Live plants for mbuna tank...purpose/nitrates

[Hamburgler]

The nitrate reading for water out of my tap is about 15-20ppm. I have a few tanks doing just fine with the water, but the result is that i have to do more frequent water changes in the messy tanks (especially mbuna) to keep them down since they are starting off where they are. Which is fine, but i would feel better with a water change making more of a difference.

Sooo i was thinking of adding some live plants to do the job, as i have a 3g planted betta tank that works amazing. So i'm looking for any suggestions of resilient, "low-light" plants. I have had a few in the past and they really didnt eat or rip them apart too much so thats not a concern. But i have basically no knowledge of plants.

thanks!

 

[Dino]

Anubias are what you are looking for.
They are tough plants that will hold up to mbuna.
They are slow growing.

 

[jessey]

sorry to hijack a bit, but i also want to keep a few plants in my mbuna set up.. right now i have some java moss and 2 different crypts. what kind of a mess will i be looking at when i get my saulosi?

(<--going to look up anubius now)

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Look at Anubias, Java Ferns, and possibly types of Val. The first 2 can be tied down easily to rocks or wood and grow fine.

I've heard of Mbuna shredding Java Moss jessey lol. I'd like to know how it works out for you though.

 

[Dino]

Thats the problem with keeping 140 tanks.
I also have jungle val with mbuna.
It seems to be too tough for the smaller mbuna I keep to tear.

 

[jessey]

i kind of thought they might make a mess of the java moss, since it's already messy to begin with. the java moss might have to go.

 

[Hamburgler]

Alright cool...tying down to rocks is good.

Another off topic questions...how do you pronounce "mbuna" ? if you were to say it...

 

[Cichlid-Man]

"mmm boon uh" is how i say it.

 

[Mahamotorworks]

What you can do is Sump your tank and in the Sump add a lot of fast growing nitrate eating plants. That way you can get your nitrates down.

MAHA

 

[Hamburgler]

What you can do is Sump your tank and in the Sump add a lot of fast growing nitrate eating plants. That way you can get your nitrates down.

MAHA

Didnt think of that...but i'm just gonna stick with the plants in tank now, i could use some variety from just rock formations. Thanks for the suggestions.