I just dont know...

[GaryE]

From a cold bleak snowy afternoon, a lone voice shouts "guppy grass".!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Most of the water movement in my tanks is just under the surface rather than the surface itself. But you can always make a corral from airline tubing to stop it going where it's not wanted. The plants themselves have smallish leaves similar in size to some species of salvinia (quarter to half inch across) and the roots are not very long at around 1 inch. But unlike salvinia the leaves are not hairy and mine has so far coped very well with condensation dripping on it from the cover glasses. I lost all my salvinia a few years ago during a heatwave (though you'd probably call the upper 20s C/mid 80s F cool )

Thanks, good info ...and, the "heat wave" part was pretty funny...

 

[AquaBarb]

I agree with Byron and Colin on water sprite (especially ceratopteris cornuta) being the best floating plant.

Ive had a fair few in water lettuce,water spangle, Salvinia, frogbit, red rooted floaters, duckweed, guppy grass and none have grown or benefited my tanks more. In fact water sprites the only one i still have.

 

[Sgooosh]

do all, but seperate the red roots, they grow slower than other floaters and my duckweed is drowning my red roots

 

[connorlindeman]

I think I will go with water sprite. Any tips on caring for them or how much to get?

 

[Byron]

I think I will go with water sprite. Any tips on caring for them or how much to get?

Decent light (spectrum in the 5000K-6500K range; intensity is likely not an issue as the plant is floating right under the light). A comprehensive liquid fertilizer will be advantageous, as this plant is fast growing and that means more nutrients. It can take a couple weeks to adjust to new conditions, just let it float and it will settle. Once it has, adventitious plants will form on alternate fronds, and these can be gently pulled off once they are around 2-3 inches in diameter to form new plants. If you leave them attached, eventually it will be a thick mat. So one plant will or should do you, but just in case I would get a couple.

 

[Colin_T]

If the water sprite does well, you can plant some in the gravel

 

[connorlindeman]

Decent light (spectrum in the 5000K-6500K range; intensity is likely not an issue as the plant is floating right under the light). A comprehensive liquid fertilizer will be advantageous, as this plant is fast growing and that means more nutrients. It can take a couple weeks to adjust to new conditions, just let it float and it will settle. Once it has, adventitious plants will form on alternate fronds, and these can be gently pulled off once they are around 2-3 inches in diameter to form new plants. If you leave them attached, eventually it will be a thick mat. So one plant will or should do you, but just in case I would get a couple.

thanks! i think i will get 3 plants

 

[connorlindeman]

So I just got 6 water sprite plants in the mail. I also got 5 frog bits but they arrived frozen solid.
The Water sprite is doing well but 3 of the frog bits died. Here's a pic of the tank with the plants!

It's pretty ugly right now but I plan to change the gravel to sand and add a bunch more plants

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I'm late to the party but here's my opinion: Get them all! (I really like floating plants) I also really like amazon frogbit and floating fern.

As for your tank: The water sprite looks good! I like the gravel (just be careful about overfeeding) and hope you stick with the natural color. The ugly fake plants need to go. Color should come from your fish, not from plastic. That's just my opinion.*

*which happens, in this case, to be completely correct.

 

[connorlindeman]

I'm late to the party but here's my opinion: Get them all! (I really like floating plants) I also really like amazon frogbit and floating fern.

As for your tank: The water sprite looks good! I like the gravel (just be careful about overfeeding) and hope you stick with the natural color. The ugly fake plants need to go. Color should come from your fish, not from plastic. That's just my opinion.*

*which happens, in this case, to be completely correct.

I def want to get rid of those plants. The reason I need to change to sand is that I stupidly got 4 cory catfish not knowing they need sand.

I plan to switch to Quikrete Playsand as soon as it gets in stock here.

 

[Colin_T]

The reason I need to change to sand is that I stupidly got 4 cory catfish not knowing they need sand.

Whilst Corydoras do best with a sand substrate, you do not need to panic about changing the substrate immediately. Cories will swim over all sorts of substrates in the wild, albeit they feed and prefer to be over sand. But you have time to change the gravel over. Do it when you can, be it tomorrow or sometime in the next few weeks, the fish will be fine until then.

 

[vanalisa]

Way to go upgrading your tank with live plants!!!

I think we have a future tank of the month entry in the works!
I wanted to give you kudos for entering your tank for the last contest... Even when it wasn't where you wanted it to be!

 

[connorlindeman]

Whilst Corydoras do best with a sand substrate, you do not need to panic about changing the substrate immediately. Cories will swim over all sorts of substrates in the wild, albeit they feed and prefer to be over sand. But you have time to change the gravel over. Do it when you can, be it tomorrow or sometime in the next few weeks, the fish will be fine until then.

Thanks for that. I read online that they can end up cutting themselves on the gravel. Good to know that it's not extremely urgent.

 

[connorlindeman]

Way to go upgrading your tank with live plants!!!

I think we have a future tank of the month entry in the works!
I wanted to give you kudos for entering your tank for the last contest... Even when it wasn't where you wanted it to be!

Thank you!