new plants!

These actually came in a week ago- but I simply had no time to write up a post about it. I have a running list now of plants that can do well in low tech tanks, that I would like to try in mine. And I decided to get some. I made a purchase from PlantedAquariumsCentral. There were two in the box that I especially looked forward to getting, but the first doesn't look like much yet:

Aponogeton capuronii bulb. It is another kind of ruffled sword, with darker olive-green leaves and deeper crinkles to the leaf margins.

I got a variety of crypts- cryptocoryne balansae- tall and ruffly

Crypt retrospiralis

Crypt willisii 'lucens'- this one I was surprised how long the leaves are. In pictures I've seen, it has a grassy appearance. I guess the new growth will be shorter, after it transitions.

Crypt becketti 'petchii'- this one also has taller leaves than I expected, but I remember how leggy my wendetii looked when I first got it, and wait for it to adjust.

Crypt parva- this is a little one, came in a dense cluster.

I teased it out into individual little crowns so to plant them spaced out from each other.

Also got Marsilea hirsuta or dwarf four-leaf clover- but it won't look like this for long. I've read that in low tech or low light conditions it has single-lobed leaves. Still, I hope it will be pretty.

This one almost made me laugh when I unwrapped it- because I've had it before! It's Micromeria Brownei, commonly called creeping charlie (not the same species I've known by that name as a houseplant). Almost a year ago I did a plant swap and received some stems that weren't labeled. I didn't know what they were, all this time. And they died on me. It was this plant. Looked different in the picture online, but the moment it was in my hand I knew it was the same one. Well, my tank is in a bit better shape now, let's see if it grows for me this time around.

And here are my two dubious ones- Flame Moss. I am not very good with mosses, so far. This one looks really appealing, but once it was here I felt a bit unsure what to do with it. I tied some down on a basket, and other bits on rock and driftwood- you'll see tomorrow.

This last one was really the reason for the entire order- I got eager in choosing the rest of them- but also was the only disappointment when I opened the box. It is bolbitis heudelotii, or african water fern. I have wanted to get this plant for quite some time now. I look for it frequently on the planted tank forums. There are always lots of other people looking for it, too- and when it is up for sale, it's usually quite large portions, way more than I could use. Several times I've asked if I could buy half a lot, but I was always too late... so I finally just ordered online from this aquatic plant supplier.

All the other plants in my package were impressively healthy looking, nice full pots, nice tall plants, an extra rhizome or two. But the bolbitis is a lot smaller than I expected- it's tiny. And its rhizomes feel soft, not firm. If this is the one plant that dies on me, I will be sad (although heck, it could just be my tank is not fit for it).