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Re: Fishproof plants?
> From: N.Monks at nhm_ac.uk (Neale Monks)
> Any ideas on species of plants that will do well in aquaria with "robust"
> if non-herbivorous fishes? Such as catfish and cichlids. The sorts of
> conditions I am thinking of are:
>
> *coarse gravel substrate (perhaps with fertilizer in the loewr levels)
> *high nitrate / phosphate (but low nitrite, of course!)
> *vigorous aeration and/or filtration
> *active fish
I have had reasonable success with keeping Valisneria tortifolia
(corscrew val) and Echinodorus (sorry, I haven't yet identified which
species those are, probably more than one species though) in a 175
litre tank with American cichlids. The cichlids are C.nigrofasciatum
(4), C. spirullum (2) and C. (Thorychtis) meeki (3). There are also
two Ancitrus sp. in the tank. I know it is crowded but I keep
agression down that way.
All plants are potted with gravel on top and bottom of the pot and
soil in the middle. I put rather large gravel on top. I use medium
size clay pots (about 8-10 cm top diameter). Echinodorus are one per
pot while I put 5-8 Vals in each pot. So far, only Val has been
reproducing, although only slowly. The plants do suffer some damage
from the cichlids but not too much. Echinodorus seems to be able to
withstand attempts to dig it out better - once it has rooted well. On
the other hand, I found that if the fishes decide to dig out Vals, it
is easier to move the pot to different position than to replant it
over and over.
If you are planning to have diggers, you can forget about plants
unless you pot them. OTOH, the pots provide additional hiding places
as the cichlids can hide between them.
I found that adding some soil helps the plants. OTOH, it produces
a royal mess when the fishes do dig the plants out.
So far, my only problem is that most of the leaves are covered with
algae (about 2 mm long hairy stuff and spots). Anybody has
suggestion what may be causing it? I change about 20% of water every
week, filtration is by a canister filter.
Jan
Jan Fidrmuc
CentER for Economic Research
Tilburg University
P.O.Box 90153
5000 LE Tilburg,
The Netherlands
Phone: +31-13-466-2678, +31-13-466-8221
Fax: +31-13-466-3066
Email: J.Fidrmuc at KUB_NL
http://cwis.kub.nl/~few5/center/phd_stud/fidrmuc/home.HTM