# Plant care? pics included



## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Today I went to petsmart and got 4 water wystreyas (sp?) and 4 amazon swords from petsmart. They are healthy and snail free. I tried my best to root them in but they do not look natural. all i did was rinse them off and put their roots in the gravel. I heard that they do not need frets. Is this true? Also, I was wondering about how to generally care for them (trimming, cleaning etc.). Here is my tank so far: sorry, i know the glare is terrible, the camera was not liking me.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

no input you guys?


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## lauralou (Apr 29, 2012)

I've never had water wisteria, but it's always on lists of easy care plants. I do have an amazon sword, and I don't fertilize my tank. The fish poop is the fertilizer. (You still need to keep up with the water changes though.) So I think you made good plant choices. The bottom line is that some plants do well in some aquariums, and some plants don't. Just be patient and see what happens with them.

Planted tanks never look natural until the plants have a chance to grow in. Your plants will grow much larger than they are now. If I were you, I would move them more toward the back of the tank. And I would clump the water wisteria together so it makes a big bush. Single sprigs of it aren't all that attractive. Then you could get some shorter plants for the foreground if you wanted to. Java moss is very easy and readily available. You can put a few pieces of gravel on it to hold it down at first, and it will root itself to the bottom.

I've never done any particular care on my amazon sword. If it did get a funky old leaf, I guess I would pluck it off with my fingernails... That's what I do with my water sprite plants. I've read that amazon swords can "melt" when put in a new tank, but that didn't happen with mine, so no experience there. If that did happen, I would remove any dead plant matter, wait, and hope it grew back from the root.

Good luck with your planted tank! They are awesome, and can be as interesting as the fish, if you are into that sort of thing. Plus, your fish will really enjoy having plants.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Wisteria will happily float around the top of your tank for ages before putting down roots and needing to be planted. Once planted, it will grow happily. Don't throw out healthy-looking green leaves that come off - if you let them float, they'll put out roots and you can plant them like a baby plant (which they are..) Mine grows fine on fish poo, but I have a small tank and shrimp as well.. a little drop of liquid fert now and then might be good for it. Wisteria looks great in a clump, as lauralou said, but leave the one you have there. Add a clump, if you want to buy some more. I like to have some floating as well as planted, the fish just love it.

Soggy, yellow, clear-ish wilty leaves should be removed. They'll rot and stank your tank up with ammonia. 

The swords -might- need some root tabs now and then as they don't feed off the water column but the substrate. See how they do. And yep, don't pull them out if they die back a bit, they do like to adjust.

Your tank looks pretty.  I'm sure your fish will like the plants, too.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Most plants don't need ferts but all will benefit from them; their growth will be faster, and they will use up more ammonia as the micro-nutrients in the ferts are the limiting reagent for growth. I fertlize all of my tanks to get the most growth possible. Wisteria will probably do better floating in your tank. They haven't established themselves yet, so you are fine to uproot them and float them now. Amazon swords will eventually outgrow your tank; they can get up to 20 inches tall. Four swords in that tank will take it over. 

You shouldn't vacuum the substrate around either of your plants as a slightly dirty substrate is good for plant growth. You will also want to upgrade your lighting if you haven't. Your light should have a kelvin temp of between 5000K and 7000K. If you go with a fertilizer Flourish Comprehensive is one of the best.


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## laoshun (Apr 3, 2012)

if you have enough money to get more plants i would, and bunching ur plants together gives a more natural look. So keep that in mind if you are going to further invest in your tank.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks you guys! Aus, about how long can water wisteria stay alive floating? Also, what do i do if the leaves are wilting or have brown spots on them?


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## NapoleonUWS (Apr 23, 2012)

I have water wisteria in both of my tanks (planted in gravel) and it grows really well. I have very strong lighting in my tanks, not sure how it grows in low light.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks guys! i aquascaped it a little more today. Here is what it looks like:


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

It looks really nice. 

The wisteria will float for.. well, I had a really big stem floating for three months or so, before the roots got so big I had to plant it. It's happy now, planted in the gravel and I have a new floating piece, also putting down roots. 

You may even find, depending on what sort of lights you have, that it does -better- floating than planted.. 

