Hi there!

THis is my first live plant I have ever had. I bought the bulbs at Wal-Mart for under $3 LoL. Planted a bulb in my 5 gallon tank that will soon house my ADF after it's finished cycling (almost, yay!). The back of the box stated the plant would be up to 8" in just 15 days (boy were they right!). The plant has grown to the top and started draping itself down the other side of the aquarium already (and it's been about 34 days since I planted it).

I'm not a plant keeper (aquarium or house/outdoor plants) so I'm not sure how to go about trimming this plant. I'm not sure I guess how far down I should be trimming.

Also, heard somewhere if you trim plants a certain way, they will start growing down from the bottom a bit better rather than getting really raelly tall. Is that true? I really like the plant, however the stalks go nearly to the top of the water so the leaves float around on top. In the picture on the container they came in, the stalks are much shorter so the leaves look much nicer deeper in the water rather than floating around....

Any help would be greatful!

Also, I'm going to try and get a java fern for my 10 gallon tank next week. I read those are easy to kep and don't require co2, fertilizer or foods.... What other sorts of common plants like Java Fern are out there? I read Anubias Nana was easy to keep, but it's a bit more rare and if I found it would be spendy... Any of the more common, cheaper plants that would be very very easy to care for with no special requirements would be great! I'd love to try a bit of a planted tank this time rather than using plastic plants LoL

Thanks!

I believe that the plant you are talking about trimming the floating leaves is the water lily (nymphaea). The growth on these can be controlled by cutting off any leaves that reach and float the surface. This helps to keep them submerged. With the aponogetons, I don't think you can really do that. All you could do is to trim off the largest leaves, but I think the problem is that you have a plant in a tank that is too small for it. Congratulations on successfully growing it, though

I think you might have the best luck with java fern, anubias, java moss, cryptocornes and vallesnaria.

LoL Yeah, the 5 gallon is a bit small, but I'll be able to keep up with it. I just needed to know how to start trimming it since I've never kept a live plant before Hmm, so I would trim off just the leaves near at the surface rather than trimming it down a ways on the stalk? *writes that down* This one is seperate than the water lily, I also seen the water lily being sold, however that needed fertilizer and food, according to the back of the package, but this one doesn't. *sigh* The lily looked so pretty though, but I can't get anything like that -_- I can't afford to buy the fertilizers, co2 and food all the time

Thanks Heh, it was pretty easy to grow actually o.0 My only part was buring it a tad under the gravel, like the package said to do and the plant did the rest! LoL

I'll be looking for some Java Fern and perhaps Java Moss for my 10 gallon tank this next week. If they don't cost much, I'll see if I can get another small Java Fern for my 5 gallon as well. I'm sure my froggy would love something else he could hide under. (My tank finally cycled and I get my ADF next week, yay!)

Hmm, as for the other plants, there was something called Anubius Nana I read a bit about online that would be easy for me to care for it sounds like, however I was told it's not quite a common plant and could be spendy if I find it I'm on an extrememly tight budget *sniff* Still no income -_-

Thanks for the reply! I had hoped somebody would get back to me before next week so I can trim the plant up a little before I get my frog Right now I have my little male guppy in there and he just has a ball swimming around the stalks and leaves LoL. It's fun watch!

I have never trimmed one of these, but if it were me, I would trim it at the surface of the water.

Okay, thanks I'll be doing it today or tomorrow!

While I'm in the plant topic here, is there anything I should know about Java Fern and Java Moss? I don't know if I'll even find either of them around here. I don't remember Petco with any sort of tags on the plants so you know what they are LoL. The other store might, but I don't remember -_-

Well, Java moss and Java fern are both easy to grow and two of my favourite plants. Java moss isn't something you see often in stores. Java fern is more commonly sold.

If you are in Canada, I can send you some Java moss If you are in the States, you could maybe put a little add in the Buy, Sell and Trade column. You may get someone willing to send you some Java moss if you pay the postage. I just sent some to someone in Canada and it only cost $1.80 for the postage.

Hmm, thanks! I'll check for Java Fern for sure and will keep an eye out for Java Moss. I live in the States LoL I keep seeing ad5 on AquaBid for Java Moss, but they either are selling for way to much between the cost of shipping and the plant, or they are selling far more than I would want o.0 LoL I'll see what I can find uptown first and go from there

Somebody it'd be fun to get into the other types of plants... Wish I could afford to do something like that now! *sigh* LoL

Thanks again touchofsky I'll let you know what I find. Sounds like I'll be going uptown Thursday morning.

another plant that may be suitable is Elodea Densa (Goldfish weed).
it can get quite tall, but i find that if you cut the top off and plant it in the aquarium, it just grows into another plant.

Thanks tinkerbell Hmm, it doesn't need special fertilizer or foods does it? Just the trimming when it gets a bit to tall? How common of a plant is it?

I'll see if I can look it up online also.

I planted a 2.5 with appos... You can just trim off the floating leaves and They do fine... I have had mine running for over a year like this.... no recent picts, but heres one taken this time last year:



I ended up transfering all but one appo out and i added a clump of javamoss... need to get updated picts...

Thanks for posting the picture magickzzl! Cute little tank I only added 1 bulb to the tank LoL I'd like to add maybe 2 or 3 to my 10 gallon eventually

Oh, I found a small Java Fern at the lfs, but it's $6 for a little tiny plant o.0 Spendy! I didn't see any Java Moss sold seperately (seen it come attached to driftwood for $20 o.0). I didn't get much more time to look at the plants though. My only transportation is my mom and she gets way to impatient so when I can go uptown, I don't get to do anything I want to do for more than a couple minutes *sniff* -_-

Thanks for the info!!

$6 isnt bad for those little guys.. their pricey buggers! Im thinking of ordering a pack and getting a discount online....

Really? Hmm, thanks! I'll wait a little and see if Petco has them cheaper. I completely forgot to ask about the moss and fern while I was there today -_- Sort of. I guess I brought up the moss and the guy said they were just getting the driftwood in, so more plants may be on the way and I should ask about prices and if they can be special ordered Of course, I got to the checkstand and forgot -_- I was to excited about my little froggies I was finally able to buy (and my little guppies LoL)

I just planted a bulb in my 10 gallon and can't wait for it to grow I'm sure the little guppies will just love it (my frogs sure like it in the 5 gallon! LoL They've been in there for several hours and I've seen them climbing around on it already!)