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RE: No more stems?
>>Consider crypts, anubias and echinodorus (swords). I'm not referring to
your basic amazon swords either. Go for the indian red, red rubin, red
ozelot, red flame, rosefolia - majority of these are offered via
Aquabotanic. Notice the pattern here? Get some harder to grow plants. You
may also wish to throw in some crinum. Since you have the light and other
accessories, I say use it. Think about doing hairgrass, glosso, or a
microsword foreground. I have been happier without using very many stem
plants in my tank. I substitute the stems plants with with crypt balansae,
retrospiralis, or spriralis. I recently ordered some crypt tonkensis from
Aquabotanic, which will replace some stargrass. I got tired of constantly
having to trim the stargrass. Use wood and java fern to aquascape.<<
There are so many possibilities... I go thru different phases, sometimes I
steer away from stem plants, but I always seem to come back to them. I am in
the process of setting up a small 20 gallon plant tank for my Mother. My
original plan was to have mostly Anubias plants covering wood, and a
corkbark back drop, (a wall of Anubias plants covering the entire back
glass), with Glosso in the foreground. I thought it would make a nice sharp
contrast and a rather unique looking aquascape, but now I am thinking of
adding some stem plants in each rear corner, particularly to cover up the
Plantguild power-reactor that is hooked up to a DIY yeast bottle.
I have a hard time staying away from stem plants...there are just too many
that are just do darn beautiful looking and interesting! Particulary when I
see all the plants that go in and out of my place for other people. Rotala,
Didiplis, and Potamageton have become my favorites as of late, and a
Hydrocotyle sp I have never grown before has some great looking
possibilities, Hydrocotyle sibthorpiodes, which has very small leaves with
sort of serrated edges and very thin stems. Somewhat like Cardamine but even
smaller.
Robert Paul Hudson
http://www.aquabotanic.com