I like how you've got your tank set up. Don't be afraid to try new plants! Just google them first, see what they need/how easy they are. Usually red plants are harder to keep (they like lots of light). There's exceptions, of course.

I just got a lovely bunch of maxilla - I've never tried this plant before! And banana plants, too. It's exciting trying new ones out, and if they die.. well, I have learned something about that particular tank and what I can grow in it. :-D

If the leaves are wilting and look soggy and clear or unhealthy, pull them off and throw them away. If they're green (wisteria), let them float! They'll put down roots. 

Your betta looks just like my first betta, Sid. He's lovely!

Watch out for that spike pink plant.. it may be too sharp/prickly for his tail..


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

What should i do if my wisteria has a brown stem and the leaves are wilting pretty badly? It is only happening with one of them.


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## staffylover (Jun 10, 2012)

Looks really nice, I love real plants in a tank and that is all I have in my 4 tanks. I try all sorts of plants from my local shop and travel to different shops to try different plants and most have been successful. I do have some low plants which come in pots which can be submerged in the gravel and do really well. In a couple of my tanks I also have moss growing on a couple of small rocks, you can do this yourself by tieing it to the rocks with fishing wire


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Cool! staffy, could u post a pic of the moss growing on rocks? I would really like to try it but I'm not sure what it would look like. Thanks! Um, when I did a water change today, I accidentally uprooted the water wisteria with the extremely brown stem. When i tried to replant it, it ws very limp in my hands and completely shriveled up, causing the last 2 green leaves to fall off. Is this just a a sign that the plant is dead? Also, I noticed that the root part of the water wisteria is splitting and slightly brown (not as brown as the one that died).Here is a pic and maybe some one could tell me why this is happening? the brown stem is on the floating plant, it is in front of the heater.


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## RainbowSocks (May 31, 2012)

Sometimes wisteria has a hard time adjusting to a tank, just 'cause. I planted my wisteria right away when I got it, accidentally uprooted it later, and it had brown steps as well. It's currently floating, and I just keep trimming off the rotting bits of stem. The plant is still alive and growing, and is starting to put down roots. Little bits and pieces of green leaves keep falling off, which I'm letting float.

Overall the plants are still healthy so, long story short: cut off the obviously dead stuff and let the green stuff float until it has some serious roots.

Edit: I've read that "disintegrating" wisterias can be common (and might be part of their life cycle? Did I read that somewhere?), and as long as pieces are green, the plant is still fine. That's my relatively uneducated opinion.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks! Do the leaves have to be a certain size to put down roots or can it be any old leaf?


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## RainbowSocks (May 31, 2012)

As far as I can tell, it depends on the leaf. It seems if there's at least two connected, it'll make roots. When I vacuumed, there were some single leaves that had died, and some that were still green, or had only recently fallen off. So I'm not sure about single leaves. I'd only remove them if they're dead. My four wisteria plants have turned into... *counts* ...at least seven rooting plants.


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

I don't know why, but my wisteria doesn't die! (not that I want it to)

I accidently partly dried it out and it only lost a few leaves! It also rooted in a matter of days....


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

I was talking elsewhere to a fishkeeper recently whose rooted wisteria is happily growing out of the top of the water and flowering, too.. 

And yup, I just trim off the dead bits and leave the rest to float. One of my recently-bought stems that I put in the new 10g NPT has roots almost to the bottom of the tank already. I think it's wanting to be in the soil. :B

As to wisteria melt -- it's often confused with water sprite which does have die-off as part of its life cycle. Different plant, though. 

I tend to lose wisteria in my unfiltered tanks.. it goes slimy and yuck quite quickly in those. I think it really needs a bit of water movement to stay healthy. 

I know it also like ferts with iron, but I've never used any. Some of my older plants are a bit pale at the tops for this reason I think, but that tank's too small for me to feel comfy dosing ferts.. 

All of my baby wisteria plants have come from single leaves left floating to develop roots. Some of the leaves die, but most don't.


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## RainbowSocks (May 31, 2012)

Thanks for the correction, Aus! 

Flowers? Really? Oooo, I must learn to do that... lol I think my longest stem right now is about 6 inches... it's half-way there!


