what plant is best

[giffmastaflex]

If I have angel fish, African catfish, African leaf fish, and a ghost knife, maybe thinking about a butterfly fish, what plants would be best? I want a plant that floats up at the top and maybe some that are In the gravel. Nothing to crazy though

 

[Rivercats]

An easy plant that will grow like crazy to the top of the water and then start growing out of the water and across the surface is water sprite. Not sure what you consider "float up at the top) means but Tiger lotus works well for sending leaves that go to the surface and floats. Easy plants are anubia's, java ferns, java moss, swords, and crypts. You didn't give the size of the tank or what your lighting is so recommending plants is difficult to do.

 

[giffmastaflex]

It's a 55 gallon and I just have stock lights (was a starter kit) should I upgrade?

 

[nereksnad]

greetings.

if you want low light plants you will be fine with stock lights(assuming you have 2 ~30W+ T5/T8 bulbs). if you want to get mid or high plants you need to upgrade, the tiger lotus rivercats mentioned need medium light.

 

[giffmastaflex]

greetings.

if you want low light plants you will be fine with stock lights. if you want to get mid or high plants you need to upgrade, the tiger lotus rivercats mentioned need medium light.

What would you recommend for lightbulbs? I hear different things about T5 and T8 bulbs

 

[nereksnad]

T8 bulbs create less lumen per watt of electricity used, and they have a shorter effective life span.

for T5 bulbs i would recommend a 8-10K kelvin bulb for white light in the front and a 5-8K plant-growth bulb in the back, those have a more reddish/purple look to them. that sould be more than plenty for low plants. I have a setup like this myself and i had to bring in another bulb because my medium light plants were getting a tad too little light.

 

[Rivercats]

greetings.

if you want low light plants you will be fine with stock lights(assuming you have 2 ~30W+ T5/T8 bulbs). if you want to get mid or high plants you need to upgrade, the tiger lotus rivercats mentioned need medium light.

Actually you can grow tiger lotus in low-medium-and high light. Red tiger lotus actually shows it best red color under lower light especially if iron is dosed. The higher the light the more green and light pink it gets. It is actually one of the few red plants you can sucessfully grow in low light.

 

[Wroberson]

I'm the odd one out. I suggest CFL lighting. You'll have to get new screw in fixtures, but CFL will give you more intense lighting and they come in a range of temperature.

However, this kit comes with bare minimums. You may need to get a bigger filter and more powerful heater. I'm in a basement and sparse heat so I suggest a 300 watt heater. I also suggest a filter rated for 75+ gallons, or get a good 2nd filter. The second filter will keep the system from crashing should the other filter break of become inefficient.

 

[nereksnad]

Actually you can grow tiger lotus in low-medium-and high light. Red tiger lotus actually shows it best red color under lower light especially if iron is dosed. The higher the light the more green and light pink it gets. It is actually one of the few red plants you can sucessfully grow in low light.

oh, i didn't know that. when i was researching about the nymphaea lotus i found that it needed medium light, that's pretty interesting.

 

[giffmastaflex]

For low light plants do I need to use some sort of fertilizer/ co2 set up?

 

[nereksnad]

using fertilizer for any plant can be recommended, co2 is not needed.

 

[giffmastaflex]

So I bought some bulbs, I have water lily, water onion, and some aponogeton. I also bought some aqueon plant food, would this be the fertilizer? And what do the bulbs look like to each plant and where should I place these? In the back, middle, or front? Does it matter also on how the bulb is planted? Like what side up?

 

[nereksnad]

having the bulbs in the middle ensures that as much light as possible is directed towards the aquarium. not sure i understand the other questions.
and yes, aqueon plant food would be the fertilizer.

 

[giffmastaflex]

Each bulb has a different shape I was just wondering on what side to plant pointing up, and I read my lightbulbs and they say they are F15 T8 / 18"(daylight), so I assume I have T8 bulbs but do you know what F15 stands for?