Keeping real water plants alive

S

sam

Guest
Hi all,

i have 2 water plants in my gravel-less tank with 2 CFBNs. they've been there for 3 to 5 days plus and the leaves have started to yellow. i know it's due to Mg ions defiency but i dunno what to do about it. any ideas? thanx.

Samuel Lee
 
If they have lead weights on them bend them off, they often crush the stalks. Put then in one of those aquarium flowerpots if you have one with gravel. Have you got a light? You can always use a small bowl full of gravel aswell. Just put the food somewhere away from the bowl to stop it getting underneath or into the gravel.
hop this helps,
Chris
 
you can also buy aquarium plant fertilizer which is safe for fish (and newts).This miught help
Chris
 
Hey Chris

Thanx, but i've just replaced the yellow dying plants with plastic ones, the plants were too yellow already. Btw are plastic plants harmful to newts? They do look less appealing than the real ones though...

Samuel Lee (sam)
 
No they are not harmful, as long as they do not have metal cores or spikey things
Chris
 
I find in my fish tanks that its much better to pot them up in rockwool and pop them in to small plant pots, some real plants like to root in to the gravel at the bottom, there is an oxygenating plant that doesnt really do this and is grea tos long as it is in rockwool and the water is kept cold.

Marina
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If that's the case, where do the plants get their minerals from? the gravel?

Samuel
 
Sam, get real plants!
If u put a little effort in finding the right ones u wont have to do anything to care for them!
 
Very easy plants to grow needing very little light, and in my experiences never needing feeding are.
Anubias, java fern, java moss, willow moss.
 
I agree Morg, I have the same experience with these plants. I love Java fern! I have some hygrophila polysperma that works really good even though I use only low lighting. Egeria densa might work but it seems to become very weak in my aq. Bacopa monnieri works for me also. There are loads. I would love something dense and low that grows rapidly needing only low levels of light, any aquarists dream I suppose....
Hello Riccia fluitans..Java moss works pretty good though
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Jesper
Thanks for the tip on using Bacopa.
I had looked at this plant, but never tried it myself.
Hygrophila polysperma is a plant that I am using for the first time in my latest set up, and it looks promising.
 
Hey guys,

Thanx. I'm tried Chris' idea with the planting of V spiralis in a bowl of gravel and i still quarantining it for a while to see if it holds. Yes i agree that real plants are not only more appealing, more comfortable for the newts, they also take in nitrates and hence water changes can be reduced. but i live in a tropical country so i dun have access to java moss and the like. If the V spiralis holds, i'd gladly use it. Thanx anyway for all your info.

Btw, one of my newts have recently gone terrestrial. It gets really stressed when i put it in my fully aquatic tank. the only land area is a floating cork which that newt doesn't really use. Water temperature is quite high, 80F but i have no way to cool it down. i do partial water changes every 4 days and clean out uneaten food and <font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font> at first sight. The other newt (slightly bigger male) seems very comfortable with the whole set up. any suggestions? THanks in advance!!

SAmuel Lee
 
Btw, jesper can you tell me the species of your <font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font> eating snails? may want to get some to help me do some <font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font> control. Thanx man.

Samuel Lee
 
Wow Sam, CFBN at 80?? You should look at more heat-tolerant newts. However, living in a tropical country is only better for the plants!
Most plants would love 80F...
Java moss and Java fern for example comes from Java which is an island situated in south Asia, which means the temperature shouldnt be a problem.
Both these plants like it above 18-20C and grows more slowly under this temp even though they seem to tolerate it. Where do u live?

I dont know the species of my snails, I would like to know though!! They are brownish and very small, the biggest ones are like 1,5cm. I havent bought them they often come with plants around here(not intentionally though
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).

Btw Morg have u tried ceratophyllum demersum?
 
Hmm... i live in Singapore. Sigh... i was like those uninformed blokes who bought the newts before doing any research
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Java moss from Java, i should have known, man i'm slow. Actually i've got some of those snails from my V. spiralis too but i took em out for fear of em eating my plants. guess i should get new ones.

Btw, Singapore's near Indonesia which is the country that includes the island of Java so Java moss should thrive where i am but haven't heard of it locally before.

You have any suggestions for my terrestrial newt? i am now housing it in a tub with dechlorinated water just enough to cover it with a piece of floating cork for it to hide under. It gets really stressed when i put it in the aquarium and that stresses the other newt too. It's very reserved when it comes to food and always shies away from me.
 
Hi Sam,
about your terrestrial newt i have an idea for you.
you could try putting the newt in a rather large tub with a a layer of soil, a small water bowl and a hiding place(wood caves,terra cotta planters) and leave him there for a while.
if you want to add plants to the terrestrial setup ive heard Epipremnum, Philodendron and different types of moss and ivy are commonly used.
hope this helps
Mark


(Message edited by Mark_uk on October 30, 2003)
 
Hi sam,
I would not push him into water, he should choose that himself. Now the problem is to convince him to go into the water. I would take egeria densa or another floating plant and fill the water part of a 50/50 aq with it, only shallow water. This will stop the newt from "sinking", so that he feels confident in the water. I am currently trying to do this with my triturus pygmaeus, it takes time though so be patient. Mine hate the water so... I think the trick is to have plants so dense that it almost feels like land. Then slowly augment the amount of water.
 
As far as the poop eating snail goes, no snails to my knowledge will eat poop. They may eat extra food and algae, but not waste products from the animals.

If you could post information regarding this species of snail, I would be very interested, but I doubt that it exists at this time.

~Aaron
 
Going back a few posts.
Yes Jesper I am using Ceratophyllum demersum in a few of my set ups.
 
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