[Rivka]

i am aiming to do a tank with a long lost and forgotten castle in it, i am looking for any water plant that would grow anything link these roots below
while i know i may in the end have to make this scale version of old root or vines out of something fake, i would love to even get close with an actual plant. anyone know any leads??

and best of all:

 

[Artemesia]

Well you won't get the tight grip that follows the shape of whatever it's on as much as in the photos but anubias get pretty root-y in my experience.

 

[JJ09]

Maybe bucephalandra? I have some tied onto driftwood and they are starting to send out long roots across the form.

 

[touch of sky]

It takes a long while, but I agree with Artemisia that anubias will get very long roots. I haven't grown buceplalandra yet, but love the look of it.

 

[MaroMan]

I agree with Artemisia and touch of sky. The larger the species of anubias the larger/thicker the roots will be, but if you have it attached to rock or wood its roots will creep along and eventually reach down for the soil, much like your pictures. This root growth will take quite a long time though as the anubias species are slow growers. Look for an anubias already grown attached to a rock, pay someone for spending the time to grow the plant the way you want it to be in your tank!

 

[Seetide]

I will post a pic when lights come on today of something that might work. I have spiderwood I am starting to run across the back of my tank, with the roots extending into the water. I plan on attaching some dwarf Anubis to the roots and it will give the effect of your last pic. I attach air plants to the portion above water.

 

[Preeths]

Pogostemon helferi and hygrophila pinnatifida will grow on almost anything including rocks and wood once it establishes itself in the tank. These will grow faster than Anubias. hygrophila pinnatifida will create the look you are trying to achieve in the fastest possible time.

 

[devilduck]

you can try attaching anubias roots. theses are from my anubias Nana.

 

[shhh]

My banana plants will form very long roots very quickly, trying to reach the substrate, but they're not that clingy. They would give you a mix of thick and thin roots though, which you could probably glue down.

 

[Bushkill]

If you have LOTS of time and patience, you can acclimate mangrove plants to FW, or just start a seed pod in FW. The roots are much thicker than anything else you'll come across. It will take time, but your lighting will need to be vertically adjustable.

 

[Rosieonfire]

you can try attaching anubias roots. theses are from my anubias Nana.

Love the tank btw

 

[payluder]

I was looking into red mangrove plants because of their root system. I found these on google

 

[Rivka]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction folks, I'll go look at those various plants. I adore mangroves, but for this tank in thinking I'm going to stick to submerged plants. My tank has a really nice matching stand and hood so I'll think I'll keep the hood on.

Though I have thought about suspending it just a few inches above the tank to allow for plants to grow out of the tank.

I originally wanted a vivarium style with the top 1/3 above the waterline, and my next tank will absolutely be that way, but I just don't thing tank has the right shape for it, I'm guessing I would be happier with a open or hinged front for the above water portion, or a nice wide shallow tank, so I wasn't just always looking at fogged glass.

 

[Rivka]

I know in above water plants, some will let you glue their roots down carefully without much notice, while others will rot right away if you do and those must be carefully tied down. Is there a rule of thumb about this for underwater plants?

 

[GrampsGrunge]

Not sure if there's a quick and hard rule. I tend to not use Cyanoacrylate, ( gelled-super-glue.) because it releases cyanide compounds when curing, and doesn't bond well to wet things. I've had luck with thin cotton string, and using small steel staples to fix Java Fern to driftwood. YMMV, IMO...

 

[devilduck]

Love the tank btw

Thanks!

 

[PlantedRich]

My suggestion might be due to being a bit impatient and not even thinking of setting watching roots grow!

How about buying a plant like a large sword with an impressive root set already grown? Is it practical on your décor to have enough root growth to go down across the item and still leave enough to still have roots in the sub as needed? User decisions needed!

I use super glue quite a lot and find there are things that make it work and things that make it fail. One is that it doesn't hold well to wood as often as something solid like stone/ pottery, etc. Second is the way it sets up through a chemical reaction rather than drying like many glues. It often just needs the moisture in the air to cure so when we use too much glue or too much water, the reaction is not as good. My preferred use is to use it on rocks that I have wetted but let almost totally dry. When I use it on wet wood, it either sticks very poorly or pulls a bit of the wood off.

Any chance of doing something with a large root mass on your hard décor, using the super glue as normal and shaping/working the pattern before adding it to the tank? Then sink, once the glue is fully cured and no longer smells. I find the noxious parts to be gone at that point. Much like silicone use for tanks?

Never done the mangrove process but just some thoughts.

 

[Rivka]

Maybe bucephalandra? I have some tied onto driftwood and they are starting to send out long roots across the form.

the plant looks really nice, good scale on some of it, can't find any real images o note roots, do you happen to have a picture?

 

[JJ09]

the plant looks really nice, good scale on some of it, can't find any real images o note roots, do you happen to have a picture?

No- but I can try and take some soon. Mine are just starting to grow the roots out so it's not too impressive, but maybe it will give you an idea of what it could