# plants that last longest in tank



## livefishcam (Nov 1, 2010)

es anyone have any good advice on plants that last a while in your tank and also take well to growing?

most plants i get seem to get eaten or just dont take


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Its important to match your light level. Most "aquarium plants" hardly grow under the lights that come with tanks. Look for low-light java fern (my fav), java moss, anubias, etc. These three don't like to be buried, so you tie them to rocks or driftwood. They grow slowly, but at least they don't die.


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## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

Also match your ph to the type of plant you choose. What kind of substrate do you have? Have you tried Seachem's flourish or a similar product?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

What kind of fish? Some will eat most plants.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

I just wanted to add that if you have Silver Dollars you might as well hang up keeping live plants.


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## livefishcam (Nov 1, 2010)

i only have 1 ciclid krib that eats the plants the rest are tetras, zebra dans, angel fish

ive gone for some plants that already have roots and established. a little more expensive but thought would give them a try


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

livefishcam said:


> i only have 1 ciclid krib that eats the plants the rest are tetras, zebra dans, angel fish
> 
> ive gone for some plants that already have roots and established. a little more expensive but thought would give them a try


Light levels are important, most tanks do not have enough light to grow plants using a standard hood. Especially anything more then a 30 breeder. Also the standard bulbs are pretty ****************ty for plants, but don't go out and buy anything labeled "plant bulb" or "growth" or anything to do with plants and possibly growing them. Those tend to be just as ****************ty and cost 3 times more then the exact same bulb that is not marketed with those words.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

my anubias grow quite well in the gravel as well as tied to rocks. Same with java ferns- once they get their feet down in the gravel they just keep growing.
If you are handy or someone you know can do basic electricity you can remove the flourescent bulbs anbd fixture that come with the tank, retrofit them with bulb sockets and use the screw in household flourescent bulbs and up the wattage you are getting. get bright white or daylight bulbs at the hardware stores.


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## livefishcam (Nov 1, 2010)

Handy is my middle name lol

Already have a high watt unit that’s also wired into a dimmer and also into a live web interface relay control unit call an iObridge device which also controls the lighting with a sensor and also the water temp with a thermostat temperature probe reading. And also my house using x10 controls

Also all live on the web via 5 webcams here – www.livefishcam.co.uk

It’s the plants I cant get to last as long as I want lol to be honest it was a while since I did last buy them so maybe I am expecting them to last longer that I think




mousey said:


> my anubias grow quite well in the gravel as well as tied to rocks. Same with java ferns- once they get their feet down in the gravel they just keep growing.
> If you are handy or someone you know can do basic electricity you can remove the flourescent bulbs anbd fixture that come with the tank, retrofit them with bulb sockets and use the screw in household flourescent bulbs and up the wattage you are getting. get bright white or daylight bulbs at the hardware stores.


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## glassweaver (May 14, 2010)

Ghost Knife said:


> I just wanted to add that if you have Silver Dollars you might as well hang up keeping live plants.


Same for tinfoils, lol. They devour any java/xmas moss I add, and in general enjoy ripping things to shreds. 

For some reason though, NOBODY likes to eat the hornwort, which grows so fast that I used to throw it out from time to time (before I lost a battle with algae). 

Attached is an image of hornwort if you're unfamiliar with it. Water wisteria can also be a pretty hardy little plant. Just make sure you don't get water sprite. They look almost identical, and sometimes are sold under the wrong names, but water wisteria grows much faster and is, from my experience, harder for my fish to distroy.


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