 gal long, lit and heated, freshwater aquarium. In it I
have 1 dwarf blue gourami, 6 zebra danios, 7 neon tetras, and two
oto's. I've had a variety of plants but none of them seem to do well.
I've had something that looks like christmas tree branches, foxtail,
moneywart and wisteria. Right now the only thing still alive is the
wisteria. The moneywart I've replaced a couple of times because the
fish seem to enjoy eating them.

The question is, what can I do to keep my plants alive.

Also I have a 5 gallon, heated filtered plant for my betta. It, unlike
the other plant does not have a light, although it sit's under a
standard room torchier. Right now I have a few silk plants but I would
like to add some real plants.

Thanks,
Klane

[Koi-lo]

"Klane" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have a 20 gal long, lit and heated, freshwater aquarium. In it I
> have 1 dwarf blue gourami, 6 zebra danios, 7 neon tetras, and two
> oto's. I've had a variety of plants but none of them seem to do well.
=====================
Some aquarium plants need a harder alkaline water and others need softer
acid water. Some aren't real particular and anything around neutral will
suit them if you add some aquarium plant food such as Flourish with Iron.
First test your water to see what the PH is and start from there. My water
is hard and alkaline. Hornwart and Elodea thrive for me both in the ponds
and aquariums as do American Valisneria (sp?).
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[NetMax]

"Klane" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have a 20 gal long, lit and heated, freshwater aquarium. In it I
> have 1 dwarf blue gourami, 6 zebra danios, 7 neon tetras, and two
> oto's. I've had a variety of plants but none of them seem to do well.
> I've had something that looks like christmas tree branches, foxtail,
> moneywart and wisteria. Right now the only thing still alive is the
> wisteria. The moneywart I've replaced a couple of times because the
> fish seem to enjoy eating them.
>
> The question is, what can I do to keep my plants alive.
>
> Also I have a 5 gallon, heated filtered plant for my betta. It, unlike
> the other plant does not have a light, although it sit's under a
> standard room torchier. Right now I have a few silk plants but I would
> like to add some real plants.
>
> Thanks,
> Klane


Plants stop growing when they hit a constraint. Increasing the light
level raises the threshold of that constraint. Adding CO2 will again
raise that threshold. Starting with plants which are suitable for your
tank's conditions (pH, hardness, temperature and light level) improves
your odds. Typically the next change is to increase the light level,
(though low light plants exist and grow with enough patience). About 36w
for a 20g would put you in a nice range.

This aquatic plant search engine might help:
http://www.disky-design.dk/fish/PlantSearch/PlantSearch.html
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Empty]

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 10:36:08 -0800, Klane wrote:

> I have a 20 gal long, lit and heated, freshwater aquarium. In it I

"Lit" means what exactly? Incandescent? Fluorescent? How many watts?

Go read this:

http://plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=17

Come back here (or go to plantgeek) with any further questions.

~Empty

[slylittlei]

NetMax muttered darkly:
> "Klane" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> I have a 20 gal long, lit and heated, freshwater aquarium. In it I
>> have 1 dwarf blue gourami, 6 zebra danios, 7 neon tetras, and two
>> oto's. I've had a variety of plants but none of them seem to do well.
>> I've had something that looks like christmas tree branches, foxtail,
>> moneywart and wisteria. Right now the only thing still alive is the
>> wisteria. The moneywart I've replaced a couple of times because the
>> fish seem to enjoy eating them.
>>
>> The question is, what can I do to keep my plants alive.
>>
>> Also I have a 5 gallon, heated filtered plant for my betta. It,
>> unlike the other plant does not have a light, although it sit's
>> under a standard room torchier. Right now I have a few silk plants
>> but I would like to add some real plants.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Klane
>
>
> Plants stop growing when they hit a constraint. Increasing the light
> level raises the threshold of that constraint. Adding CO2 will again
> raise that threshold. Starting with plants which are suitable for
> your tank's conditions (pH, hardness, temperature and light level)
> improves your odds. Typically the next change is to increase the
> light level, (though low light plants exist and grow with enough
> patience). About 36w for a 20g would put you in a nice range.
>
> This aquatic plant search engine might help:
> http://www.disky-design.dk/fish/PlantSearch/PlantSearch.html

Interesting link - couldn't get the search engine to work for me, but the
link to Tropica's site was very useful!
I've been looking for a decent plant site for ages, & I particularly liked
this page: http://www.tropica.com/plant_print.asp
.... now I finally know what the "moss balls" I bought on impulse last week
are!