Central Florida Farms
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Aquatic Gardening
Our aquatic garden plants will be shipped fresh, wet and secure. The benefits of aquatic plants not only make your aquarium, pond or garden look better, but also adds shade/refuge, breeding grounds, oxygen to the water and a natural food supply for your fish and pond life. They help filter out the contaminants and make a more natural habitat for the life inside. Give your pets & projects the best of the best and add that natural look to your garden.
Planting New Arrivals: Like all other aquatic or aquarium plants, they should be planted in this manner: If your plants arrive in a small growing container with rockwool medium, carefully remove the root system by cutting the mesh container or removing carefully to preserve it (if you wish to keep it). remove the Rock-wool completely from root system. if the lower roots are thin, it is OK to trim them all at once. this will actually act as a stimulant to the plants when regaining vigor in your aquarium. gently push the root system down into the soil medium you have in your aquarium (holding the crown and roots firmly in your fingers so they don't break). Push it into the soil until the crown of the plant is just under the soil line, then wiggle it slightly to get the soil medium around all the roots and gently pull it back up until the crown of the plant is visible. Never plant the crown under the soil. Another method that is just as effective but will take a little longer is to use plant sinker weights, and GENTLY wrap them around the plant just above the crown, making very certain that you don't break the plant cell walls (squishing the leaves or petioles) and simply allow it to sink to the desired location in your tank. I have done this but have noticed that unless you still put forth the effort to cover the roots, it will take longer for the plants to grasp and fish may eat the roots. It has not been a huge problem, but I have learned to take the extra measure to cover the roots. They will take in no time depending on your aquarium's soil medium or rocks. I have found that loose medium is always best for plant growth even though I have used pure sand as my bottom so many times in my life I cant count with little or no troubles with many types. The so called banana rooted plants should simply be allowed to lay on the bottom.
Temperatures of submerged plants and aquariums. This is probably an unnecessary paragraph given that most people will have fish living with their plants that need warmer waters, but I will say it anyway. The temperature for most aquatic plants (with a few exceptions of course) is between 85-95ºF degrees. there are a few types like Vallisnaria that live in the cold waters of the natural springs where the water is a constant 72º year round. Even these plants do well in the mentioned temperature range. The plants we sell here will benefit from the 85-95º year round controlled environment.
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Submerged Aquarium Pond Plants |
Sword Plants for your Aquarium
These plants known to many as Amazon Sword Plants, are simply easy to care for and only require a decent light from your local aquarium shop. No tank should be without these live plants as it promotes health for all fish and other life forms contained in your aquariums. Even if you only use artificial plants, the live fish need the UV lights to have a good immune system. Much like people need at least small amounts of the sun. This will also bring out the best colors of your fish, plants and rocks and makes your aquarium project stand out as the tiny ecosystem that it is. Live plants also give oxygen to fish and with enough plants, you will never see any fish going to the top, grabbing oxygen from the surface. If you do see this from your fish after you've had plants in the tank for a week, then there must be other issues or too much C02 in the water from whatever source. I apologize for the lack of photos on this page.
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Echinodorus 'Rubin' - Red Rubin Sword - Available Now! - I like red leafed plants to grow among the greens. It just adds a color blend that can't be beat. They should be given enough space to allow to grow to their potential while not over crowding the tank. unless you are setting it up for breeding. Even then, the wide leafed plants used by the common Corydora will be an excellent source for them to lay their eggs on and the more areas for the fry to hide in the better the chances of survival until they get past that edible stage. I have found that Corydora or "Cory Cats" are easier to breed than people may think. I've had it happen a few times by accident, at least it wasn't planned. I wasn't even aware until i noticed about 75 small Cory cats swimming about the leaves. Each time was an exciting day for me since it was like an unexpected present. They all lived apparently or at least most did by the dense flora inside the environment.
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Echinodorus barthii - Red Sword Plant - Produce bold colors of Red to contrast against the greens in your aquarium's environment. Believe it or not, in their native habitat along the Amazon river, many of these plants are marginal and are reported to live along the banks with leaves fully exposed. However, I have noticed in my lifetime of growing these that when they are exposed to over water levels (when they outgrow their environment, the leaves tend to dry up. Since I have never been to the Amazon river to investigate this myself, I will have to take the scientists word for it. Personally, I think they look much better inside the water capturing the lights and giving that tropical world atmosphere.
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Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Red' - Red Ruffled Sword Plant - Available Now! - Fast growing! These are a unique color giving pink hues on light green and red stems and leaves. This Cryptocoryne variety is yet another variety to contrast the green Cryptocoryne plants that are common in just about every aquarium shop in America. These are also reported to be a marginal bog plant but as mentioned above, when they come out of the water levels, mine always become dried out. So I am not sure how they are able to live in their native environment as a marginal bog plant, but will believe the experts' words, yet leave mine in the water fully submerged. They are said to be a warm water plant only. We keep ours in the barn with no real protection from winter other than the heaters to keep them from real cold damage. it is not a good area for trying to maintain room temps in our summers or winters. So far, it is not been a problem growing any of our plants. It is a large barn, I must say. This winter was exceptionally cold and they lived. I didnt really monitor them to be honest, but assume that the water temperature never dropped below about 70º.
