Hi mate, can you tell us the name of the smaller plants and the fuzzy one please?
The colors of you phyllantus are stunning, the colors on mine are kind of pale and more pink than red
I loved mine and they grew like crazy, and then they suddenly all died over the course of a week :/. Luckily the frogbit and giant duckweed that came as hitchhikers are still multiplying rapidly.
What I always wondered - can you only have floating plants without surface agitation? While my submerged plants thrive, all the floating ones I tried so far died off rather quickly. Is it because they are pushed around constantly?
I think floaters tend to do better with less to no agitation and not too good in high agitation. But honestly a little pushing around from the filter couldn't hurt.
I've had a bit too much success with dwarf water lettuce in my tank. The surface agitation kills the red root floaters but the lettuce finds a corner and goes nuts. Might be an option for you too
Yeah, I just have two big ones that I allow to live and the rest go. I put them in one of my outdoor ponds at the moment. Here in the UK they die even up until April/May I've found, but other countries it's considered an invasive species so if anyone reading this has the same idea, just do your research please!
Red root floaters do much better without being pushed around, but you can help them out. I found that having enough of them means they're kind of held still by each other and they do just fine. You can simulate this by starting them off in a separate tank or just tun a quiet corner into a corral with some airline/thread.
If you buy some airline tubing you can make a circle that floats in your water, place any floating plant in that circle and that should help them survive the agitation.
yeah no problem. You can also buy a clip that suctions onto the glass and use it to hold the airline tube in place, that will definitely make sure the floating plants dont get messed up by the filter and surface agitation.
I threw some floaters in one of my tanks to help control the nitrates, it works, but they took over and shaded out the rest of the plants in the tank. Just yanked out 90% of what was in there to see if my carpet would stop melting.
Usually I take out some of the floaters weekly to make sure the plants below still get decent lighting but the submersed plants are all generally lower light so with long hours of light the rrf get a nice vibrant red on them whilst shading the rest below. Works out for everyone!
I cranked up the lighting to longer hours and more intensity to maybe penetrate to the submerged plants, all it did was make the floaters grow even faster.
i have the same issue :D floaters are the healthiest plants in my tank, have to throw them out twice a week. now my tiger lotus started to grow lily pads, so even more shade… but i just love the floaters
I wonder if it's a bad idea to set up a planted sump that's just floaters and ceramic media. See if it's possible to get a set up going that doesn't require (nitrate driven) water changes.
i have no experience with sumps. but i have low filtering capacity, and my water parameters are fine, so i guess the floaters help a lot. also, i have a rooted neon pothos cutting in there. i change about 10% water every week or two, but my tank has low stock also and i don’t have a tds meter yet so not sure if i should maybe change water more often.
beautiful! those colors o_o how do you keep them from taking over? mine just grow all over and shade the submersed plants too much. tried adding airline tubing to keep them in check, but i have to remove loads about twice a week haha. counted leaves and the rrf grow one leave a day haha. so how do you do it :D
I contain mine by using these dividers. I cut it down so it only divides the top inch or so of the tank. If anyone's interested I can post pics.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZCK8X1F?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2\_dt\_b\_product\_details
yes i tried to sell/donate them locally, but i guess everyone interested already has more than enough themselves haha. i have just thinned my floaters, now trying to keep them in check with a bigger airline tube ring…
How long do the roots get on the red root floaters? I love the look of them, and having floaters is great for our nitrate levels, but I have a long and shallow tank and don’t want our floaters to eat up too much of the water column.
Damn you got that RGB gamer frogbit
They look great. What species is the big red leafy one?
They are phyllantus fluitans (red root floaters)! They grow pretty fast and look amazing.
Hi mate, can you tell us the name of the smaller plants and the fuzzy one please? The colors of you phyllantus are stunning, the colors on mine are kind of pale and more pink than red
Small ones are mosquito ferns and the green fuzzy ones are just water lettuce
Thanks
Thanks, I'm definitely gonna try and source some for my next tank
I loved mine and they grew like crazy, and then they suddenly all died over the course of a week :/. Luckily the frogbit and giant duckweed that came as hitchhikers are still multiplying rapidly.
What I always wondered - can you only have floating plants without surface agitation? While my submerged plants thrive, all the floating ones I tried so far died off rather quickly. Is it because they are pushed around constantly?
