Basic plant setup

[lnmmenthol]

Hello
I would like to add live plants to a 56 gallon tank. I've never had them before so don't know how to get started. I would like plants that won't need any special equipment and are on the easy side of maintenance.
Beneath the sand is more of that gravel I want to add a piece of driftwood in the larger sandy area when I find a good one but hopefully that can give an idea of what would work in my tank
Thanks

 

[tomtom14]

I would always recommend java moss if your new to keeping live plants. Then you can just work your way up to harder plants to look after.

 

[AlexS]

I see you don't have a substrate so if you are looking for easy plants that don't need it I would go with something like Hornwort which can be left floating or anchored to the bottom. For moss I prefer Flame moss or peacock moss over java, in my experience it has grown much faster than java. The Flame and peacock moss are also a much more vibrant dark green.

Anubias are also a nice choice as they can be secured to rocks, driftwood or even ornaments. All three require very little maintenance and light.

 

[sheilashoelady]

Java fern and water wisteria are typically good choices for beginnings. I keep all of my plants low light, low tech. You just need to have a strong enough light. Do you know what your current lighting is?

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[Hulka9]

My first was water sprites. Its hard to mess that one up!

 

[lnmmenthol]

Ok I will look into those varieties and see what's available locally. Is substrate not just a fancy word for what one chooses to line his/her tank bottom with? I thought it was but incase it's not that visible it is just sand with the gravel you see also with the same gravel under the sand. The bulb is a "natural sunlight" t8 bulb 24".

 

[sheilashoelady]

Substrate is definitely just a fancy word for the tank lining.
A lot of the stock lighting that comes with tanks will grow low light plants, just not as well as better lighting. I simply switched out my bulb for one more tailored to plant growth... I believe 6700K is considered optimal for plants. I personally went with a Flora Sun Max Plant Growth bulb from Petco that has worked very well.

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[lnmmenthol]

Thanks Sheila I will look for something in that spectrum, I was thinking there was much more needed so this is great news.

 

[sheilashoelady]

You're welcome!
This whole tank has grown with that bulb. All plants started between 4 and 8 inches.


EDIT: I have a gravel substrate and do not use any kind of plant supplement in my tank. Just light and fish waste.

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[AlexS]

Substrate is in essence soil, I think what you have in your tank is more along the lines of gravel and pebbles/sand. Most plants need nutrients which they get from soil through their roots. If they don't it could stunt their growth. You can use gravel but you need to use root tabs.

The sand/pebbles contain no nutrients. There are some plants that take nutrients (such as nitrates) from the water such as Hornwort and many more. You could also add liquid fertilizer if you are planning to get many.
Your lights should be fine for low and medium light plants.

Remember that you have to research your plants because some require low light and some require high light and high CO2 content in the water. If they consume a lot of CO2 then you would need to get a CO2 injection system and those are quite expensive.

This forum has extensive information on all these subjects here: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/articles-to-help-with-the-planted-tank-83826.html

 

[DragonFish71]

I would look into java ferns, java moss, bolbitis fern, anubias, crypts. They are easy, low light plants and should be readily available. The ferns and the anubias have rhizomes which should not be fully buried in the substrate and they can be tied onto driftwood or rocks with thread, which will dissolve over time, giving the plants time to attach to where you tie them. Crypts are heavy root feeders, so you'd need to pick up some root tabs. Other than that, all of the plants I listed are very easy to keep. You can also pick up a bottle of Seachem Flourish for added fertilization. Easy as pie.