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Next Installment: Retail Success With Aquatic Plants: Maintenance
Last installment: Success With Aquatic Plants 3: A Good
Selection
Live plants husbandry is an enormously wide field
that is poorly
to totally undeveloped in a large part of the aquatic life keeping hobbies. In
Europe, aquatic gardening is more popular than fishes; there are some
strictly aquatic plant stores, selling carbon dioxide infusion systems,
expensive specialty lighting and a regimen of chemical treatments for underwater
gardening.
In the U.S., per unit unit, aquatic horticulture is in a state of infancy, with
some "hot-spots" of local growth and talent. What is lacking
in this area is baseline knowledge and motivation; availability of
suitable plant materials and technologies to help them flourish. This is a
strong growth area (pun intended) where hobbyists can easily underwrite costs by
sales and distribution of excess plants. Through these three articles we hope to
encourage appropriate selection, treatment, and application of these plants.
Introduction:
There are several
hundred species and cultivars of usable aquatic plants available to the hobby
world-wide, year in & out. In addition, there are many questionable
"house-plants" and other "materials" sold as aquarium plant-decorations that are
entirely inappropriate and are to be avoided (Fenner and Pitcairn 1987). class=Section4>
These plants include both natives and exotics from all over the world.
Identification, as with fishes, is confusing in some ways due to many names,
both common and scientific, being applied to one particular type of plant. Lucid arguments for live aquarium plants have been offered over the years in the aquatics hobby and business literature (Fenner and Fenner, 1982). To mention a few of the more important benefits: they aid in nutrient removal and cycling, oxygen production, Carbon dioxide reduction during daylight hours when the fish are most active; they provide food, hiding & "fun" space. All in all they make the aquatic habitat more suitable and stable. For you, the aquatics keeper, the tangible results are healthier fishes, more beautiful, natural aquaria, enhanced habitats and more success as a hobbyist. How to go about this? Read o
Set Up:
For the most part, if you've taken care to set up your system well, selected
healthy stock, most of the "best-selling" plant species will live well and long
enough to out-grow your tanks, and ponds and possibly reproduce. We are going to
walk you through a few embellishments/tricks to boost plant well-being,
appearance & multiplication.
Plant Tanks:
Your plants can and should be raised
in aquaria that fish and invertebrates are kept in. The activity of fish
swimming around will serve to keep dirt an algae from settling and growing on
the leaves. Some fishes and non-fishes are too rough on most plants and there
are other valid reasons for having mainly a plant tank.
Plant tanks are easier to maintain on their own, make beautiful displays & are
easier to optimize by themselves.
Size & Shape:
As large and many tanks and tubs as possible & practical; twelve inches deep
with some tank space to eighteen inches or deeper for taller plants. Some
"dither" fish should be added since the plants do better when fish are present,
even in a highly planted tank.
Substrate:
A fine washed gravel of two to three inches depth will do. The gravel should be
chemically inert to slightly calcareous; not dolomite, marble or marl. Colored,
coated gravels may be used, but fine (1/8"-1/16", #8 or #1) natural gravel is
less expensive and more neutral in color, showing off the fishes and plants.
Some people mix and/or bury organic (e.g. African violet potting mixture) &
inorganic nutrient-source-materials in and under the gravel. These potting soils
are intended for terrestrial plants and often contain buoyant material that will
float up out of the gravel and make a real mess. Also, the chemical fertilizers
made for gardens and houseplants are unsuitable to use in aquaria and may result
in algae problems or even dead fish and plants.
If you wish to grow a real "natural" "Leiden-Style" aquarium with lush,
established foliage that it entails, you will want to use some supplements in
the gravel, but make sure they are suitable for aquatic use. Tetra has a very
good program for this treatment; see their materials through your distributor
and read of other technology through the bibliography offered at the end of this
series. In general "soil supplements" are not necessary
in most settings and create more of a mess than they're worth; tap water and
fish wastes will provide all the nutrients generally needed. See our suggestions
regarding periodic maintenance including periodic fertilization.
Nutrients:
Aquatic plants have essentially the same nutritional requirements as land
plants; oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and
numerous trace elements.
The first four nutrients are readily available in your set-up. If you're into
organic gardening, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium may be minimally supplied
by keeping some display fishes in your plant tanks. Trace elements will
be supplied through water changes, fish food and the gravel.
