Floating plants

[andusbeckus]

I'm toying with the idea of having floating plants but still not sure. You never see aquascapes with them really.

Obviously they will limit light but will it have a huge effect?

Would live to hear of any experiences and any reccomendations before I try it.

 

[KipperSarnie]

I'm toying with the idea of having floating plants but still not sure. You never see aquascapes with them really.

Obviously they will limit light but will it have a huge effect?

Would live to hear of any experiences and any reccomendations before I try it.

Purely from a fish point of view.... Yes all my tanks have floating plants even the breeding tanks.

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

I decided to let the floaters cover the whole surface of my two small tanks, the newly added fish (and shrimp) seem to love the extra cover and it also stops them from jumping, floaters also are great for combating algae as they suck up nutrients before algae gets a chance to get a foot hold.

_MG_7248 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

 

[andusbeckus]

I decided to let the floaters cover the whole surface of my two small tanks, the newly added fish (and shrimp) seem to love the extra cover and it also stops them from jumping, floaters also are great for combating algae as they suck up nutrients before algae gets a chance to get a foot hold.

_MG_7248 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

Love it! This is exactly what I was looking for but you don't see aquascapes with floating plants. I have a glass lid but want to remove it so good to know it helps with jumpers because an otto found the small gap the other day!

What floating plants do you have?

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

The floaters are amazonian frogbit, grows really fast like a weed! Check out my journals in my signature for more details, generally I use frogbit in all my tanks. Less at first as to not block to much light, but once the tank as grown in ive been letting it cover the surface.

 

[jameson_uk]

Slight hijack....

I have been having issues with frogbit. It starts off well and then just dies off. I am now thinking it is being eaten by pond snails (seen various ideas on whether they will eat live plants or not....). So I was thinking about other floaters.

I guess the considerations are flow and humidity. My tank has a lid so gets pretty humid above the water and there is a reasonable amount of surface flow.

The Tropica site says that salvinia is "A decorative plant for open aquariums" which makes me think it won't like a closed lid and I think I read that water lettuce doesn't like much flow.

I don't want duckweed and prefer the look / size of frogbit.

Any input and the pros and cons of different floaters?

 

[andusbeckus]

I read earlier that best to keep open aquarium because the leaves don't like to be wet on top. Could be as simple as that but not got any first hand experience yet.

 

[Mick.Dk]

Floating plants generally do not appreciate extreemely high humidity.......combined with the minimal air-movement and possible dripping from condensation under a lid they usually suffer, and often die off over time.
Floaters are ofcourse PERFECT for ensuring fertilisation is sufficient in aquaria (Duckweed Index) - I use them allmost evetytime I start up a new tank, to visually monitor this (and then often remove them, when aquarium is well balanced).
If possible to keep them there, a few floaters sitting in a corner of the aquarium make a nice impression - most have very beautifull root-structure.

 

[jameson_uk]

I wanted floaters for the duckweed index...

This is some I just pulled out. The individual leaves had separated from plants and had like a film for the rest of the leaf which disintegrated when I took them out.

This does look like munch marks? (And presumably snails?)

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

I am no expert but if water sits on the leaf / plant then they will rot like that, I pretty much have no surface movement and this keeps the frogbit nice and dry, when it really starts to multiply it pushes the older plants under water, guess this is just nature taking it course.

 

[jameson_uk]

First lot I had grew and multiplied a fair amount but then it started to die off. I bought a second lot which is hanging in there but I suspect the same fate awaits.

The hole in the middle of this leaf and the cut one are definitely damage and not any deficiency?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The hole in the middle of this leaf and the cut one are definitely damage and not any deficiency?

They look a nice dark green which makes me think the damage is mechanical, or from the lensing of light. Do all the Frogbit plants end up in solid lump at one end of the tank?

Once the leaves are damaged the snail will come and eat the damaged bits.

cheers Darrel

 

[jameson_uk]

Hi all, They look a nice dark green which makes me think the damage is mechanical, or from the lensing of light. Do all the Frogbit plants end up in solid lump at one end of the tank?

Once the leaves are damaged the snail will come and eat the damaged bits.

cheers Darrel

They do end up kind of bunched up but not really mangled together.
See video in https://www.ukaps.org/forum/index.php?posts/473845

Flow is going across the tank lengthways So they are always going to be pushed towards the other end of the tank. Wondering whether to point part of the spray bar under the water to reduce flow on the surface (and agitation) or perhaps put a line of air hose across the tank about 2/3rds of the way down as a kind of baffle???

I did also pick up some salvinia I saw at LFS so might see how that goes. The other option is to keep some in either shrimp or hospital tank and just keep adding more to main tank.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

perhaps put a line of air hose across the tank about 2/3rds of the way down as a kind of baffle???

