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I have been experimenting with different live plants, and I have to say the Java Moss is not a favorite of mine! Not only does it seem to collect all the poop it can catch, it also clogs the filter intake of the XP3 whenever possible, and the turtles seem to avoid it at all costs. The Anacharis and Amazon swords are really my favs, and water lettuce, duckweed, and hornwort are good too. But I am considering tossing the Java Moss. Urgh. Anyone else had this sort of fun?

Well from you post I guess the first live plants I'll be trying is the anarchis. Perhaps the Java Moss is native to still ponds, so your XP3 is probably too powerful for it. If that true, that may be the reason it's collecting everything, because in ponds the garbage stays at the bottom. Well at least tossing a plant doesn't give you the guilt of tossing and animal.

I wasn't overly thrilled with anacharis either for the very same reason.. small pieces that clogged my filter. I opted for fresh lettuces they didn't get so tiny and for the amount they ate it was much less expensive.

I wish there was an animal that collected all the poop it could catch!

what is amazon sword? and how do i put it into the tank? does it need to be held down by sumthing? can it be eaten

For all you plant experts (scripta/cam) I was thinking that I could take a deep zip loc container, fill it with some gravel, then put plastice over the gravel so the turtles can't get to it. Then put the plant in it. Are there any plants that can survive in these conditions?

Thanks in advance

RESowner34- Damn! That's a great idea! I could just kick myself for not thinking of that! Amazon swords would do very well that way, as would Hornwort. I will be trying that too, as I have been trying to figure out a good safe way to plant things! You would probably need to poke a few little holes in the container so that water could cirulate at least a little bit, but really good idea!
Thizurty- Amazon swords kind of need to be planted, so I have been getting the preplanted ones in little pots, which stay down on thier own. I have anacharis held down by non toxic plant weights so that it doesn't clog the filter. (Sadly these do not work on the evil nefarious Java Moss.)Here is a link to the plant weights that work for me. The turts leave them alone too.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18481/si1382132/cl0/pennplaxplantanchors

I think that would work with most aquatic plants.. well those that don't float naturally.. but my problem wasn't keeping them "planted" although that was about useless also, they just rip the buggers up anyway so they were floating on top of the water. I did a very nice 'salad' bar for them once.. took them less than 3 minutes to rip it to shreds and have all the plants floating. It's not the plant that clogs the filter but the little pieces that are leftover.. which anacharis has a LOT of...

There was also a dyi plant anchor site I had found once upon a time

http://www.aquariumfish.net/information ... anchor.htm

I'd be worried that they would rip through the thi plastic bag and ingest the plastiic. You can also buy veggie clips for tanks. I just bought some for our tank but haven't used them yet as I have not bought any plants lately. They don't have metal parts so no rusting and they have a suction cup to attach it to the tank.

spook i think he was going to use like a container. Almost like what goose had if i remember right.

Anyways, i have Amazon sward in my tank now, and for the life of me i cannot keep it living, i mean sure it's made it a month, but i've now cut about 4 stems because the leaves were dieing. What the heck is the trick?

As far as my anacris. It seems to grow, but i also get a browinsh color on it.

Well I guess I'll dive try Anarchis with that method and see if it works out well. I'm pretty sure I saw that idea somewhere else, but I'll gladly take credit for it. Hoepfully my turtles don't decide to tear the plant apart....

RESowner34 wrote:Well I guess I'll dive try Anarchis with that method and see if it works out well. I'm pretty sure I saw that idea somewhere else, but I'll gladly take credit for it. Hoepfully my turtles don't decide to tear the plant apart....

Have you ever seen anacharis?? Trust me they'll tear it apart. It has all these tiny little leaves that when they get ripped off the stem go everywhere..

Here's what happened with Spot. Not to say everyone would have the same experience. When I planted anacharis, amazon sword and something else (can't remember), Spot ripped them up instantly. I tried to plant the ancharis twice - same thing each time. Big mess. Now, I just let the anacharis float and he doesn't rip at it any more - he just takes relatively neat bits out of it.

anachris sheds like all heck when you put it in your tank... just be ready for that.

I must have weird turtles! They seem to strip the leaves off the stem, but they must be ingesting most of them, because I never see any floating around, or in the filter. They do however, take great delight in systematically removing the bubble wand from it's suction cups so that it floats to the top of the tank. They wedge themselves between it and the aquarium floor, and pretty much uproot it.