The Puffer Forum

IMHO, it doesn't look pushy. Just says your question was answered.

this pic is a bit large.. so, im just gonna post the link

http://rob.madsen.googlepages.com/55g_4-3-06.jpg

we've had good luck with "lucky bamboo" and the plant in the middle, im not sure the name of it off hand, but i'll find out for you. the center plant actually grew a large stem, and spawned 3 new plants in our tank, that are now quite large. unfortunatly, our red claw crab loves this plant... so, not much of it is left. but the spawns and new leaves it grew were noticably thicker than when we bought it.

java fern has done well.. but the crab took care of that too. the moss has never done well for us.

Thanks a lot man. Yea, very interested in the name of that. Please get back to me.

Nice tank btw.

"Lucky bamboo" or any bamboo really will die and rot if it is completely submerged. The only way to for it to live and thrive is for the top part of the plant to remain out of the water. It may last a little while but it will eventually begin rot.

SkeptikaL wrote:

lisalisa wrote:I'm not sure why you ask the same questions over and over again though. You asked if mosses do alright, and as I said twice before, Java moss is your answer.

??? sure thing...

HUH? That was rude? I was smiling. I don't think you're dumb, I just didn't know why you asked the same questions so many times, that's all. I was being light about it hence the smiley.

the large plant from the pic is Echinodorus Bleheri, AKA Broadleaved Amazon Swordplant.

it does get pretty good sized, but grows a bit slow in the brackish waters.

as far as the "lucky bamboo", thats what they called it at the store, im not sure what it actually is. i do know that we've had good luck with it though, as long as its fully submerged in water or planted out of water. if you try and do a half in half out, it dries up and dies with in a few days to a couple of weeks. we had it in fresh and low end brackish with good results, at 1.009 it started to die.

Lucky bamboo is Dracena sanderiana, and is a tropical understory plant which tolerates wet feet and periodic submersion. It is not a bamboo, not aquatic, and is certainly not BW.

hmm.. ok, after looking at a few sites about the 'bamboo', that is the stuff. i guess we've had amazing "luck" with it then, cause even though its growing at a very very slow pace, the roots have spread well. we've had it planted since october. but, i guess i cant say i recommend it as a viable plant from what i've seen.

I'm doing pretty good with java fern, java moss, italian val and bacopa caroliniana in brackish at a SG of 1.004.

The java fern and java moss were slowly acclimated to the brackish over a few weeks but the bacopa and val were basically thrown in. Well, it was either that or throw them away so I thought what the heck.

The italian val was doing bad at first. The mother plants browned up but the runners have came in really strong. The bacopa just didn't seem to care less.

I have been keeping anubis (sp?) for a few weeks in my F8 tank (1.005). I know that's a short time but it's still alive. I'm overun w/the stuff, so I'm willing to take a chance on it. I've gotta do something, cause there's too much hair algae growing in that tank & I'm tired of removing it. Seems to be helping!

Back to java fern and moss for a second - they'll also attach to any rough/craggy rocks. I know some folks don't like it, but I have both attached to volcanic rock that are doing very well.

I'll have to try the sword and italian vals. I tried corkscrew val and it just all rotted.

Eric

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=8

Has anyone tried these species in their own BW tank?

I'm about to give up on the idea of a plant BW tank so any positive feedback would bolster my spirits in this desparate time (cue appropriate soundtrack).

BTW I was thinking along the lines of low end brakish, 1.005.

I have Java Ferns, Onion plants, and Banana plants in my BW tank and they've been in there for months now and doing great. Not sure if that's time enough to prove that they do well, but they look fine. I'm not into the 'fake' plant and deco either. Also, I have heard about the driftwood rotting in BW, so I went with lotsa base rock ($2/lb and very porous) so it keeps my puff occupied =D

So far we have:

Java Moss
Java Ferns
Onion Plants
Banana Plants

Any others?

What's the SG of the tank? There are actually a tonne of plants that do well in low to mid range salinities. A few commonly traded species of "freshwater" plant are actually either sometimes or usually brackish water plants in the wild! Cryptocoryne ciliata, Bacopa monnieri, and Samolus valerandi are the three best examples. Cryptocoryne ciliata, for example, will go up to around 40% seawater. Samolus valerandi has even been taken up to around 80% seawater!

If you have a the Aqualog brackish book (or can get it) there's a very nice chapter on planting brackish tanks. Admittedly, he picks a lot of algae, but still, there are some useful tips.

In the meantime, pretty well anything hard water tolerant will do well at SG 1.003 -- giant vallis, Amazon swords, hygrophila, hornwort, etc. My brackish FAQ covers a few of the basic species. There is a useful forum post here for some other ideas as well as experiences of SGs that each species tolerates. Once you get above 1.005, the list is much shorter, but there are still some options available. Seagrasses are even viable, if you have the right substrate and lots of light. Mangroves are fiddly and not really worth bothering with under most circumstances, but they're certainly do-able.

Cheers,

Neale

SkeptikaL wrote:What are some good plants for BW? Maybe there are some posts I don't know about explaining this? But if someone could help me out, tell me how to go about growing plants in BW, I'd appreciate it. :30: