Plant suggestions for a newbie?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

NekoOo

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jun 21, 2012
Messages
159
Hello all! My aquarium is doing surprisingly well and I would really like to add some plants to help with nitrates and give my angels some organic matter to pick at. I'd like to add plants but don't want to add fertilizer to the substrate or dabble in co2. So I was wondering if plants can be kept with their roots/soil in a nylon bag or something? Can they be kept as potted plants at the bottom of the tank? Are there any easy maintenance plants that a newbie like me could handle?
Tank details:
Play sand substrate
8.0 ph
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
20-40 nitrate
Coralife lighting. One bulb is white with 10,000k and the other is this purple/blue colored bulb that says actinic? Is my lighting appropriate for plants?

My current stock is x9rasboras, x2australian rainbow, x2 koi angelfish.

Thanks ^^
 
java fern , anubias , crypts, most stem plants grow well in just about anything, my angel fish are hell on my plants always picking big holes in leaves
 
Last edited:
I ran similar lighting in the past and had no issues with plant growth, that being said I also ran a DIY Co2 system as well.

As for plants you could try duckweed since it floats at the surface of the water, also a banana plant is also a floating plant should do well with your lighting I'm sure there are other plants such as those listed above that will work fine in your situation. almost forgot water sprite is another good plant that can grow either planted or floating in the tank, personally i prefer it to be plated my self.

I'm not sure why you don't want to add fertz to the substrate but you may want to consider added some to the water column as this will give the plants what they are lacking, even if you cut the recommended dosage in half,
 
You will need to add ferts at least to the water column and if you get low light plants like crypts and swords they too will need root tabs. Easy plants are java fern, java or any type moss, anubia, water sprite, wisteria, crypts, swords, and some green stem plants. I have 10 angels and of that list of plants water sprite was the only one they picked at when I had it. I feed softened, shelled peas 2-3 times a week so that gives them alot of greens which I think helps keep them from nibbling on plants.
 
I'd replace the actinic bulb with a 6500k bulb as the actinic doesn't benefit freshwater plants..
 
I would start with a hardy stem plant that also grows fast like anacharis.
Beginners get bored if they don't see growth lol.

Vals are also pretty good.
 
Back
Top Bottom