Natural Plants for Apistos

[mcfishdude]

Hello!
I have a well established 10gal tank that i want to set up to breed a pair of apistogrammas (probably opal borellis or red/gold agassiziis). currently, i have a blue ram (which i will probably move to another tank) and i have a queen arabesque plecostomus. i was wondering what kind of plants i could put in the tank that would be found in the apistos NATURAL habitat. i know they are from south america but i am not exactly sure where. i want to use plants that are from their natualt environment. not ALL of my plants will be live, so water requirements and size are not necessarily an issue. Any suggestions at all are welcome! THANKS!

 

[Neil]

mcfishdude,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Well apistos come from a number of different types of environments and the plants that are found in these different envirnments are, well, different. However, if you want a biotope type of a set-up from your apisto aquarium, then you should research the specific apisto. One thing to mention is that a ram is not really an apisto - different genera, somewhat similar animal. Microgeophagus ramerizi compared to Apistogramma ...
Some plants that come from South America, where both of these critter types are found, are:
Echinodorus
Cobomba
Riccia
Vallisneria
Nymphaea
Lemma
Lemnobium
Heteranthera
Eichhornia
Pistia
ETC.
Common names such as Amazon sword, Water lettuce, Duckweed, Val, etc., are things that you can look for. But I think that it would be alot better to start from a position of knowing what specifics you have or want for lighting, substrate, supplimentation, etc. and then choosing the plants. Alot of people on this forum can help you with those issues better than I. I keep a mish-mash of low-light plants that don't take much work and suit my purposes. Good luck, Neil

 

[aspen]

hey mcfishdude, as neil says, apistos come from all kinds of locations. whitewater, blackwater, fast moving and slower moving places. this will all affect the plant species found in these habitats. as well, there are many types or morphs of both of the species that you have mentioned, coming from different habitats. not to mention that the ones that you are able to find, will most likely be tank bred, and look quite a bit different from the wild ones.

for a 'generic' amazon tank, swords are the most likely suspect, but you need to find swords that won't outgrow your tank. the e. quadricolatus is perfect. it stays only 6- 8 inches tall.

a nice adition to a couple of the swords i mentioned would be heteranthrera zostefolia, or riccia. if this is your first planted tank, i would just go and get a couple of swords and see how it goes. lighting that tank decently might be a bit of a challenge though. a custom hood would widen your plant options. the light that is in the hood of your 10 gal, won't sustain much plant life. try a search at www.tropica.com for suitable plants.

hth, rick

 

[mordor]

I was very successful with Hygrophilia and Aponogeton species. These plants are not native for apistostos but they grow fast in soft water.

 

[mcfishdude]

Hey All,
Aspen: Thank you for the website. it is an excellent resource on aquarium plants! I have benn able to find lots of stuff there.
Neil: Thanks for the list of stuff to research!

Yes, this will be my first planted tank. I have been considering a lighint upgrade, but i do have quite a bit with the standard one that came with my tank, plus i get a litle bit of filtered sunlight. How much light do i relly need? And how will i know if i need more?
thanks!
~mcfishdude

 

[aspen]

lighting a 10 gal is a bit of a challenge. how many watts is the lamp over that tank?? i assume that you have a flourescent in there, right? i think maybe 10 watts or something, i'm not too clear on those small lamps. there is a page with a cheap custom light for a 10 gallon somewhere, maybe i can find it. but finding a decent spectrum in small flourescent lamps might be a problem.

sunlight is not really that good, even if the tank is in a southern exposure window. the reason is, that light refracts as it comes through the side wall of a tank, and the red is quite strong and the rest is lost. of course, it is next to impossible to get the sunlight coming in from the top without mirrors. :roll:

i actually tried that, with a 20 tall, in a southern window, and my hygrophilia 'sunset' got real red, but stayed 3" tall. when i closed the window, it grew to the light over the tank (2x 20 watt t-12's). but algae! whew! too much red light makes plants short and bushy, while too much blue light makes your plants tall and leggy. for this reason, a mix of blues and reds will make things grow to proportion. btw, i like the mix of gro lux (lots of red light) and daylight (lots of blue) in cheap flourescent lamps.

rick

 

[mcfishdude]

Hi,
ok, my light is flourescant and it is a 15watt bulb, however i am not sure what the spectrum break down on it is.

 

[aspen]

great, 15 watts over a 10 gal is pretty good. i think you can get a growlux or similar to get as close as possible to having a decent spectrum. or spend the dough on one of those lfs full spectrum lamps. what is the name on the lamp, or 'lamp code'. ie f15 t8/agro

now, how about a little diy co2? you'll like it!

i find that my dwarfs like a nice sandy bottom. i often use decorative sand from home depot, (it is white though) but some nice black sand from an lfs would be quite nice. all of the detritus stays right on the top, and planting tiny roots is a breeze compared to gravel. you can mix some laterite in if you want. clean the sand well, whatever you do.

what about filtration? how about an ac mini? you won't want much movement to blow the plants around. imo a sponge is a good filter, but you can forget about co2 with one.

imo, you would do REAL well, getting a few sprigs of hygrophylia polysperma from the lfs, and trying this as your first plant. it was my first one, it grows quickly, and will actually grow a whole plant from a single floating leaf. a good beginner plant, imo. (not from the amazon though) once established, there is nothing stopping you from getting more ambitious.

rick

 

[mcfishdude]

Well, right now i am running an over-the-back power filter for 5-15 gallon tanks. it doesnt produce too much current, so i think i will most likly jsut keep it. i also have an ug filter w\ air diffusers. my substrate is 15lbs. of gravel (med grade). i wasnt really planning on doing any c02. what are typical costs involved with it? and what all would i need to do?

