How to keep live plants

Morbius

Morbius

The Living Vampire
Aug 24, 2006
156
0
0
55
Saginaw Mi
Hello,all...I am thinking about adding live plants to my tank.I have never dealt with live plants,so I would need all the info anyone can give.I have large-sized gravel...(don't know if that matters)and I am looking to start out with some fairly
easy to maintain plants.ANY info on the subject is greatly appreciated!!!!




Thanx!!!!
 
Aim for 1-3 wpg, you should be able to grow most "easy" plants in that range. I have less than 1 wpg and it works well but not a lot of plant growth in my tank. Depends on what you are looking for...

Are you planing on using CO2? If so, I would invest in pressurized. I have heard that DIY is worthless with larger tank (I assume you mean the 75 in your sig?)

Easy "low-light" (low maintenence) plants that have worked for me are:

Java fern
Vallisneria
Brazilian pennywort
anubias
anarcharis

there are LOADS of other ones, just do some searching and find what you like.

Regarding ferts...I am not knowledgable on them as I dont dose very often so someone else would have to help you.

Congrats on joining the planted world ;)
 
Mosses usually do well with low light, although you may see slow growth. Indian fern and Water Sprite have worked very well for me in low light. I would check out aquaticplantcentral.com's plant finder and look for low light plants. That should give you a good idea of what you can work with. Good Luck!
 
The above are good suggestions. I have plants growing well in several tanks some < 1 WPG / all with no CO2. Start with easy ones... Anacharis, Java Moss, Guppy grass, etc. and save yourself frustration. Ferts aren't really needed, but I use Flourish and Excel.
 
Been there, done that. Check out the plant forum and invest in a good light.
 
Thanx for the quick response! I think I'm looking for....lol real looow maintenance plants one's that are ...say... for beginners.Something I can just stick in the gravel and let it do it's thing.If I have to do some kind of fert...I want it to be fairly easy to use.Also I would like to be able to work with the existing light I have now....(The bulb is a sun-glo 40w)I want to start with plants that arent overwhelming,so I dont get frustrated and walk away from it. I have seen other peoples tanks with plants,wood,rocks and such and it looks very natural and pleasant. thanx!
 
Morbius said:
Thanx for the quick response! I think I'm looking for....lol real looow maintenance plants one's that are ...say... for beginners.Something I can just stick in the gravel and let it do it's thing.If I have to do some kind of fert...I want it to be fairly easy to use.Also I would like to be able to work with the existing light I have now....(The bulb is a sun-glo 40w)I want to start with plants that arent overwhelming,so I dont get frustrated and walk away from it. I have seen other peoples tanks with plants,wood,rocks and such and it looks very natural and pleasant. thanx!
Click to expand...

Less than 1 WPG (Plant Glo bulb)... I started with Java moss, guppy grass, and anacharis and went from there.

55G 006.jpg 120607 Moss 001.jpg
 
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