# Ludwigia repens x arcuata, can it stay alive floating?



## aggriffin3 (Aug 15, 2009)

Or does it need substrate to get ahold of? My GT refuses to let it stay planted. Its like an ever ending game. One moment I plant it, the next morning, its floating. I don't mind floating plants, but Najas Guppy Grass seems to break up, and get sucked onto the filter inlets. Is there a decent floating type that wont break up like the Najas guppy grass, and is fairly hardy and easy to maintain.

Art


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## Woodworm (Jan 3, 2009)

Not sure how long they will live floating but I do know that reproduction is by the pieces breaking off and floating till they find a spot to root


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I'm not sure of the exact type of ludwegia I have as what I have is just collected from the local water but that is a question that has come to me also. I find it breaks pretty easy and it is often floating around. My fish tend to strip all the leaves off anyway so I often just remove that part if it is not too big and replace it with a plant from my growout tank. I have seen that they do get a super amount of roots up and down the stems as if they are sucking from the water when they do stay rooted. It gives me hope that they would survive for quite a long time. But they are not pretty floating around, are they?


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## Woodworm (Jan 3, 2009)

those roots are how they suck nutrients from the water


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I was assuming they would suck through those roots along the stem but I don't see them when I collect the plants from the creeks so it seemed to be something about them being more confined. I have a mixed feeling for them as a tank plant. They make a large upright plant for hiding equipment but they also break pretty easy. Do you happen to have a full scientific name for what we find locally like in the Comal?

They have lots of roots along the stem









But they also get beaten up pretty well!


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## Woodworm (Jan 3, 2009)

I don't know the scientific name without looking it up but it's common name is the red ludwigia. I used to go snorking in the Comal all the time and I see those filament roots on the stems all the time. I have collected it and had the same problem with it floating in the tank and gave up on it after the fish kept eating it. I have a idea about how it might be kept down but never have tried it.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Possibly I just never looked at the right places. I find it growing in very shallow water here so it may just not have the roots developed yet when I've looked. I plant it in cups and let it start in a tank with small fish but when I move it to the large tank, the larger fish break it off as much as pulling it out of the cups.


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