My new plants A GUESSING GAME FOR ALL

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went to aquarium paradise today bought some plants anyone wanna guess what they are because i do not know

Hi Author,

How about some harder ones next time.....lol

1) Hygrophila difformis (Water Wisteria)
2) Ludwigia repens
3) Vallisneria americana
4) Microsorium pteropus (Java fern) BTW Java Fern will grow much better attached to some sort of hardscape like a large stone or driftwood. Burying the rhizome in the gravel may cause it to rot and die. I like to attach my Java Ferns and Anubias to hardscape with Super Glue Gel. Non-toxic and excellent results. I just pull the hardscape out of the tank, pat dry, put a few drops where I want to attach the plant, and hold in place for about 1 minute.

Hope this helps!
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wow that was great i figured the Hygrophila,Ludwigia im still new to plants so i am finally figuring it out

No problems, glad to help! We want pics when you have them growing out well. What are you using for ferts?

I have not seen any major deficiency that would require any are there any that you think i should have or be using anyway?All advice is helpful in my case if you wanna throw out some more i am using decent lights but they could be better

I went to Aquarium Paradise today too i got some of that ludwigia, a blood parrot and another plant but i have no idea what it is
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Any Guesses

If you have a problem with low light use a T12 they are cheaper and just as good if not better.... My friend grows do much wisteria he throws it in compost for his dirt garden I hope this helps

when you wnet did you see a kid?If so that's me.And those ludwigia are nice good cheap deal too

Hi aquaman95,

A planted aquarium is just like any other aquarium, it is all about balance; with planted aquariums we deal with light and nutrients (ferts and carbon).

When I first started with planted tanks I wanted to K.I.S.S. (keep it simple) so I researched and found one of the best all purpose fertilizers is Seachem Comprehensive. To add carbon I used Seachem Excel. I dosed both per the instructions.

Then all I had to do was adjust my photoperiod for good growth without excessive algae. I started with about six hours and adjusted up or down from there. I like a split period photoperiod so I can enjoy my tank in the morning and in the evening so I use a timer and run the lights 2 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening.

@joseZ It is difficult to tell from the picture but it looks like a Pogostemon species.

Wow, AP has healthy plants worth buying?? I should head up more often apparently.

anyone heard of yomato green or stand by it

I use flourish (comp, excel, N, P, K, Fe), though I've been planning to switch to dry ferts for a while... to save both time and money.

Hi All,

@pbmax - It depends, A Place for Pets in Burien typically has a nice selection of plants out of Florida Aquatics and sometimes CA. Denny's Pet World and Sierra Fish and Pets in Renton have Florida Aquatics plants plus some of the more unusual plant species they purchase from GSAS members from time to time. The Fish Store on Roosevelt probably has the best selection; they purchase a lot of the more exotic plants from GSAS members. Also, after most GSAS meetings there is a 'mini-auction' where members sell their excess fish and plants, sometimes there are some excellent bargains.

@aquaman95 - It is expensive; I have no personal experience with it.

@pbmax - A Place for Pets in Burien usually has KNO3; KH2PO4; and K2SO4 in stock but I usually call first. No CSM+B but you can use Flourish Comprehensive as your micro-nutrient source with good success.

Thanks for the info; I'm not short on places to buy nice plants (ebay, aquabid), I just didn't realize AP was stocking nice plants. I was planning on buying dry ferts from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (CSM+B, etc.), but I haven't taken the time to get my dosing ironed out before I do. APFP and GSAS are really too far to drive for me. At a minimum of $16 round trip in gas to go up that way, shipping is almost always cheaper unless I'm up there for some other reason (rare these days).

Exotic == death without CO2 which means a no-go for me!

Indeed; I've been using the flourish line for years. It works well, but it's not cheap.

Hi pbmax,

There are a lot of "exotic" species of plants out there that don't require CO2.

I like:

Hydrocotyle sp. 'Japan'[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Marsilea minuta[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hygrophila pinnatifida

Ludwigia X Lacustris

Microsorum pteropus 'Trident' (Java Fern 'Trident')[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Nymphoides sp. 'Taiwan'[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Ludwigia repens x arcuata

Here is an example of the dosing calculator I use; it is not my calculator - just my image. If you would like a link to the calculator let me know:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Nice photos!

I guess it all depends on your definition of exotic; I keep marsilea minuta. I've had great luck finding just about anything I'm looking for between, Aquabid, Aquaria Central classifieds, and ebay.

I need to figure out what all I need to be dosing with first as far as the dry stuff goes, including how much I want of each. Then I'll see about mixing it all together into a combined mix I can use across my various aquariums (I dose 5 of them) to reduce dosing overhead. It's a pain to dose from 6 bottles twice a week as I do now. I'm not even sure this is desirable or doable, but it seems to me it would reduce a lot of overhead. And I need to shoe-horn all of it into my 50% water change every 2 weeks regimen. This means a lot of reading and learning... stuff I should have done over the winter before the weather started getting nice and the yard started growing again.

Hi pbmax,

You can mix up stock solutions of your Macros and your Micros but if you combine the two the resulting chemical reaction may cause a precipitate (solid chunks) of chemicals to form. Most of us dose our Macros on one day and Micros on alternate days.

Yeah, that's something I was concerned with and is good information to have. If it's going to mean more work (fertilizing more often or with more items per instance) then I'll likely just stay with flourish. I can afford to spend a little more $$ if it'll save me a good amount of time. Right now I dose everything just twice a week.