20G tank and learning about live plants

[simplicitysarah]

Glad I found this thread! My Java fern also started to brown too! Great info!! Following too!

[raulfd4]

I really like the look of your last pic - the Anubias look really good planted amongst the larger, rounded stones.

[shloken38]

Hello there! I too am low tech. I've been at it since July, and I've been adding pretty much week to week. I use very low light, no CO2 and only dose osmocote+ in my 29 gallon evrer other month or so. Since i've been sticking to low maintenance plants, I've been pretty successful.

I'm giving a little background because I'd like to offer my two cents to you. You mentioned that your anacharis and java moss haven't been doing so well, right? I'd have to say it is because of the Excel dosing. Through research and a lot of reading on these forums, the consensus is that these 2 plants will melt, as will vals. And as far as the java fern goes, I think pretty much everyone has that very same problem. I have a bunch, and all of them have at least a little browning to them. You may want to try some windelov or trident java ferns. They both look much better in my opinion, and both have kept their green color for me.

Anubias do great for me. It seems as though they grow in spurts. Sometimes they will shoot out several leaves every other week....sometimes they won't shoot any out at all. Regardless, they are always healthy. I have Frazeri....very nice. And I just put in coffeefolia yesterday. I tied it to a piece of driftwood, and it is by far my favorite of the anubias.

You also might want to try out some Hygros. They look great, grow at a medium pace and are also easy to maintain. And as for floating plants, I use hornwort. It grows super fast, sucks up nitrates and the fish (and shrimp) love hanging out underneath it.

[Saxtonhill]

Lots of snow here yesterday and overnight---wow!

shloken38, thanks for your "2 cents" on your low tech experiences. I had been wondering about excell. What is osmocote?

raulfd4, thanks for your kind words

[shloken38]

I got a lot of snow too....about a foot. I've been shoveling all morning. I even have to shovel my backyard a little or else the dog won't go out...little bum!

You'll find osmocote tabs in the for trade section of this forum. Osmocote is a fertilizer that you can find in hardware stores. It is slow release pellets that people put into gel caps. You stick them in the substrate for root feeders. They have worked well for me. They are super cheap too. A year's supply is less than 10 bucks depending on the size of your tank.

[Saxtonhill]

Thanks for the info about the Osmocote and the gel caps

My dogs were ecstatic about the snow...ran around and jumped in the drifts like a couple of wild horses LOL! Now the temps are up and the snow has melted down considerably...

[Saxtonhill]

any clues as to the identity of this little plant? It's about 2 1/2 inches high. n. It came with the Java Moss and has been growing in the 30G for about a month now and has become much greener (and unfortunately has some algae on it). It has some new little leaves coming up at the bottom. Could it possibly be Dwarf Sag?






in the 20G the corkscrew vals are sending out new leaves at the bottom

[bjmcconk]

Looks like a tall sag to me. Just put some in my tank yesterday. Could be wrong but the base looks about the same as mine did.

[Saxtonhill]

Well...at least one of the aeneus cory cat eggs produced fry that survived...I have a half inch long baby cory cat swimming around...it survived by hiding in the gaps between the rocks...I will try to get a photo of it!

[Saxtonhill]

christmas moss on the manzanita branch, darker Java moss on a rock and some anubias nana petite bits in the 30G tank. Oddly, this is the "catch all odds and ends and bits of left over plants tank" and it is doing better presently than the 20g.





looks like some new growth on the moss

[Saxtonhill]

The Java fern babies are taking root and leaves are getting longer

[Saxtonhill]

Put some micro swords in the foreground of the 30 gallon yesterday.





And more anubia nana petites on small stones under the driftwood

[Saxtonhill]

well...this is what the 30 gallon looks like now...the corkscrew vals in the backl have a lot of new growth at the bottoms. I am hoping they fill in along the back. Now I have to be patient and see how things progress.

There sure is a lot to learn...






Below is what the same tank looked like last December with plastic plants (and one live Java Fern) and resin 'driftwood'...

[Saxtonhill]

Need to look into getting some sort of neautral (like 20% gray) background on the tank. The wall behind it is painted a bright spring green which doesn't show up the plants well...

I'm using root tabs and a touch of laterite...

[Saxtonhill]

Otos on the branch