# New planted tanks



## phishes (May 17, 2005)

I have never had live plants before, and giving it a shot. I bought argentine sword, comacta, and white ribbon plants for my 55g and 10g. 
My substrait is sand/gravel mix and wanted to see if this will be fine. It has been 2 weeks, and the plants seem ok, but no real growth. I have floreccent light made for planted tanks. 
Do I need co2 or plant foods? I know fish contribute by breathing and pooping.


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

> I bought argentine sword, comacta, and white ribbon plants for my 55g and 10g.


I'd like to help but I don't think you are using (or were given) the correct name for these plants. 
I have searched for info for you and there is no "argentine" sword that I've found.

There are 2 plants found under "compacta" 
One is Compact Sword or Echindorous Parviflorus "tropica".
The other is "Pineapple Plant" which is not an aquatic plant and will eventually die and rot in your tank.

The name "white ribbon plant" cannot be found relating to aquatic plants.
:fish: 
Most swords need "medium" light which usually means 2 watts per gallon. 
Do you know your wattage on your light bulbs?
I like to keep mine under 2 wpg and close to 1.5-1.75wpg and stay with low tech, but that's me.

The plants will need time to settle in and if they still look ok in 2 weeks, that's good.

Gravel/sand mix should be fine.

I would lay off the co2 for now and see how it goes. Do some research and see if you really want to devote the time to it.

You could add root tablet ferts as long as you don't move the plants.
When you move plants, the root tabs are exposed to the water collum and you could see a huge algae outbreak.
 
My suggestions would be:
Place the plants directly under the lighting you have.
Have your lights on a timer so they are on for atleast 4 hours but no longer than 8 or 9 hours at one time.
You can divide the lighting time for your viewing, but atleast _4 hours on _for photosynthesis.
Put root tab ferts in the gravel under the swords.
Leave them alone and see how it goes.
In the meantime, search for the correct name of your plants.

hth
Alicem


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## phishes (May 17, 2005)

Thanks! I have the scientific names:
Argentine sword-echinodorus argentinensis
Compacta-hygrophila corymbosa stricta
White ribbon-dracaena sanderiana

The white ribbon looks exactly like a young spider plant. Could the LFS be selling spider plants as aquatics?


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

Fishlore.com said:


> Argentine Sword Plant
> Freshwater Aquarium Plant Care
> 
> Scientific Name Echinodorus argentinensis
> ...


Here's a link to discussion about your hygro(compacta). It sounds like a good beginner plant  Think I might try and find one  :
http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_corymbosa.php



> The white ribbon looks exactly like a young spider plant. Could the LFS be selling spider plants as aquatics?


Oftentimes they do. I've bought plants from LFSs labeled "true aquatic" only to have them die in the aquarium. :? Another one of those "buyer bewares" ...
I found this about dracaena sanderiana.
By the looks of the 4th paragraph, the white ribbon plant is a houseplant, sorry:


Wikipedia said:


> Dracaena sanderiana, known as Ribbon Dracaena, Lucky Bamboo, Belgian Evergreen or sometimes Ribbon Plant, is a species of Dracaena, native to Cameroon in tropical west Africa. It is one of a group of small, shrubby species with slender stems and flexible strap-shaped leaves that grow as understory plants in rainforests. It is an upright shrub growing to 1.5 m tall, with leaves 15-25 cm long and 1.5-4 cm broad at the base. It is marketed in the developed world as a Chinese decorative plant "Lucky Bamboo" (although unrelated to Bamboo and not native to Asia), propagated from short cuttings, usually in water.
> 
> [edit] Cultivation and uses
> Dracaena sanderiana and related species are popular houseplants, with numerous cultivars sold. It can survive in many indoor conditions, but indirect lighting is best as direct sunlight can cause the leaves to turn yellow and burn.
> ...


hth,
Alicem


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## phishes (May 17, 2005)

The hygro looks like this, but has some purple stem and on the leaves. i wish my camera worked.










Well, I can always take that white ribbon out and plant it like the info you provided suggest.

Thanks!


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## Entoman (Sep 17, 2008)

*** never done live plants before either, but I got some italian vals tied their roots to some egg crate and placed it under the sand. They started to grow within a week, and had new sprouts with in two.

I did nothing special. I have normal lighting, temp, no co2 addition. Nothing! They were living off the nitrate in my tank from using ammonia to cycle. They seem real hardy and good for a beginner.

Now my mbuna are eating them faster than they can grow.


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## phishes (May 17, 2005)

I pulled the white ribbon and now they are terrestial house plants 

The swords are really growing. The hygro compacta is growing what looks like roots out of the stem. Is this normal? It is the upper part near the leaves, and speaki ng about the leaves they are pointed up.


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

> I pulled the white ribbon and now they are terrestial house plants


Lemonade from lemons. :thumb: 
For some reason I can't get your picture of the hygro to load for me. :-? 


> The hygro compacta is growing what looks like roots out of the stem. Is this normal?


The description I read from plantgeek.net says propagation is by side shoots/cuttings.
If you are daring enough, snip it off just below the "new roots" and plant it...
I'm sure you don't want to mangle your plant, but it may (or maynot) take root. 
Your call on that.
Try posting another picture showing the mystery roots.
 