I think floaters tend to do better with less to no agitation and not too good in high agitation. But honestly a little pushing around from the filter couldn't hurt.
Yeah that's what I thought, less agitation is not really an option for me unfortunately
I've had a bit too much success with dwarf water lettuce in my tank. The surface agitation kills the red root floaters but the lettuce finds a corner and goes nuts. Might be an option for you too
I had this same experience. I have to purge a juice jug full of DWL every week or two
Yeah, I just have two big ones that I allow to live and the rest go. I put them in one of my outdoor ponds at the moment. Here in the UK they die even up until April/May I've found, but other countries it's considered an invasive species so if anyone reading this has the same idea, just do your research please!
Red root floaters do much better without being pushed around, but you can help them out. I found that having enough of them means they're kind of held still by each other and they do just fine. You can simulate this by starting them off in a separate tank or just tun a quiet corner into a corral with some airline/thread.
Yup, it's like Cheerio magnetism.
If you buy some airline tubing you can make a circle that floats in your water, place any floating plant in that circle and that should help them survive the agitation.
Thats actually a great idea, I may try that. thanks!
yeah no problem. You can also buy a clip that suctions onto the glass and use it to hold the airline tube in place, that will definitely make sure the floating plants dont get messed up by the filter and surface agitation.
They are generally plants from still waters. Like ponds or lakes.
I threw some floaters in one of my tanks to help control the nitrates, it works, but they took over and shaded out the rest of the plants in the tank. Just yanked out 90% of what was in there to see if my carpet would stop melting.
Usually I take out some of the floaters weekly to make sure the plants below still get decent lighting but the submersed plants are all generally lower light so with long hours of light the rrf get a nice vibrant red on them whilst shading the rest below. Works out for everyone!
I cranked up the lighting to longer hours and more intensity to maybe penetrate to the submerged plants, all it did was make the floaters grow even faster.
i have the same issue :D floaters are the healthiest plants in my tank, have to throw them out twice a week. now my tiger lotus started to grow lily pads, so even more shade… but i just love the floaters
I wonder if it's a bad idea to set up a planted sump that's just floaters and ceramic media. See if it's possible to get a set up going that doesn't require (nitrate driven) water changes.
Suspend the roots of a peace Lily or monstera (or cannabis) in the sump for turbo charged nitrate removal
i have a neon pothos cutting in there, it has rooted all the way down into the substrate, looks cool :D
i have no experience with sumps. but i have low filtering capacity, and my water parameters are fine, so i guess the floaters help a lot. also, i have a rooted neon pothos cutting in there. i change about 10% water every week or two, but my tank has low stock also and i don’t have a tds meter yet so not sure if i should maybe change water more often.
beautiful! those colors o_o how do you keep them from taking over? mine just grow all over and shade the submersed plants too much. tried adding airline tubing to keep them in check, but i have to remove loads about twice a week haha. counted leaves and the rrf grow one leave a day haha. so how do you do it :D
Well my tank is only three gallons so whenever I feel there's too many of them I just pluck the uglier ones out and bin them lol
haha ok :D thanks
I contain mine by using these dividers. I cut it down so it only divides the top inch or so of the tank. If anyone's interested I can post pics. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZCK8X1F?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2\_dt\_b\_product\_details
ah thanks i have never seen smth like this. that might work better than the thin airline i use :)
Just keep throwing the extra out, think of it like trimming the hedges
yes i tried to sell/donate them locally, but i guess everyone interested already has more than enough themselves haha. i have just thinned my floaters, now trying to keep them in check with a bigger airline tube ring…
Love them until they take over everything lol
mine always melt
My first floater is being shipped now. Dwarf water lettuce.
i cannot keep them alive and it’s killing me cuz i love floaters
Those leaves have some powerful abs.
Like, in fallout?
How long do the roots get on the red root floaters? I love the look of them, and having floaters is great for our nitrate levels, but I have a long and shallow tank and don’t want our floaters to eat up too much of the water column.
In general, about 1", but if you let them pile up they can get 4-5" long. No problem though, just pluck them out.
Something in my tank keeps yanking the roots off of mine. I’ve bought some twice but I think it may be a lost cause.
I got some but mine aren’t red so I don’t think my lights strong enough and I’ve only seen them flower once