floating plants to lower my light

[genocidex]

so i think im looking into getting frogbit to dim the light levels in my tank. i currently have a nova extreme dual t5ho fixture about 2 " above my 55g. one bulb is 6700K and the other is a pink "grow light" once those go i will be replacing with 2 6700k bulbs.

will frogbit be a good idea with this set up? also i have glass hoods on, would those hinder its growth any?

and a final question for this first post, would i still be able to grown med light plants under it, or should i look for low light?

most of the plants in my tank now i would like to keep, all at the medium light reqs, some are being tossed (or sold) since i dont like how they look now.

[korith]

Frogbit is fine. You could try dwarf water lettuce instead though, it's a bit larger and easier to manage. Grows fairly quick as well. Check out this link http://plantgeek.net/plantguide.php you can list plants by lighting requirements, also has a list of floating plants. Glass hoods are fine, they help trap the moisture and the heat in, which is great in the colder months. The light that gets blocked by the glass is not noticeable. That pink bulb should be replaced. You want to stay in the general light spectrum that you mentioned.

[genocidex]

thanks, i said frogbit because it seemed more common, seems like the water lettuce might be mistaken for the frogbit and sold as the wrong plant. any ways, would med light plants still grow under them or am i just going to look for low light plants

[madagascariensis]

Whether you can keep low or medium light plants under frogbitdepends entirely on the frogbit plants themselves. I find that for no apparent reason, frogbit absolutely thrives in some of my tanks and only forms a light cover in others. I find that if it only forms a light cover or you thin it out regularly you can easily keep a wide array of plants under the frogbit, provided you avoid those with extreme light requirements. However, if it decides to form an inch thick mass of weed on your surface even crypts or java fans will have a slightly hard time growing.

[korith]

I think you're lights should be fine for medium light plants. With frogbit it does grow rapidly, not really a problem though, once every two weeks or so just take a net and remove some from surface of the tank. Cool thing about the floating plants is while it dims the light a bit, the timid fish will go out in the open more often and explore a bit more.

Water lettuce is a bit larger than frogbit, should be able to tell the difference in them. There are different varities of each of those plants so the appearance can vary. A cool floating plant if you can find it is red root floater. Like the name suggests it has red roots, a nice colorful addition to the tank. Small and easy plant to manage.

[mermaidwannabe]

A cool floating plant if you can find it is red root floater. Like the name suggests it has red roots, a nice colorful addition to the tank. Small and easy plant to manage.

Can you post a picture of this? What is its official name in the vernacular? Is it actually called "red root floater", or is that a generic terminology for a wide variety of those kinds of plants? Are you referring to one specific plant or to this general variety?

I ask, because this might be very interesting, visually, in my tanks, and the folks at my LFS would need to know what I am talking about if I mentioned it to them.

Floating plants provide nice shelter for smaller fish and also add visual interest. They're good for soaking up nitrates, as well. Hornwort is an attractive floater, with fine, feathery foliage. Some fish will eat it, though. Having plants fish can eat can help tide them over between feedings, meaning you can give them a little less food a little less often, and keep your tank cleaner.

Lots of advantages to floating plants.

Haven't tried frogbit. How does it do in rapidly moving current? Duckweed requires still waters and disappears too quickly in my tanks.

-- mermaidwannabe

[genocidex]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/my...nthus_fluitans

read the comments on it and you will see its bio isnt correct but it will give you the name and a pic

[Goes to 11!]

Can you post a picture of this?

LH posted a thread for me with a great pic of this plant after a discussion about it this past summer.

[mermaidwannabe]

Thanks for the link.

Looks like it doesn't like a lot of surface agitation, as in fast current.

Might be better to have just a little of it in the 65, as it may over-run my 20 and block out too much light from the substrate plants.

If fast current will help keep it in check, then maybe I won't need to trim it too often.

Would like to give this one a try and see how it goes. Maybe I can close down the valves on my filters to minimize the flow. It will be an experiment in the beginning ...

--mermaid

[Goes to 11!]

Surface plants do not generally like high flow, Think of where you commonly see them.