Already have fish now want to add plants

[Bravofleet4]

Hi, I got fish for my christmas and I was really excited not by the fact that I love fish but I thought it would give me something to do. As I'm taking care of betta fish though, it's turned out to be a pretty simple job and it's gotten fairly boring. I've started thinking about going into harder things like plants.

If you couldn't tell though I'm a complete noob. I was wondering how long it would take to get a planted tank up and running. My bettas need some hiding spots which are usually provided by my plastic plants but I'm guessing that the new plants will take some time to grow and stabilize in the new tank.
That's why I am thinking I might actually have to buy practically a new tank with practically another setup. I've heard temperature can influence CO2 intake for plants so I imagine I should have another heater set up at the temperature the bettas want. I probably also want to include another filter since I want clear water and circulation and wouldn't want to disturb any equilibrium established without it.

Is this true? I really want to avoid having to buy another tank.

If you're wondering, I am however just talking about 10 gallon tanks but I'm a college student and don't want to spend much.

I'll put more questions later as I start wondering how I want the planted tank to look and if I have any problems with how to set it up.

[Plecosterone]

Since you already have a tank set up and if your betta is still alive it is probably cycled, just use the one you have. If you are not sure about cycling please read this http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598 . More specifics on your tank would help with answers. Any light? How much? Substrate? What kind? If you have light you will probably have to get some different temperature bulbs and maybe more of them. Depending on how much light you have will make a difference on which plants to grow. Substrate can be plain sand, which I prefer for plants, or gravel. There is no need to buy a new tank when you can plant in the one you have. You can get away without CO2 if lighting is kept fairly low, although DIY CO2 for a 10 gallon is not hard to accomplish and can impress your college buddies by hooking a still up to your tank....lol . If the filter you have now is big enough it will be good enough with plants since plants really do help in the filtration. And your betta would sure love the live plants. My male betta hangs out in the thickest areas and I sometimes think he is dead until he moves.

[Mahorela]

Like Plecosterone mentioned, I would just stick with what you have for now and 'get your feet wet' with plants with what you have. 10g's can be a little difficult because of their size, but there is no reason you can't learn with it!

Let us know what kind of light you have --- chances are it's not enough, since tank "kits" come with only the light needed to see the fish, but not for plants.

There's options out there. Start looking for Power Compact Fluourescent kits.You can find them used or new, depending on what you are looking to spend. Just keep in mind, the more light you have, the greater the need for CO2 supplementation, which is easy with a juice bottle, some yeast and sugar.

How fancy are you trying to get?

[Bravofleet4]

Well since this is my first foray into plants I want it to start off simple

I was thinking these plants:

Java Moss (Vesicularia dubyana)
Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus)
Wavy Swordplant (Aponogeton crispus)
Anubias minima (Anubias minima)
Rotala Goias (Rotala sp. 'Goias')

with either fluorite or eco-complete for substrate. I've heard that java fern fares much better attached to wood or a rock than gravel, but I plan to include both in my tank. Will these plants be okay for starting one's? Also will they be able to outcompete algae for nutrients? I am hesitant to get extremely fast growers since I don't want to prune that much or let growth get out of control. I was also wondering how heavily I should cover the tank. I think 75% is a good number but I'm not quite sure how many plants that means I have to order.

I haven't yet thought about lighting and any recommendations would be great. Please keep low budget with college student in mind =p

[GirlieGirl8521]

The Aponogeton will outgrow the tank, so I'd skip that and try to find some Cryptocorynes (low light plants) instead. If you want more stem plants, go for something like Anacharis. Sone Anubias get pretty big. I'm not familiar with that one though. Anubias should be attached to wood or rocks as well.

Do you have a regular 10g hood? If so, you could get some screw in compact fluorescent bulbs, if what you have now takes screw in bulbs. Thats a cheap way to upgrade the lighting. You could get 2 10w bulbs and that would keep you at low light (which most of the plants on your list are).

will they be able to outcompete algae for nutrients?
If you keep the lighting low, then you shouldn't have too bad of an algae breakout. The only fast grower on your list would be the Rotala, all the others are pretty slow. I'd use some Flourish Excel every other day or so to help keep the algae down. Its a carbon supplement.

[phanmc]

Java fern grows just as well sitting on the substrate or tied to something. Java moss will grow anywhere it falls. I haven't found a hard to grow anubias yet. As Girliegirl said, the crispus will get too big for your tank and so will most sword plants, look into a crypt wendtii. The rotala may be problematic if you don't offer enough light.

What's enough light? For most of the plants, around 30w for a 10g tank. If you want to grow the rotala, I'd aim a little higher like 40w. Since you're on a budget look into an incandescent hood fixture that allows you to screw in light bulbs, then buy those spiral screw-in fluorescent bulbs. They have those in the 15-20w daylight variety that will work well.

Plant heavily from the get-go. 3-4 java fern, 2-3 crypt wendtiis, 2-3 anubias, a few clumps of java moss. It's a good idea to have some fast growers in the tank, at least in the beginning so they can outcompete algae as the rest of the plants settle in. The rotala can do this but if you're going for a lower light setting, try hornwort or anacharis.

[Bravofleet4]

right now I actually don't have a hood, so I have no existing lighting system. Can anyone recommend a hood or lighting system that's cheap but doesn't look too ugly?