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Alexander sword Plants - Resembles a Widened Tip Vallisnaria Plants but do not grow as tall - More Soon
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Echinodorus 'Rose'- More Soon
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More to come soon
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Marginal Pond Bog Plants |
Cyperus isocladus - Dwarf Papyrus Reed - A very special plant that can be used as a potted container plant, shallow pond edge plant or any continually wet bog situation. They grow to heights of about 2-3 ft tall and can propagate on their own producing offsets at the base. These unique plants have a beautiful 'bushy and soft' rounded head that gives a contrast lighter green to those others around it. They will accent any area and add just the right touch to the view.
Umbrella Palm or Papyrus Reed Marginal Bog wetland Plant - Cold Hardy - I love these plants and have had them for many years. They grow fast to heights about 6 feet. Once established these will grow in sandy soil taking periods of drought or directly in the shallow areas of a pond. They can be used as a corner piece or background and look to be in the right place where ever they are planted. If growing them in the water, the root system can add nutrients to your aquatic life while giving a continual water supply to the plants. Once they form their clumps, they are very durable and hardy and will last a long time, even in windy conditions. The mass will hold themselves up. The umbrella papyrus reed plant is not messy plant and are easy manicure if needed. They spread by division of the root system and if you place an underground border will not go past that. very easy to grow and manage, these are sure to be a jewel for your landscape or aquascape giving any garden a more tropical appeal.
Floating Water Lettuce Plants Pistia stratiotes - No pond is complete without the carefree feeling of floating pond plants. Water Lettuce is one that benefits the water and all living organisms within the water. The slightly frosted look to the green leaves add contrast and additional color with any other plants nearby. Each leaf can reach as large as eight inches but generally grow to about4-6 inches. This gives them an overall spread of 10-16". Normally when they are grown in a small pond or grouped together, they will get to an average of 5-6" in diameter as a whole. The leaves are a light green to dark pale green with a slightly fuzzy appearance to them. They are hollow in cell structure and if stepped on will make a crunch sound due to the strong cell walls that hold up the leaves. Water lettuce plants only grow about 6-7 in overall height and seven inches would be pushing it. There is no chance of them toppling over for being top heavy as all the weight is in the lower part of the plant that hangs in the water.
Their roots hang down between 4-8 inches and all the life that breeds within their root system ranges from microscopic beings to small fish feeding from those microbes. Live bearing aquarium fish will use their shade and root system to bear their fry. The fry have an excellent hiding place from larger fish and a perfect food system that will allow them to grow fast, reaching sizes to escape the mouths of hunger larger predators. Water lettuce plants can be taken out of the water and their roots can be trimmed up if you feel they are taking up too much space in your pond (for very small ponds) and trimmed all the up to the crown of the plant without harming the plant at all. I would recommend leaving about a half inch. The roots are fibrous and have many small feeder roots that form from the main root giving a dense area for the fish and the micro world to inhabit. Another benefit of water lettuce root systems is that they can be a filter of larger and even silt size debris that may be stirred up within the pond. Since this is the case you can leave them there to continue their natural placement of needed micro-organism life or take the plants out slowly and wash the roots off to place the plant back in the pond again.
Full sun is recommended for best growth but we grow ours under shade tree hammocks. They just grow slower in that regard but still have no problem growing. They make an excellent shade spot for fish who wish to get away from direct sun light in the heat of the day, they will help reduce algae growth down by filtering the full sun into the pond environment. They will reproduce via runners which can be severed from the mother plants and placed in another pond or removed as needed.
| Peltandra Virginica Arrow Arum | $00.00 per 2 Adult Plant Corms (clumping) | In Stock - limited |
| Cyperus isocladus - Dwarf Papyrus Reed | $24.99 per 3 Mature Plants 12+" tall 2-3 Stems | In Stock |
| Papyrus umbrella Palm |
$26.99 per 5 Plants 8-12" tall 2-3 Stems |
In Stock |
| Colocasia Elephant Ear Plants - Ruffled Edges |
$24.99 per 5 growing starter plants |
Out of Stock |
| Sword fern - Click here to order |
$32.95 per 25 Live plants 10-25" tall |
In Stock |
| Clumping Black Mini Elephant Ears | $22.95 per 2 plants 6-12" tall | Out of Stock |
| Horse Tail Rush / Bamboo Rush | $21.95 per 5 Plants 16-24" tall | Out of Stock |
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Floating Pond Plants |
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| Water Lettuce | $26.95 per 5 plants (small to medium Plants) | In Stock |
| Duckweed | $19.95 per 2 pounds (many thousands plants) | Out of Stock |
| Giant Salvinia | $19.95 per 2 pounds (many many plants) | Out of Stock |
| Snowflake Water Fern |
$21.95 per 1 pound (many plants!) |
Out of Stock |
| Hornwort/Coontail | Out of Stock |
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Crayfish Crawdads Crawfish |
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Freshwater mini-Lobsters |
| 5 Brown Striped Crayfish | $45.95 per 5 - (2-3 day) Priority Shipping Included |
Out of Stock |
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Turtles - Terrapin |
* Please Note: California residents, it is not lawful for me to ship turtles, aquatic plants or Crayfish to your state. Any orders will be refunded *
The sizes of the baby turtles are normally between the size of a USD 50 cents coin to 3" diameter shells.
| Baby Red Ear Slider Turtle | $44.95 Each - Express Overnight Included |
Out of Season |
| Baby Soft Shell Turtle | $44.95 Each - Express Overnight Included |
Out of Season |
| Enquire about Others |
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Please Inquire about our other Live Animals
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