Any experience with these hardwater plants?

[Sea-agg09]

Just as the title says....

Does anyone have any experience or actually have any of these plants?

Lymnocharus sp.


Eriocaulon cinereum


Chara sp. Fragilis


Ottelia mesenterium

[davemonkey]

I've had the Erio before and it eventually faded into nothing. The water in Houston is exceedingly hard and I don't think that any Erio can survive it without a low pH substrate and at least some type of filtering on the water source. From what I remember, the water in Bryan/College Station is not much better...very sodic?

Those other 3 species don't look aquatic, looks like emersed growth that was submerged for a photo-op...especially that moss "Chara". Where were these pics from?

[davemonkey]

Wait, I do remember someone posting about the Lymnocharis sp. once at APC. It's been awhile though, adn I don't remember much about that thread. Maybe try searching the Plant ID forum at APC to see if you can find it.

[Sea-agg09]

The pics are from an importer. They are definitely aquatic plants.

Erio is my least favorite of the choices, so I can do without it. I know it needs crazy light, like a glossostigma, not sure my 24 watts of LED could handle it.

Here's another picture of chara in someone's tank. It looks like a really compact hornwart... kinda.

http://nsa08.casimages.com/img/2009/08/13/09081308080734636.jpg

[davemonkey]

Okay, yeah that second photo actually looks like Chara sp., and yes it's aquatic for sure. I've never used it, but have heard of people growing it without much effort and have seen it in streams in central/west Texas (Abilene area). That first pic up there looks like a moss to me (I assumed the ID was incorrect)...but my eyes have not bee doing me much justice lately...and I'm not even THAT old.