Hey ya'll

[Fishtanker]

Guess you can figure it out from my name, but I'm really more of a fish tank person than a pond person, lol. Why wander in here then? I've got a cute lil dwarf lilly happily growing away in my tank, and I was wondering how to really get it growing well. I started with one bulb, and 1.5 years later I have two independent plants and more coming from the bulb. I also have the rest of my tank filled with other plants, along with a rather irritable betta and snail friends. I've only had actual lilly pads once, since then all the leaves are submerged and looking good, although I would really really like to see floating leaves again, and maybe even a bloom. Still looks great as it is though.

Come summer, I'm thinking about moving at least one of my lillies to a small container pond outside, but since it can get well over 100 in the shade here during summer, I'm still not sure about that.

Anyways, nice meeting everyone!

 

[j.w]

Fishtanker and fellow Washingtonian!
I think the water lilies can take your heat but I think you'd need to bring them inside in the winter or the tub would prolly freeze solid.
You can plant them in kitty litter from Wal-mart............the kind called special kitty made from bentonite clay w/ no added ingredients. Comes in a big bag for about $3.
Then add some fertilizer pellets maybe once a month during the growing season. Maybe run a little pump w/ a bubbler attached to thwart off mosquito's or you can by those mosquito dunks and drop those in to kill off the bugs.

 

[Fishtanker]

Hahaha, no need for a tub, I've got a tank, thanks though. I'll have to look into the kitty litter. I don't know what you would really call a growing season...my lillies are in a tank that stays 78 with 8-10 hours of light a day, with fertilizer tabs added once a month.

Anyways, here's some pics (why? I like pics)

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1695-72/



https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1690-12/



https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1691-22/



https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1694-62/

 

[fishin4cars]

Welcome aboard, Nice planted betta tank! I can tell you you probably won't be able to get enough light to it in a tank to get it to REALLY grow and bloom. Outside in a tub it will! they need 8-10 hours of full sun. I raise some in tubs and they do very well. Bring them in and rinse them off and keep in the aquarium during the winter. They will stay active and alive in the tank but not really go dormant. Do not plane them in a tank outside, the glass on the tank will warm the water to extremely hot conditions. 90-100 degrees they love, glass tanks can heat to 120+ that's too high. I found a solid plastic pot at Lowes lassst year that cost about $10, a new un-used oil pan from the dollar store for $2, about $1 worth of pure clay cat litter and a few Jobes plants sticks. This is one of the minature lily's blooming and then one of the tubs with mojito Taro and water lettuce. Great patio water gardens. they don't grow fish well at all, but tadpoles and trapdoor snails LOVE them!

 

[taherrmann4]

Welcome to the forum. I also have a planted tank that I just started this fall and have had mixed success with my plants in there. I do have one lily that is doing really well, but is only about 4" tall but with lots and lots of leaves. The other one I had just died, I think as all the leaves died but the tuber is still there so I am giving it more time. I am getting ready to start some from seed in my tank so we will see how that goes.

 

[CountryEscape]

Welcome Fishtanker!
What type of lily is yours? The leaves are different from the water lilies I've seen on ponds, so that must have to do with it being a miniature variety. It looks more like the taro leaves.
I think the idea of getting it outside in the summer is to allow it to have warmer temps than your aquarium water, but more importantly to get real sunlight for 8-10 hours as Larkin states. It will probably be the combination you need to get it to bloom. It will likely multiply quicker as well, so be ready to bring in 4-5 plants at the end of summer. Kind of like tropical plants, I put them outside when the temps warm up, and have to bring inside for the winter. They really take off once they are outside, and pretty much go dormant in the wintertime inside.

 

[fishin4cars]

Todd, if you want to try some very hardy plants that will do well in low light to med light conditions. Try some of the Cryptocoryne and anubius species. Both aren't fast grwoing, lots of various leaf shapes, both stay under the water surface and both don't care about water chemistry for the most part as long as it's not to far to one extreme or the other. Crypts. would prefer more on the acidic, anubius would prefer more alkaline but I have kept both with neons and angels as well as african cichlids. the both did well as long as I didn't choose fish species that damaged the leaves to bad.
CE, The leave of the lily look that way in his tank due to they are in the submerged state. once they surface they will change to more of a lily look. hard to say what they are, My guess is red spadderdock as that is one of the most common lily's sold in the petstore trade for aquariums. They can get fairly large in a tank but will burst with growth and have many babies in the sunlight once the water has reached over 65 degrees F. They aren't great bloomers this is why they aren't commonly kept by water gardeners. So many other beautiful color flowers to choose from once they are outside.

 

[Fishtanker]

I actually have both crypts and anubias. My anubias can't stand really high light, although I heard that if you add ferts and co2 they'll do fine. My crypts are the tall, skinny brown plant that isn't the lilly, I kinda goofed when I got that color of crypt. Crypts usually go through a melt when they change tanks or are introduced. LOL, don't get me started on aquarium plants though, I've been know to talk for hours about all the varieties.
Hygrophilia though might definitely be one to consider. Fast grower, needs ferts, but as long as there's nothing to destroy it, it can grow fast enough to outcompete algae. I have one in the betta tank (willow hygro, long skinny green leaves, in the background).

Well, even if it doesn't bloom, it still looks really pretty as it is. These are older pics with a different fish. After it put out all those pretty pads, it went dormant for several months before growing again. After that I discovered the wonders of fertilizers and it completely took off. It's under a fairly powerful daylight quality light too, and that helped a lot too.


https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1699-p10109542/


These two have the anubias in them. Seems to be a rather indestructible plant, almost as much as my lilly, lol.

