Shaun85 Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 I thought i would get some advice in relation to plants after purchasing some which went quiet horribly wrong. One of my pet shops i frequent sold me a purple and green vertical grass looking plant and a really thing green leafed plant and assured me all i needed was liquid fertilizer and they would survive. Well after a couple of days my water looked crap and the plants grassy like leaves began coming off making it an absolute pain to clean my tank. So anyhow what i wanted to know is what the requirements are of looking after moss as i saw some people put some sort of rocks into there tank and moss grew or if there is any plants with a require little attention? Obviously i know really nothing about plants and moss and dont really want the hassle of trying to clear bad looking plants out. My tank is an Aquaone AR850 divided into two sections with my females on one side with 2 sucking catfish and a male and 1 sucking cat fish in the other, Regards, Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 The plants that died and rotted would have most lickely been house plants sold as aquatics, it happens in most lfs. If you are looking for reputable dealers try Aquagreen or liverpool creek aquariums. Moss is dead easy to grow, I suggest xmas or peacock as it is nice and dense, not like java that is all stragly. What lighting do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 Sounds like you got sold some pogostemon stellatus.. Which requires strong lighting and really does best with CO2. What sort of moss are you talking about? It's all fairly easy. I've got it growing in a tank which gets nothing but a few hours of sunlight. I haven't water changed it.. ever? Maybe once in the several months it's been set up. No fertilizer. No light except for that sunlight. It does have plant base substrate though. Green or variagated hygro, wisteria, Java/Indo/Windolov fern, chainsword, crypts and anubias are all easy, low maintenance plants that still look great. You shouldn't have any issues with any of those. Once you get a hang of things though, then you can move onto slightly more difficult plants. What sort of gravel have you got? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun85 Posted May 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 (edited) The lighting i have is 3 white fleurescents which came with the tank and a purple one which came with the tank. The tank is pretty much my first one i have had so still learning a bit. The gravel i have i would have to go outside to check the bag i got it from a pet and produce place and mixed it in with some of the crushed gravel sold for betta tanks. I sort of want a moss and plants which dont require a great deal of lighting due to the electricity bill hence why i thought if i lent more towards moss it may be a bit more practical. I had to remove the middle divider as the fish were squeezing through it at the front or back and the females and male kept joining each other. also no snails in tank anymore :) Edited May 16, 2011 by Shaun85 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch33 Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 If your tubes are original tubes I am pretty sure they are not suitable for plants and hopefully someone can confirm this I just went looking for tubes recently for an ar850 and let me tell you melbourne price was expensive 30 dollars a tube at my LFS and not really what I wanted so I purchased 1 from aquarium shop and the shorter one in the middle I modified to fit a 2 ft tube that cost 5 dollars from bunnings and suitable for plant growth took about 10 minutes to modify, not the best look but you cant see it through the cover anyway As for plants as mentioned there are a lot who sell bog and house plants not suitable but some can last a few months or more and some people dont seem to mind there are several mosses available but I would start with one or two as it will all end up mixed when buying plants ask the name and go home and google the requirements for it before purchasing them there are a lot of easy to grow plants available also even easy to grow plants will do better with a little food and correct lighting Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrefly Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 Anubias and Crypts are pretty indestructable, and don't have high light requirements. The former should be tied to wood or stone with the rhizome above the substrate. The latter might require a more nutritious substrate or you can pot it up to keep it growing well. Most mosses are easily grown. Unless you've got shrimp or a decent current though you might find they collect a lot of debris and need shaking out occassionally! Hard to kill generally all the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun85 Posted May 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 And what is the type of moss in which they sell growing around a ball and attached to string? I saw it at my LFS and forgot to ask the name but it was like $15 each Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neffy Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) Its most likely java moss i got something similar they dont really stay as balls just become stringy comming out of the top (like hair) and can die off underneath where there is no light. for $15 you can get so much more java moss and do it your self moss ropes are also really sweet http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/40170-moss-rope-ladder.html i particuarly like the Subwassertang one XD Edited May 17, 2011 by Neffy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun85 Posted May 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 Very intriguing. I am looking at only having a small amount of moss probably in the larger section on the left with my female sororiety or in the middle smaller section however am not completely sure as to where i want to go with it due to space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts