10 replies to this topic

[Gwmbox]

This may be a silly question, but can you grow aquarium plants outside (in a big plastic aquarium or tub)?

We are setting up a planted 4x2x2 over the next few weeks/months and I was thinking of trying to get a head start on the plant growth, and maybe be able to get some cuttings to establish new plants beofre they go into the tank. I'm interested in the more common, hardy plants such as java fern, java moss, anubis(?), swords and anything else that won't die too easy

I forgot to say that the other option I have is starting the plants out in a section of our tang tank (with N. multi's, N. bachardi and C.popelini) but wasn't sure if the plants would survive the water change when the new tank with different water chemistry?

Thanks

Michelle

Edited by: Gwmbox  at: 8/30/04 12:23 pm

[punie]

Hi michelle,

When you say 'we' are you guys a lfs?
Anyways, besides that point. Yes plants can be grown out of the water, it's called emersed culture.
It's not completely out of water, it's lower half or quater is still grown underwater but it's top halfs are grown out of water, just remember to keep your plants moist, i.e. water the plants daily.

Go do a search on emersed cultures online that should help you heaps.
Btw, plants that are grown emersed are different from submersed (totally underwater). The plants may look different etc, but don't be alarmed.

The plants should also do fine in harder water but i'm just worried about your fishes eating them.

Btw, if you're looking for ferns i got heaps and i mean heaps to go.

Cheers,
Jerome

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[Gwmbox]

Quote: "When you say 'we' are you guys a lfs?"

LOL - no just hubby and wife who are finding this fishkeeping hobby very addictive! We have always wanted a big planted tropical tank (with non plant eating fish) and are starting to get it all ready (kind of got a bit sidetracked with our other cichlid tank

When you say emersed culture, would that be ok for real aquatic plants (seeing as the plants would be transfered to the aqaurium), I just assumed they would need to be fully emmersed in the tub to grow?

In regards to your ferns - yes I would love some, please let me know where you are and price (oh - maybe a silly question given the forum but I assume they are suitable for the aquarium?).

Cheers

Michelle

[punie]

It's the circled one. A huge clump i might add.
Sold 1 clump 1/4 it's size to Merjo just a few months back and it's doing great in her tank. If you want it, email me!

Oooh, you guys got your stuff yet? It's really fun setting up! If you guys need help lemme know i'd love to setup another tank lol! oh the joy of it!

I don't mean fake plants, yes real aquatic plants. Most of the stuff you buy from LFS are grown emmersed which is why they take awhile to 'melt' and change to it true aquatic form.
For smaller plants like hairgrass etc, i can just grow them from the usual take-away tubs from cafes etc. Just fill it with soil cover that with gravel, fill it up with water and emerse the plants in, making sure they get sunlight and are kept damp.

For bigger plants, i suppose they need a bigger container

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[Gwmbox]

Lovely setup! Those plants look great, I'll send an you an email a bit later (havn't got email on the machine i am using at the moment).

We have some stuff already (only just made a definite decision to make this tank a planted rather than cichlid display tank).

So far we have the cabinet (still needs varnishing), the hood has just been made up, got the 4x2x2 tank, large trickle filter, cannister filter. Had a heater but it blew up and we still need lights (looking into DIY compact fluoro's). We've got small size aquarium gravel and silica sand - I gather the gravel is not the best for plants and I think the silica sand is no good for the coryadoras catfish we want, so will have to get more sand - researching that now: don't want to spend a fortune, but want the plants to have a decent chance at thriving

No plants or fish as yet, but a tank this size requires quite a few plants to look any good so I thought getting a headstart would be a good idea. Oh, planning on one or two DIY CO2 for the time being, but will probably get a proper one down the track (not really sure how much they cost actually).

The whole aquatic plant idea is just a little bit daunting at the moment - and with so much info on the net its all bit confusing so I think I will quite frequently be asking for help on this forum!

Cheers

Michelle

[punie]

Lol need help with it just email me, i'll explain it step by step to you in layman's terms.

Btw, steer clear of trickle filters (sump tanks) for planted tanks, they waste your CO2 in the water.



That's my Compact floro setup, imported of course, saves you heaps even if compared to DIY!

Check out my previous thread on the pressurised CO2 setup to have the breakdown of costs

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[anchar]

This link may help you out with defining "true aquatic" from "other" plants...

plant article

merjo

acwattsATbigpond.com

"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." Ib.

[mtchye]

Hi guys,

We've had great success growing plants outside. The sunlight really kicks the plants into full swing. The only thing you MUST do is keep the CO2 at sufficient levels and also balance the nutrients.

We had a 6 footer outside that needed trimming every week, and it was awesome except that you can't turn off sunlight! Basically if you don't keep up your co2 you have all sorts of misbalances happening very fast and algae problems ensue.

However its a good idea if you want to quickly stock a large indoor tank. I would recommend keeping the plants growing under water though as then you won't have the transitional stage where the plants have to adapt back to being fully submersed in your indoor tank.

The trick to keeping plants submersed is to immediately cut any leaves shooting for the surface in plants like swords, and for stem plants just keep them a few inches from the surface.

Plants are usually grown emersed for commercial sale as the CO2 content of air is much higher in concentration than in water. Plants grown emersed only need nutrient balances in their water section, and don't need co2 fertilisation.

Its definitely a good idea and if you get started with various cuttings from other ppl you'll soon have more than enough plants to stock your indoor tank.

Plants that did extremely well for us outdoors included Limnophila sessiliflora (Ambulia), all types of Hygrophila species, the Rotala macrandras, all types of swords, vallis, and especially cryptocorynes. The trick if you want to mainly grow the slower growers is to keep one or two varieties of the faster growers to soak up any excess nutrients.

Hope that gets you guys started. Happy pruning.

Cheers
Vincent

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[Gwmbox]

Thanks for the great link merjo! I'm about to print it off to make sure I don't get any of the wrong ones

[Gwmbox]

Thanks Vincent! Excellent, I'm so pleased to hear this will work After reading about LFS plants melting, I thought keeping them underwater would be the way to go. Will multiple coke bottle CO2 generators be ok seeing as it only short term?

Cheers

Michelle

[mtchye]

multiple coke generators will be fine.. thats what i always used, just remember to keep replacing them

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