Much better short and long term results can be had by using Plantabbs,
Florapride or other similar industry product. Be careful of using houseplant or
garden fertilizers as they are often formulated differently, are highly
concentrated and can easily pollute your system.
Water:
Conditioned tap water is the best. Treat it with a chloramine and heavy-metal
neutralizer. If the system is being set-up for the first time, a bacterial
starter culture or some "mulm" from an established system should be added to aid
initially in expedient nutrient/fertilizer cycling.
If you have a recirculating "central" filter system it is strongly
suggested that you leave your plant tanks off of it. Medications, salts,
diseases, parasites & pests may be restricted in this way.
Water Chemistry: We have not mentioned measuring or adjusting pH, DH et al. for good reasons. For the most part, these are secondary factors and your end-users, customers, will be using about the same water as you. Often, attempts to adjust water chemistry worsen plant vitality. Extremes should be avoided, alkaline gravel for example, but otherwise pH & hardness should not be a problem.
Undergravel filtration is undesirable; a filter with some circulation and a
little aeration is preferable. An air-lift powered box filter will do except in
densely populated fish tanks where some additional power filtration
will help compensate for the effects of broken roots and leaves rotting
away all around the plants.
Regarding undergravel filters: many rooted aquatic plants do not do well with
them. If you must place rooted plants in systems with undergravel filters,
blind-pot them or lay a sheet of saran or plastic over the plate in their area.
Heating:
In almost all plant species, room temperature is fine. If it's comfy for you,
most plants will prosper. Seventy to seventy-eight degrees Fahrenheit is right
in there.
Lighting:
Very important;
the area where most wanna be aquatic horticulturists fail. Most systems
don't have enough (photostrength), broad spectrum, especially red-end spectrum
(photoquality) illumination on long enough (photoperiod). Without getting too
detailed, most problems of adequate lighting can be ameliorated by having
more
light (3-5 watts per gallon). How? If you use fluorescent lighting, put an extra
fixture on with a bulb with more phosphor/surface area if possible. If you can,
add some incandescent lighting for red-end spectrum. Some of the newer lighting
equipment and fixtures featured in hobby and science publications are very
appropriate technology if you can afford them. If all else fails, the least
expensive dual shop-light with soft-white lamps will work.
Put these lights on a 12-16 hour per day light cycle with an
automatic timer. Regular, long light-days work miracles.
Some or full sunlight may be desirable but impractical due to the vicissitudes
of nature; if you use "solar", augment it with supplemental lighting. Educate Yourself:
Learn the living conditions, both range and optimal factors for your plants as
you do for you finny aquatic charges & try to accommodate them. It's easy and
profitable. See the bibliography at the end of this series for further reading
and read the popular periodical literature.
Buy Quality:
Find reputable sources for plants through your existing and new dealers. There
are many good growers, distributors and retailers. Check through your local
hobbyist organizations for stock. Many tropical fish societies actually have
Horticultural Award Programs for promoting and recognizing excellence in the
aquatic plant field.
Many problems with aquatic plants start
with and come from buying stock that is dead or dying. Poor shipping & storage
methods (e.g. without light) are all too common among dealers who otherwise care
well for their fishes. Check out your sources by questioning and visiting their
facilities.
Stems, roots and leaves should be firm and color should be good. Check the
bottom of sword plant petioles (leaf stems); if this part has turned brown, the
whole leaf is dead and might as well be removed. A quick test is to hold up the
sword plant right side up and see how many leaves fall more than 45 degrees from
vertical. These may not be completely dead, but they're on their way. Swords,
Sagittaria,
Vallisneria and Cryptocoryne should be well-rooted with crisp,
white roots.
Back Home:
Inspect the plants carefully. Rinse and remove extraneous and dead plant
materials. Check for leech eggs and snail eggs (amber-colored capsules or
gelatinous masses) and if found, scrape them off with your finger nail. Also
remove any gravel or sand-snails from between the leaves by holding the plant
upside down underwater and moving it up and down gently. A method of using
aluminum sulfate (alum) as a disinfectant will be discussed will be discussed in
the next installment.
Remember to get the plants into water as soon as possible, and when planting
sword, Sagittaria, and Vallisneria,
be sure the crown of the plant (the point where the leaves and roots come
together) is at
the surface of the gravel and don't get any gravel in-between the leaves, as
this will kill the plant. Next Installment: Retail Success With Aquatic Plants: Maintenance
Last installment: Success With Aquatic Plants 3: A Good
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