Alicem


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

Hygro are "bomb proof" you cannot go wrong with them, wherever you prune it they will shoot and at the nodes below the point of pruning two branches will split out (just like normal), in this way one can quickly and easily multiply the number of plants.

I started with 3-5 stems of Hygro, after two weeks I pruned the stems in half, leaving the bottom where they were and replanting the top straight into the substrate, two weeks later I could do this again to _all_ the Hygro and so on. Because of inter nodal splitting they technically divide and multiply, so you end up with some real bushes, real fast! 1<2<4<8 on each stem to the point that I only have about 5 actual single stems of Hygro, yet due to the internodal branching they cover my entire 75!

Be brave, be confident and most of all, be consistent (in your routine).

:thumb:


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## phishes (May 17, 2005)

Thanks for the info on hygro guys  While the plants look very healthy, I think I need to up grade my lighting. I have only 18'' florecent lights. From what I've read, these plants need lots of lights. What do you recomend?
Also, it is amazing how much these plants have lowered the nitrates in the tank. My nitrates are at 10, and that is after a week w/ no water change


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

That's fantastic about your nitrates. Mine also stay low in my tanks, but I don't feed too heavily.
Even with low nitrates, you still need to do weekly partial water changes. 
The fresh water will replace minerals that both the fish and plants need. 
Sorry I can't give you scientific facts and ratios here, but keep up the partial w/c, 
your fish and plants will reward you with their beauty.

Now tell us more about what lights you have...but be aware, you may get information overload.
If that happens you'll need to pick through what's posted for the info most useful to your situation.


> While the plants look very healthy, I think I need to up grade my lighting. I have only 18'' florecent lights.


My questions:
Are the lights 18" long on your 55G? Is that the tank you are concerned about?
Is your lighting one strip in the middle or two strips with one on each half of the tank? 
Does the fixture hold a single bulb, dual bulbs?
 
Alicem


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## phishes (May 17, 2005)

Thanks Alicem 

I was using a plant 18'' florecents. I'm not so worried about the 10g, because it is not deep. The 55g had the 18'', but I found a 4' fixture I had bought from someone along time ago. He used it in a planted tank, so I think it would be fine. It has 2 florecent tubes.
Now I did a water change the other day and noticed some hygro roots floating in the water. Is this how that plant reproduces? I planted one in the sand to see. 
Also, I have noticed brown algae on the leaves on the plants. I thought plants were good to keep algae away? Espacially if my nitrates are low. It happened a day after adding the 4' lighting. 
The swords are really growing, so maybe I shouldn't worry? 
I am going to get java moss and horwort soon.


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

Plants will help with nitrates, algae and green water but there are other factors we need to consider.

Do you have fish in your 55G ? Is the tank new, for example: a few months old?

The brown algae usually is the first to show up in a new tank. 
It turns to green algae in a while.
This is a natural thing that happens to new tanks.

Your 4' lighting is a good idea. It will shine light all the way across the tank.
Your bulbs are probably 40w x 2 = 80w/55G, so that's fine, especially if the swords are happy.

Are the bulbs new? Bulbs should be replaced every 9 mo. to 1 year. 
Even tho the bulbs still shine, they loose the proper output that the plants need from the light after too long and algae will grow instead.

Keep you lights on for no more than 8 hours.

You might consider getting a bristle nose (bushy nose) algae eater(ancistrus).
BNs are indespensible when it comes to reducing algae on the decorations and slow growing plants. 
They also appreciate some driftwood, which helps them with digestion, kinda like fiber helps us. :thumb:
hth answer some of your questions,
 
Alicem


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Man I get so angry when these shops sell these bog plants as aquatics! :x


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## phishes (May 17, 2005)

alicem said:


> Plants will help with nitrates, algae and green water but there are other factors we need to consider.
> 
> Do you have fish in your 55G ? Is the tank new, for example: a few months old?
> 
> ...


The 55g has been running for a good 6 years now. 
My stock is:
3X swordtails
1X 4'' firemouth
1X 5'' salvini
1X 6'' convict

I don't know what kind of bulb are in there, but it sounds like they should be replaced. I am getting drift wood, and going to try and attach the moss to it by using fishing line.

Thanks again!


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

You're welcome  
If I may add one more thing... you might want to consider putting your light on a timer.
Set the timer to cycle on and off twice, allowing a "siesta" during the middle of the day. 
For example:

Set the timer to go on for 4 hours in the morning, so you can feed the fish and enjoy them for a while.
Then the timer can shut off the light for a period, like while your at work or school.
Then the light can come back on in the afternoon/evening again for 4 or so hours.
During that time you can feed and enjoy your tank while you're home in the evening.

By cycling the light it possibly throws the algae off so it doesn't grow as well. 
The plants _that you want to grow _will have the 4 hour "light on" time that's required for photosynthesis.

Best of luck,
Alicem


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## phishes (May 17, 2005)

I have reduced the light to 8 hours, so I think that will help. A timer is a great idea. I'm not sure if I should get a pleco. I do have a clown pleco in my 10g. I have 13 baby sword tails in there as well, and I have no algae at all. The adult swordtails in the 55g seem to be enoying the algae on the plant leaves, so maybe they are helping too.


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