I'd give it a go, the flow doesn't look strong enough in your video to cause problems. I have a lot of plants in my tanks so that the Frogbit tend to end up snagged by these, rather than piling up in a big heap at the end of the tank.

cheers Darrel

 

[rusticdr]

Hi Jameson-uk.. I know this is an old thread but I saw your recent posts on the frogbits regarding yellowing and was wondering how you got over the isues you have mentioned in this thread. I have been facing the same exact problems what you have mentioned here with my frogbits. They develop holes, browning, leaves fall off and plants reduce in size until they disappear. I have moderate surface flow. open top. I just would like to know whether it was flow related or was it nutritional?

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Just an FYI, my frogbit seems to go thru changes, will grow strong and huge and green for ages then suddenly starts to die off, holes develop and it gets all tatty, could be due to me being slack with ferts but other plants seem ok, I guess frogbit can often be the first to show signs of nutrient deficiency, but I also thing it has something to do with temp, here in Australia its getting hotter, seems like the frogbit doesnt do so well in hot weather.

 

[jameson_uk]

Hi Jameson-uk.. I know this is an old thread but I saw your recent posts on the frogbits regarding yellowing and was wondering how you got over the isues you have mentioned in this thread. I have been facing the same exact problems what you have mentioned here with my frogbits. They develop holes, browning, leaves fall off and plants reduce in size until they disappear. I have moderate surface flow. open top. I just would like to know whether it was flow related or was it nutritional?

Mainly ferts I think. There some issues with the leaves getting wet and then burnt from the lights and also just generally being squished together but I think a lot was to do with a lack of nutrients.

As they have access to surface CO2 and are close to the lights they are only limited by nutrients so will likely be the first to show up deficiencies.

I still get some holes and damaged leaves but I have found that I need to thin it out and remove unhealthy leaves every few weeks and then it does much better. The pics in this thread I think were after letting it go too long. I just did a big tidy up of the Frogbit which was taking up over half the surface and I ended up discarding about a third of it leaving nice healthy plants and giving them a bit of room to grow.

 

[zozo]

Salvinia is a sun worshipper and a fert hog.. definitively needs sufficient light to thrive.. It'll do in lower light conditions but than it will stay very small with inhibited root development. Its not the easiest floater around and not the best choice for a duckweed index depending on your light source. I've been growing it for several years different kinds, the natans and the cuculata, both have simular needs.

Since the tank i'm growing it in at the time is naturaly lit with some additional 7 watt low led lights during the winter periode. And i realy see the impact of the winter periods low light intensity on this plant. I keep the same fert schedule all year round. In the summer it grows bigger with longer and beter develop roots. In te winter older growth dies off new young growth stays significantly smaller with less developed roots.

This is what you can expect from Salvinia under low light conditions, see the browning, i only have this during the winter.. The Hygroriza also is impacted by the lower light intensity in the winter but strugling less than the Salvinia. Could be a combination with temperatur since it is an open top tank and keep it at 22°C, in the summer it naturaly is a few degrees above this. This tank goes through a seasonal cycle regarding temp and light.

Duckweed is an indestructable evergreen bugger this stays green all year round even outdoors.

So not all floaters are ideal duckweed indexer if it's tropical and you don't know what to expect how it reacts to other parameters than ferts only.. In my case i definitively know it's not ferts causing this because i see it improve when light and temp goes up.

Here you see the poor root growth in low light condition at 22°C..

High light a tad warmer..

 

[tam]

Those are some plump embers! I have long, but brown, roots.



Just added some Hygroriza to another tank - is it normal for the new growth to have paler green leaves or it that a sign of deficiency?

 

[zozo]

Those are some plump embers! I have long, but brown, roots.

View attachment 111604

Just added some Hygroriza to another tank - is it normal for the new growth to have paler green leaves or it that a sign of deficiency?

Thik white roots with brown hair roots on Salvinia are typical in high light and sufficient fert conditions. This plant addapts very differntly to light intensity.
E.g. This size S. natans is about impossible to achieve under artificial light and a mild fert schedule. Even in the pond with enough sun it needs a boat load of ferts to reach this size or stay healthy. In an aquarium it stays generaly 10 x smaller also in the pond if it doesn't get enough ferts. I never managed to keep it alive at this size outdoors due to fert deficiency, it needs so much i was reluctant to add such high quantities.

Hygroriza also is a sun lover and a fert hog it reacts equaly to light deficiency as fert deficiency. If it grows pale leaves it is one of the 2, if you increase ferts and it doesn't improve it's likely a light defficiency. As i also experience in the winter periode i see root develpment decline and more pale leaves than in the summer.

The Ember girls in the pic likely are all pregnant..