FishProfiles.com Message Forums

what's the best foreground plants for hardwater. around 15dkh and ph 7-9. Have lots of background plants, hygrophilla difformis, giant hygrophilla, bacopa, amania, sunset, and vallisniria. Any suggestions?

I've had great success with glosso, HM, and hairgrass in the past. Remarkably, however, sag subulata has never really taken off for me, though it is rumored to do very well in hardwater circumstances.

I had trouble with hairgrass in my hardwater. It never grew any and then slowly started dying but my water is slightly harder than yours(18dkh). I use aquatic 4 leaf clover(marsilea crenata) in all my tanks now and so far it grows quite well.

Been there done that, hairgrass doesn't work for me. I increased my lighting and co2 injection. It's still dying. I have Sag now, it spreads but doesn't grow much. Java moss is too common. I bored looking at it. I've also tried Riccia Funtias but too hard too maintain especially when its to thick, the lower portion starts to decay and floats away. Thanks anyway.

Personally I would never find any plant, no matter how simple, boring. You shouldn't either. You should just go with what you got

No problem with the plants. I even use the same plants over and over again. It's the aquascape that bores me. That's the advantage of a freshwater planted aquarium, you can change the design without affecting the eco-system graeatly. Salt water tanks once stable, can no longer be re-designed, it will destroy the reef and eco-system.

IME, most plants don't care if your water is hard or soft, just as long as there is SOME hardness. Plants do need the magnesium and calcium, but at varying degrees of GH I haven't seen some plants do remarkably well while others faulter.

I would chose your foreground based on a) the type of substrate you have ( for ease of planting and keeping planted) , b) the type of fish you have ( same reasons as above), and c) the amount of nutrients/lighting/co2 you are going to be providing. Water hardness doesn't really fall into the equation.

I have seen some plants do great and some plants die for no reason in my very hard water. Hairgrass being one of them. With high light, co2, eco complete substrate, and fertilizers it never grew and the rest of the tank was doing great. There are several other plants I've had just die away for no real reason while some, especially those that prefer hardwater, do just great and some of those plants that wouldn't grow otherwise did fine in smaller tanks where I used much softer bottled water. Many sites with plant info will list the hardness preferred by the plant. Tropica is one of those. I don't think hardness is a big concern though until you reach the level of "liquid rock" water Probably somewhere around 12-15 and above it seems to affect some plants.

My problem with the water hardness listings/requirements ,as it relates to particular plants on various websites ,is that many places list a general water hardness, ph , and so forth that a plant can tolerate. The question is how they came upon this tolerance range. If it's based on the ranges at which the plant is found in its natural habitat(s), then that does not help the aquariast much. Could it survive elsewhere with different parameters and had just not been introduced?

Almost without fail, whatever plants I have thriving in tanks can be looked up and a general water hardness / temperature / ph tolerace will be listed that my tank(s) do not even come close to.

If going by GH/Ph, etc. on a guide makes a person feel more comfortable with their plant choices then I'm all for it. Personally, I can't subsribe to a philosophy that I need a certain GH beyond the basic magnesium/calcium requirements of any other freshwater aquatic plant life.

ive only gotten bobits ,java fern and java moss to grow in a hard water PH 8 tank

Java moss is great when tied to a wood. It's not a runner growing plant. Thanks anyway.

If you want a fast growing foreground and don't mind semi-tedious trimming, you might try Hemianthus micranthemoides, or pearl weed. You have to train it a little bit to grow how you want, but basically it's almost like a mini anacharis in the way it sends off runners, but will take root at many points to carpet.

Pic of pearlweed foreground before a much-needed trim:



[/font]

Just because a plant can survive at a higher hardness or ph than what is listed doesn't mean it grows it's best or exactly the same as in different water. Some of that can be seen in mosses. Many will change their growth pattern not just in different light but different types of water.

Just because a plant can survive at a higher hardness or ph than what is listed doesn't mean it grows it's best or exactly the same as in different water.

That may be true, but where is the hardness/ph that is listed coming from? Is it from scientific study done which sets the low and high points of the optimal growth threshold for the plant? Are the parameters given the actual ranges that the plant is found to be in the wild, across the world?

A lot of things can affect the way a plant looks, like you say - low nitrates make rotala macranda really show it's red but if you have normal nitrates it will still grow normally and look fine. It still can grow " it's best".

My point is that there are way more important factors to chose a plant by than by your ph/GH... Lighting, Co2, ease or lack thereof of maintenance, etc.

Experimentation is best.. don't believe everything you read on the internet.

Glosso took over the substrate of my 8.0 PH tank, just like cup of life noodles my dwarfs sags never did so well.
I also had HYDROCOTYLE VERTICILLATA, it did excellent in my tank. I think Lobelia Cardinalis is also a good choice.