General Questions About Plants

So for my current project (54L planted tank), I'm looking to get amazon frogbit, dwarf hairgrass and a few other plants. I've done a good amount of research on these plants and I'm quite adamant on the hairgrass, but I've got a few questions left to answer. Any and all advice/answers are welcome.

1. To maintain amazon frogbit and dwarf hairgrass, how long should I keep the light on? I'm getting a Nicrew Classic LED light if that helps out.
2. Is it safe to buy plants on eBay or Amazon (or similar)? Or is it better to just go to my LFS and see what they have stocked?
3. Due to physical restrictions in my room, I need to suspend work on this tank until next week. If I plan to go online and buy the plants I'm looking for, where should I store them if they arrive early? Storing them might not be necessary if delivery and "next week" align perfectly, but I'd like to cover all bases and possibilities in case the worst may happen.
4. Is there any quick/easy way to make a barrier/border to stop the frogbit from going out of control? And how do I take care of it when it starts to get out of hand?
5. How long does it take for dwarf hairgrass to cover a tank floor (w:60cm x d:30cm)?
6. Are there any kinds of plants that "pair" well with amazon frogbit and hairgrass?

If you have answers for any of these questions it'd be really helpful if you let me know! You don't have to answer them all at once.

Hair grass is tough to grow in low tech but it is possible if you have soft water you will have more success. Have a look at the tropica 1-2-grow pots which will give you the biggest portions and you can store them easily for a few weeks.

For floating plants you can make a loop out of airline (like on an air pump) and keep it within that. Then it floats about like an island or you can do a big loop of airline and have the plants on the outside around the edge of the tank and the inside clear.

I’d add some fast growing stems too lol Limnophilla Sessiflora and Rotala Rotundifolia would be good choices here I think. Just don’t go for the fancy rotalas like hra.

Wills

Wills said:

Hair grass is tough to grow in low tech but it is possible if you have soft water you will have more success. Have a look at the tropica 1-2-grow pots which will give you the biggest portions and you can store them easily for a few weeks.

For floating plants you can make a loop out of airline (like on an air pump) and keep it within that. Then it floats about like an island or you can do a big loop of airline and have the plants on the outside around the edge of the tank and the inside clear.

I’d add some fast growing stems too lol Limnophilla Sessiflora and Rotala Rotundifolia would be good choices here I think. Just don’t go for the fancy rotalas like hra.

Wills

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Thank you for all the tips!
Hairgrass might be hard then, since the water in my area is pretty much the hardest water in all of the UK.

PlasticGalaxy said:

And how do I take care of it when it starts to get out of hand?

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When my frogbit starts to take over I just remove some some.
When the roots reach down to the substrate I give it a haircut. Well, I get hold of a clump of roots and break them off. It's the first part of my weekly maintenance regime and only takes a couple of minutes. I know other members have said this will harm the plants but mine still grows like mad.

Essjay said:

When my frogbit starts to take over I just remove some some.
When the roots reach down to the substrate I give it a haircut. Well, I get hold of a clump of roots and break them off. It's the first part of my weekly maintenance regime and only takes a couple of minutes. I know other members have said this will harm the plants but mine still grows like mad.

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Ooh alright, thank you!

PlasticGalaxy said:

1. To maintain amazon frogbit and dwarf hairgrass, how long should I keep the light on? I'm getting a Nicrew Classic LED light if that helps out.

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I keep mine on for 14 hours a day. Some may say that’s ridiculous, but the evidence is clear:


(I also have the Nicrew Classic)

PheonixKingZ said:

I keep mine on for 14 hours a day. Some may say that’s ridiculous, but the evidence is clear:
View attachment 130546
View attachment 130544View attachment 130545
(I also have the Nicrew Classic)

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Ooh, that looks gorgeous. What plants do you have aside from frogbit?

PlasticGalaxy said:

Ooh, that looks gorgeous. What plants do you have aside from frogbit?

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Thank you! In that tank, I have: Anacharis, crypts, Java fern, and Salvinia.

This is my frogbit in my 23 litre shrimp tank, and my light is on 6 hours a day

PlasticGalaxy said:

Thank you for all the tips!
Hairgrass might be hard then, since the water in my area is pretty much the hardest water in all of the UK.

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How hard is that? I may start that as a new thread! Who has the forums hardest water?

I read somewhere about it being best to buy locally grown plants as there’s at least a chance they like your local water. It makes sense as long as the LFS are being honest about them actually having been grown locally.

Essjay said:

This is my frogbit in my 23 litre shrimp tank, and my light is on 6 hours a day


View attachment 130563

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What temp do you keep a shrimp tank at?

I've just been and looked at the thermometer and that says a tad below 24 deg C. Not as low as 23.5.

Hmmm. Mrs Lurch won’t allow any more tanks in the house atm.

Would I get away with a RCS shrimp tank in the shed during the summer to try and breed some down here? It’s mad hot in there peak summer. With batter filter on 24hrs or turning filter off at night?

ClownLurch said:

How hard is that? I may start that as a new thread! Who has the forums hardest water?

I read somewhere about it being best to buy locally grown plants as there’s at least a chance they like your local water. It makes sense as long as the LFS are being honest about them actually having been grown locally.

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I haven't got an exact number, but I'm South East, so it's preeetty bad.
My LFS is a Maidenhead Aquatics, so I'll have a look the next time I go to see if they've got anything that I like stocked.

ClownLurch said:

What temp do you keep a shrimp tank at?

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I keep mine at 78F.