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## NapoleonUWS (Apr 23, 2012)

My nerite snails eat all the dead leaves off the bottom of my Water Wisteria...
I never need to remove any of the dead growth... the snails get to it fast!


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks! I recently got a new light for the tank because the old one was very dim. Using the new light, I realized that my amazon sword's leaves are a very pale green. I heard this was due to the lack/improper lighting. Now that it has a new light (very bright) do you think it will get better?


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Yep! 

I just put some new swords in which were a tad pale. I think they came from a deeper tank than mine, and they're quite small.. anyhow, after they did the whole 'ohno! new tank! let's shrivel .. on the count of three!' thing they've all come up with some nice darker growth, the new leaves seem to be responding to the light quite well - though my tank, being designed quite stupidly, doesn't light the back of the tank as well as the front.. must be okay however, if the swords are happy.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Haha

Now, though, the leaves seem to be turning a almost clear brown(which obviously means they are dead) but it is happening on more and more of the leaves. I think it is maybe the lack of nutrition but Zoro poops a lot so I'm not sure. Here is a pic: it is right in front of the log and appears on various other swords as well.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Mine did the same thing. Pick the dead leaves off (they create ammonia..) and keep an eye on the plants. They'll probably put out a few new leaves sooner or later. Some plants take time to get used to new water chemistry. Swords and crypts are famous for suffering 'melt' in a new tank but do bounce back after a while.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

I found out that some of my swords' leaves grow back crinkled. Is this normal?


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## RainbowSocks (May 31, 2012)

It could be a deficiency in a specific mineral... calcium or boron. I personally wouldn't worry about it, but you could add a bit of cuddlebone (usually used for birds) to your tank...


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks!


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## Ginzuishou (Feb 16, 2012)

I purchased an Amazon Sword from Petsmart. At first, some of the leaves became clear or the tips become black. I'm pruning as needed, but otherwise it seems fine. I squirt a little bit of liquid fertilizer in the tank once in awhile. The Sword is planted in just plain gravel. 

I love the "snail free" notice on the plants. After I bought the Amazon Sword, magically five snails appeared, and more later, and more...

hmmmmmmmmmmm..........


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## RainbowSocks (May 31, 2012)

I know with my java fern, clear tips are new growth (like a betta's fins). I wonder if it's the same way with swords?


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Rainbowsocks, I don't think so. The clearish thing happens in random spots on the leaf and the are around it is a yellowish color.


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## RainbowSocks (May 31, 2012)

Yeeeah, that doesn't sound like new tips... lol
Here's a thread on another site that sounds similar, perhaps? I would suggest the root tabs... You can get those at Petsmart/Petco. I used them once with my java ferns, wisteria, and mondo grasses (which aren't even aquatic), and they went crazy.

I ended up un-planting all of them, and now use liquid ferts every once in a while just to keep them green and "perky."

Sometimes your tank just doesn't have all the nutrients your plants need, especially if you have soft water (which means not a lot of dissolved minerals), a small bioload (not a lot of fish poop to fertilize your plants), and have gravel as a substrate (there's no nutrients in gravel that you would find in a potting soil, etc.). I have all of the above, so I know I have to give my plants a little extra kick in the pants.

Edit: Aaaand, in the end, it could just be your plants acclimating. If you have five bucks to spare, I'd try the root tabs before assuming your plants are going to grow back after getting used to your water. If it is just acclimating, you'll have root tabs as future plant "treats." Aaaand, there's another two pennies. XP

Hopefully we'll get some input with people who have more experience... I'm just speculating from browsing threads and my own handful of plants.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

^ +1 to acclimating. 

Hey, I just had another look at your pic and -- is the plant to the right of center a cryptocoryne? I can see a yellowed leaf on it. It looks like a crypt to me.. and they are -notorious- for losing all thier leaves, looking dead and then sprouting all over again in new water. 

If that's a sword, I'd really like to know what kind..


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Er, what is a crypt? When I got the plant, the tube said amazon sword. There is an algae breakout in my tank though my plants are fine. What can I do?


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Hey, so on another one of my threads someone told me that epsom salt will help plants grow better. Can I use dissolved epsom salt as a liquid fert, then? If so, how much should I put in and where? thanks!


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