 

[aspen]

diy is cheap and easy. search www.the krib.com for diy co2. it may set you back 5 bucks. i would not bother though, with a ugf. the power filter is plenty for that tank.

rick

 

[mcfishdude]

got some plants

alrighty...
i went out on a limb....a friend just tore down a planted aquarium b\c he was changing biotopes for that tank and he had some live plants he was selling for cheap. so i bought a few of them w\o really knowing much about them. i have 3 crypts and a sea grass (not sure of specific kinds). they have been in the tank for about 2 weeks and seem to be doing very well. any tips on these specific plants? b\c i really know little about them! i have been trying to keep my pH at 6.8-7.0 but it has been spiking back up to like 7.4-7.6 every other day. i am pretty sure my water is soft eough b\c i have some drift wood in the tank, plus i have softened city water and i add some aquarium salt to te tank. thanks!
-matt

 

[farm41]

IME plants won't like the salt, I use to add some to a guppy tank and the crypts always went downhill. What do you add the salt for? Your apistos certainly won't appreciate it either.

 

[mcfishdude]

i add the salt to help soften the water a little bit and b\c most water naturally has a bit of salinity to it, but if apistos do not like it i will stop adding it when i get them. i usually only have about a tablespoon or less per 10 gallons.

 

[farm41]

You are right that most water does have some salinity to it, including the water you use for water changes.

Here is a real good article on salt, including softening water and lowering TDS, and some of the myths of it's use in the aquarium. THE SALT OF THE EARTH

 

[aspen]

i use salt when needed, to heal torn fins, and such. i do not use salt at all otherwise. imo, it is counter productive. salt raises conductivity, and our fish come from water with low conductivity.

rick

 

[Eva32181]

If you really want to soften your tank water, put a stocking full of peat inside your over-the-back filter. I never use salt in my tanks. (Not that I am any kind of expert - I am very new at this but have been pretty lucky so far!)

 

[mcfishdude]

wont the peat also make my water very acidic though? that is jsut what i have heard. also...how soft do apistos like the water? as you can see i am also very new at this...

 

[aspen]

peat is a natural way to soften water, and will buffer your water at whatever ph the peat is. it is either marked on the bag, or this info can be gained from the manufacturer. i haven't checked mine, but with the buffers that you have in your water, the ph will not likely ever fall below 5.5, uness you add other things to lower the ph. the problem is, the water can be stained quite dark, but most amazon fish don't mind this, but you might. i think it looks very natural. it really depends on how much and for how long for, you expose your water to the peat.

rick

 

[mcfishdude]

ok, i gotta another newbie question! :idea: i'm starting to get some hair algae on my plants. is this good or bad? is there a way to control it w\o hurting my other plants? also, i have multiple round green spots on my glass in the tank. i am not sure if it is algae or cyanobacteria. my queen arabesque pleco doesnt seem to have an appetite for it, so should i just scrub it all off every week or so? and one more question to clarify sometihng i've heard will ghost shrimp or other fw shrimp eat/harm the plants in my tank? i want to use them to help keep the bottomw clean, but i dont want them eating holes in my plant at the same time! Thanks y'all :!:

 

[aspen]

>>'...i'm starting to get some hair algae ...'
>>'...multiple round green spots on my glass in the tank...'

he he, welcome to 'the planted tank'.

first, shrimp don't do much harm to plants, or to hair algae either, i don't think. i believe they eat other types, but i'm also not sure they did anything for me really, except the fine work on chain swords and such. maybe others can attest to their usefulness.

as for cyano, there isn't a fish out there that will eat that, and scraping is the only way to deal with it, until it runs it's course, unless you get it bad, and need eurythromyacin. (sp?). i've never used this, but i hear it works quite well and won't hurt plants or fish.

does your queen arabesque eat much alage? i did a little research, and found this page:

http://www.fishindex.com/phpinfo//97/1-1//2882

it really IS a beautiful fish, but is not reputed to eat much algae. check out the care on these fish, i find a lot of peole don't care for their plecos very well. proper food and water temp/flow, is esp important. and some wood is good for most plecos, try a bit and see if it rasps, then either leave it in, or take it out. hair algae is better handled with sae's or american flag fish.

is this still your 10 gal tank we are talking about? maybe a cleaning will do, you don't really have any room for more fish, surely not an sae. maybe a female flag. they are the best for hair algae imo, but the males are quite agresive, worse when there is a pair. mollies are supposed to work too, but they have a mixed rep. or, try an old tooth brush for the hair algae. and keep up with it, it is a lot less work that way.

i find that a planted tank needs a little attention each day. but they are really nice, and worth the trouble. in a while, things will settle down, and algae will be a memory. (hopefully)

have fun, rick.