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Plant recommendations for open top tank

2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Mark Fisher 
#1 ·
Needing some recommendations for plants please.

I have a 40g breeder and a regular 5g that I want to get some plants for.
Plants that I can plant in to the substrate, but that will grow out of the water.
No stem plants though unless they can stand on their own outside of the water.
Was thinking something like an amazon sword?? Or something that looks like an amazon sword would be nice.
Or maybe even an elephant ear type of plant? But I'm not sure if the bulbs of those can be submerged completely in water.
Any help would be great!
 
#2 ·
If you are going to keep your water level low then maybe look into Dracaena sanderiana. Or any Dracaena for that matter. And then there's mondo grass.

Years ago I took a 20gal long, put a deep sand bed in there (4-5"), placed a power head in the back corner for water movement and filled it up 3/4 of the way with water. Even had a few white cloud minnows in there and of course a betta fish. Then I put a 100 watt metal halide I had laying around over it. Every single plant I put in there grew out of the water. Amazon swords of course, they got too big for that tank. Hygrophilia and rotala also grew out of the water as well as my crypts. It was so long ago I don't remember the exact species but it was whatever was at my LFS. Of course at that time most of the plants coming in were being grown emersed anyways. Man I wish I had pics of that tank as it really brightened up a very dark corner of our basement apartment.

Anyways, don't be afraid of stem plants. They actually do a good job of creating contrast with the larger sword leaves and I can't think of one that won't grow out of the water at some point.
 
#3 ·
That sounds like it was a beautiful tank. I wish you had photos of it too! lol
I want to keep the water level up. Don't plan on lowering it at all, so would need something that would be big enough to grow out. Maybe I could get a pot or something to bring whatever plant up. That could work since it's going to be in the corner anyway. I dunno. Just trying to think of as many options as possible right now and the look I'm hoping for.
 
#5 ·
A lot of stem plants are actually usually emersed plants, so once they hit the surface they will change mode and grow sturdier stalks that will support themselves - their leaves often change shape too.

It part depends how deep the water will be. You might like to look in the pond section too - often getting bigger plants for less money.
 
#7 ·
Thanks everyone so far :)
I still had a little stem of wisteria left. I put it in the corner and will see how it does once it's big enough to start growing out of the tank.
Still leaning more towards getting a sword plant. I'll have to go to the store one day and see what's out there. I'm not in any hurry though so still looking for ideas :)
 
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