What plants are these?

[sayhitojason]

Hi, I have several plants that I need help in identifying. Appreciate any help/tips in caring for them as well. Thanks.

[hwchoy]

what did you do to them! [:0] honestly they look terrible. how much lights and do you have CO2 injection? umm and how about base fert?

[bluezing]

haha...choy...pple ask to ID leh.
but seriously...they do look unhealthy.hehe...

[budak]

from top to bottom, your plants appear to be: Hottonia palustris, Blyxa japonica, Bacopa caroliana (how did you get your tank in that position!!????) and a struggling Nesaea sp.

There is a gallery of plants on this site put up by the long-suffering admin. You can also compare your pictures with the plants there for ID-ing.

I also recommend you read through the past threads in the forum to learn more about growing healthy plants, and also buy a good beginner's reference book. Recommended is Aquarium Plants Manual by Ines Scheurmann, which should cost less than $15 at good bookshops and some better LFS.

[theodore]

Are these plants in your "low light, no CO2 setup"? If so, you either (1) start upgrading your lights and setup a DIY CO2 system or (2) pass your plants (or what's left of them) to a friend that has the right environment for them.

Budak,
I have to hand it to you - There is no way I could have guessed that the last one is a Nesaea sp.

[budak]

i could be wrong.... he could also be referring to the stemless rhizome of some Anubias tied to the wood.[]

The best advice to all beginners is still:
READ, READ, READ...... on the Net, in the library, in the AQ archives, in books.... if you start a hobby and expect to be spoonfed every step of the way, you will never learn much except to parrot dictums internalised by others.

[bluezing]

AGREE AGREE AGREE!!!...read up more and ask only if u really cant find the answer.only then will u learn and absorb more.

*btw..im just a newbie too.hehe[]

[sayhitojason]

Hi guys, wow, thanks for all the replies. Well, yes, the plants are in my no CO2 setup. Just planted them recently, and yes I have base fert.

As to the unhealthy state, my guess is that they were left too long in plastic containers. In fact, they looked worse when they were first planted. But I hope they'll get better.

Will heed advice to add some CO2, and turn up the lights. I am only turning the lights on for 6 hours, as advised by a forumer to avoid any algae build up. I will go to full 10 hours starting tomorrow.

Also, I was thinking of turning on the lights at night, since that's when I am home to enjoy it. But will this jeopardize the plants and confuse them? My tank does not get direct sunlight, but I am sure some indirect light gets it. Thanks!

[theodore]

Another few cents from me :

- Switching on your 30W lights (I saw this on your spec sheet on another thread) for 10 hrs will not be sufficient for some of the plants you have, e.g. Nesaea species. When I said upgrading your lights, I meant getting more lights to achieve at least 3W per Gallon.

- At least one of your plants (Hottonia palustris) require low temperature (20-25C). That means you either have to get a chiller or switch on your room's airconditioning for most of the day. Fans are unlikely to be bring temperature down to those levels in a non-airconditioned room.

- Plants will adjust to the timing of your light cycle after a while.

Btw, you may want to pay more attention to your plant selection (i.e. read up on them before putting them into your tank) if you intend to stick to your original low-light, no (or DIY) CO2 setup.

[budak]

jason,
in the highly limited environment of home tanks, CO2 injection is for most parts a necessity, if one wishes to cultivate a fair number of the attractive waterplants available in LFS. Since it's a new tank (with no fish??) you have room to wiggle still, and as you have base fert, the substrate can be left alone. Use the AQ gallery (or buy a good book or plant catalogue at the LFS) to help you decide what kind of layout, plants and hence equipment you need for your tank - some plants can thrive in low light and without CO2 injection; others require relatively more lighting, steady supply of CO2 and fert. It's too early to even think about algae - if your light/CO2 is unsufficient for your plants survival, algae isn't even worth thinking about. Look up the forum's planted tank, equipment and buy/sell threads for information on CO2 systems (DIY systems are cheaper, hands-on but hard to control; pressurised canister setups sold at good LFS start from about $160 i believe).

I believe many hobbyists have found that plants adapt to lighting periods that do not follow the solar photoperiod (i.e. normal daylight hours). As long as the daily lighting dosage is consistent, it should be fine.

[hwchoy]

lighting for plants is just like sex, it is not how long it last, it is how intense.

[PeterGwee]

Upping the lights is fine if you keep up with the CO2 or else you are heading for more trouble. Focus more on getting the CO2 good before upping the lights is a better way imo/ime. Nurse the plants back to health is your top priority here....they look pretty stunt to me...get the CO2 and nutrients in place first..nurse them back to better health before considering more light.

[sayhitojason]

Thank you all for the good advice. By the way hwchoy, I like your lighting analogy

[bluezing]

words of wisdom from bro choy.hehe[]