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1700-p1020199/



https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1698-42/

 

[taherrmann4]

Fishtanker,
Here is a pic of my aquarium. I just started using ferts, no co2 though, so I shall see how they do. Some of the plants have been doing well but now I am fighting this algae that is like carpet and it is growing on my substrate and plants I think it is called blue green algae. My nitrates are 0, nitrites 0, ammonia 0. I have only been doing this for about 3 months so I am a newbie but it has been fun so far. I have dannios, neons, pygmy cory, and some algae eating shrimp.

 

[CountryEscape]

Todd, when I started up my aquarium about a year ago (55 gal), I added plants and all the stores said to add fertilizer. I did, and even though I used less than recommended (I figured the fish would add some, too), about 2-3 weeks later, and then within 2 days, my water went from clear to pea soup green. I have stopped using fertilizer ever since and my plants are doing great. I have 2 aquariums, the 55 and a 29 tall, and both are planted and have full load of fish. I add water when it evaporates, and used to be anal about cleaning the bottom, but now only vacuum every 2 months or so and do a 10-20% water change. When I could not figure out the green water, the pet store (they did not recommend fertilizer tabs, BTW) said to stop the fertilizer and shut off the lights, keep all sunlight off the tank, and within a week it was cleared up. In my opinion, the plant tabs are for only plants in an aquarium. Not sure, just a thought.

 

[Fishtanker]

First off, how about everyone with aquarium related questions go to aquariumforum.com? It's a bunch of friendly people that know a LOT more than I do. Tell 'em Kehy sent you, lol.

As for Country:
Were you using aquarium fertilizer? It's much different from regular dry land ferts. Also, were you providing enough plants, proper lighting and co2? Water changes should be weekly, although with plants, you can skip vaccuming the bottom as much- detrus is good for the plants. What is your stocking level? I highly recommend NOT going by the "1 inch per gallon" rule, it rather flawed. Stocking itself depends on fish, tank size, filtration, and how much maintanience (sorry, spell check refuses to help my spelling anymore ) you do.

 

[CountryEscape]

I was using plant tabs made for aquariums, bought at the pet store I purchased the plants from. Yes, I probably have too many fish. 55 gal has 3 large angels, 3 platys 2 red barbs, 2 rummy noses, 2 horseface loaches and a dojo loach, 2 killifish, a purple botia, 2 plecos (they are about 4" ach now) and 4 cory cats. Not sure how many inches I have total, probably close to 50". I have 4 main plants, 2 of which I have since separated into 4 more, but sorry I don't remember their names.
And, it's maintenance heehee, I work at an attorney's office, and we deal with child support, so "maintenance" comes up often.

 

[Fishtanker]

I was using plant tabs made for aquariums, bought at the pet store I purchased the plants from. Yes, I probably have too many fish. 55 gal has 3 large angels, 3 platys 2 red barbs, 2 rummy noses, 2 horseface loaches and a dojo loach, 2 killifish, a purple botia, 2 plecos (they are about 4" ach now) and 4 cory cats. Not sure how many inches I have total, probably close to 50". I have 4 main plants, 2 of which I have since separated into 4 more, but sorry I don't remember their names.
And, it's maintenance heehee, I work at an attorney's office, and we deal with child support, so "maintenance" comes up often.

I'm not the best at figuring stocking, but that really sounds like a lot. What kind of plecos do you have? Commons (the most commonly available) grow to 18". One of my friends has an 18" in a 90 gallon tank. She also breeds other plecos for petstores, so she knows what kind of care they need. Personally I would add some fast growing plants to help with filtration, if the plecos allow them (some are notorious plant killers). I wonder though, did your root tabs dissolve before they were buried deep enough and did you use the right amount? They need to be as far under the gravel/substrate as you can get them, at least one 1", preferably 2", otherwise they do dissolve quickly and can cause algae blooms. I can use them with no problems in my 1.5 gallon betta tank (yes, the one in all the pictures) as long as I get the tabs buried quickly and deeply enough. I'm also injecting CO2 and the tank is under high light, although even without the CO2, the plants were doing well.

 

[CountryEscape]

My plecos are growing fast, although they are supposed to be gold spotted ones, which are typically not fast growers, and don't get huge like the ones you are talking about. I suspect they mis-named them. And, I didn't say, but the plant fertlizer they sold me was liquid form, so it was in the whole tank, not just in the gravel. A couple of my plants are the type that are planted, and the others are stems with roots, and I do have them weighted down with gravel, but they would do well just floating as well. I should take pictures of my tanks to show you, but I do have a lot of plant life in both tanks, or at least it seems like it to me. The 29 gal is my "goldfish" holding tank I could not resist 2 of the "pot bellied" goldies, and 3 Shubunkins that have outstanding color patterns (in my opinion that is) and very long tails. That tank also has a couple of gold nugget mollies, 1 black molly, an albino pleco (he's small, less than 2" and I've had him for 6 months already) and another specialty pleco, I think it's a butterfly pleco, also small in size, VERY slow grower. The is a polka dot botia in there, too, but that's pretty much it. In the spring, the 5 goldfish will go into the pond, that is when I get the new goldfish pond built. And, yes, my 55 gal is likely overstocked, but no fish are dying, so I guess I'm doing something right. LOL This weekend coming up is pegged for cleaning and water changes in the inside tanks.
So, the best plant fertilizer for an aquarium is the tablet form sounds like. Thanks for your info!