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I bought three clumps of plants today, they were labeled as the golden lloydiella. They looked pretty nice, somewhat similar to bacopa, but with a golden hue. I came home and looked them up by their scientific name, Lysimachia nummularia, and I'm getting links to a plant named the "Creeping Jenny". This plant is apparently terrestial, and is found in wetlands, marshes and the like. The sites I visited said that the plant grew two inches tall and sort of covered areas as a creeper. This does not describe my plants, which are at least five inches tall, and look to be ordinary bunch plants. Can anyone tell me what the difference between the two Lysimachia nummularia plants are, and if mine will do fine in an aquarium? I appreciate it.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

This one has all sort of names - Golden Moneywort, Creeping Penny, Creeping Charlie.

The growth patterns you read about are probably for the emmersed growth. In aquariums the submersed growth does get fairly tall and it's not suitable for ground cover.

Bright light seems to be the only demand this plant makes.

Here's a couple of links:
http://www.tropica.com Use the scroller on left.

http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_Lysimachia_nummularia_1.php

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Thanks for the info, Bensaf. I guess this means that the plants will be all right fully submersed, and will grow just fine in my tank. With my new light, I have about 2.25 watts per gallon, which will hopefully be enough. These plants look just beautiful, I'll take a picture tonight.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Yep, they do fine submersed. Very pretty plant, makes a great foreground , nice and bushy looking. Something darker green with bigger leaves behind it will really show it off.

Good luck and don't forget the pics

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

I took one nice picture:



I've got it against the back of the tank for now, but I will probably move it when I buy most of my plants this weekend. It really is a lovely plant, isn't it?

Oh, how far apart are the stems supposed to be from each other? I know that light should be able to reach the lower levels of each plant, but I'm always seeing pictures of planted tanks with clumps of stem plants close together.[/font]

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Nick,

It's a very nice plant. The color and leaf shape give it a very attractive appearance.

Looks just fine planted as is. Yes if the bottom leaves don't get enough light you'll lose them. Same, to a lesser extent, with the stems. If totally deprived of light the stems will rot. Of course one the functions of the leaves is gather that light - so as long as the top leaves are getting a lot of light and the stems sufficient light the plant will remain healthy.

That brings us to the difference between growing plants and aquascaping ! The pictures you mention. You're right they are always closely bunched. Stem plants look their best in tight groups. Spread them out singly and they look blah and boring.

Go back to those pictures and look again. Notice anything ?

In the really nice tanks with a lot of stem plants grouped together you never see the bottoms of the plants !

Why ? Simple. To get the really nice effect of the tight bunch you have to sacrifice the leaves at the bottom of the plant. It's almost unavoidable. This is then hidden by the place of hardscape or smaller non stem plants in front, basically hiding the bottom. Luckily this is a very effective trick. Which looks better and more natural , a group of plants poking out of the gravel or a group of plants peeking out behind a rock or piece of driftwood or even popping out from the midst of a group of other darker smaller plants ? You can test this yourself. Take a piece of rock or wood that is about a third of the size of your plant and just put it in front of the plant. Stand back and look, which looks more attractive and natural ? Bet it's not the plant poking out of the gravel !

The other method is to frequently prune the plant and discard the bottom and just constantly replant the top, but this can be a fair bit of work.

So you have a choice. You can ensure the bottom leaves get light by planting the stems individually and spaced well apart, but this looks very blah and what you've got is a collection of stems. This where aquascaping comes in. Turning the collection of plants into something that is better then the sum of it's parts.

Learning to grow the plants is the first step. Turning a collection of healthy plants into something visually attractive and striking (and unique to you) is the next step.

March boldly forward

Last edited by bensaf at 12-Apr-2005 02:31

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.