Plants that thrive in high ph environments

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mixtune
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Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2024 10:43 pm

Plants that thrive in high ph environments

Post by mixtune »

Hi, I'm looking to add some plants to my shell dwelling cichlid setup and I was wondering if there are certain types that do better in higher pH. I'm trying to fill a few areas and I'm not sure if I should look for plants specifically from the Tanganyikan waters or if any tropical plants will be okay.
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flarix
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Re: Plants that thrive in high ph environments

Post by flarix »

Silk plants are a great option, they work amazingly well in higher pH environments, and they're pretty low maintenance too.
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mixtune
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Re: Plants that thrive in high ph environments

Post by mixtune »

I've always been a fan of live plants, there's just something about them. I was checking out a YouTube setup with Tang cichlids and they had Java ferns in there, they looked like they were doing great.
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dixin
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Re: Plants that thrive in high ph environments

Post by dixin »

Java ferns and many Anubias species seem to handle high pH environments just fine. Some Val species also do well. I've found that water sprite can thrive too, but it does require some care - I had to acclimate them to the higher pH, as a sudden change from 7.0 to 8.2 proved fatal. Now I float them to help ease the transition.
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mixtune
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Re: Plants that thrive in high ph environments

Post by mixtune »

The anubias plants really catch my eye. I hadn't considered the importance of acclimating plants from low to high pH - that's definitely something I'll keep in mind now. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions, I appreciate it.
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dakora
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Re: Plants that thrive in high ph environments

Post by dakora »

I had a crinum thakento4um in a tank at 8.5 pH for a few weeks while setting up another tank, seemed to do alright during that time, not sure how it would've held up long-term though.
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