Plants with Africans?

[Ditanium]

I have a 75 gallon tank with 6 assorted African rift cichlids, 2 plecos, and tons of pesky snails. The tank sits in the main living room, so I've had the desire to make it as appealing as possible while tending to the needs of the fish. I put in a fair amount of tufa which is interesting to look at, but the greyness of the tank is depressing. I'm a stickler for using non-synthetic materials (ie plastic*thumbsdow ) to decorate. I have resorted to plastic plants for now, after a bad experience with some anubias, which were over stressed by the number of fish I had at the time. I'm thinking now with fewer cichlids (I started with 20 a few years ago), that the plants maybe had a fighting chance if I put in more so that any nibbling would be distributed evenly. Anyone got any advice/experience with stocking african tanks with live plants? I've read Val and anubias will tolerate the water and some nibbling but I didn't know if there was anything else out there.

Anyone got suggestions for some hard water, african tolerant plants??

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Java fern, Anubias, Val...basically any plant that can be tied down to rocks/wood/etc. I'm sure they are all going to take the nibbling. Pretty limited here and those 3 are about all i've heard that really work.

 

[Ditanium]

Thanks. I know there are few solutions since I've researched a while but thought there was an off chance I'd missed something. Maybe the solution is to just restock with some more vibrant colored fish...

 

[Orion]

Those are good plant recommendations. I assume we are talking about mbuna, or other herbivorous cichlids? If so, then also look at their diet. If they fish are eating a lot of the plants, then it might mean that they are missing something form their daily diet. You could try to changing to a food that is higher in algaes and other plant material. I have heard people having some success with this. If you give the fish what they need, then they won't have to take it.

But with any plant munchers, it's always going to be a battle. You just try your best to tip the game in your favor.