help me restart a little 15 gallon freshwater

[fishmonkey]

help me restart a freshwater tank

So, I had to take down my littte 15 gallon high. Its been cycling for a long time until i could decide what to do with it. so the other day, i found a really great humongous fish store and decided to check it out. later that day, i came home with 6 neon tetras, 6 rummynose tetras, and two ghost shrimp (im 95% sure that they are ghost shrimp, but i cant quite remember). all of the tetras are very small, definitely not full grown.

I want to make this tank a low-medium light planted tank to keep costs down, because im low on $ right now. I have Flourite substrate, and a HOB filter that I might just trash and get a new one. After being out of freshwater for so long, my mind is kind of fuzzy on some accounts. Can you guys tell me some low-medium light plants that would do well in a small tank like mine? Also, could you reccomend a small lighting fixture for me because mine broke? the top of my tank is 20"X9".
what do ghost shrimp eat? do they eat algae or would flakes be fine?

Oh, and i know that some will say that I added too many fish at one time and that i might overload the bioload, and im aware of this, but please bear with me!

thanks for the help guys!

 

[fishmonkey]

Hello?

 

[dkpate]

I don't know a whole lot about plants, and nothing about lights lol. But I bought these bulbs at WalMart in the fish section, and stuck them under the sand, and after about 16 days they started growing like crazy! And the only light I have on that tank is a clip-on desk light with a plant bulb in it, since my BGK isn't really fond of the light.
I hope someone else picks this thread up!

 

[th08tu]

hey here is a light I use for my 20gallon planted, it is great and gives me lots of choice while being fairly inexpensive.

Coralife Freshwater Aqualight- 24

I think I paid just over $100 for it canadian with the legs and glass lid, so that price is pretty good I think.
AS for plants go this light would give you lots of options, but some easy basic ones I would recommend would be anubias, crypts, and java moss and fern.

 

[mfdrookie516]

do you have a fixture? if you do, a phillips daylight bulb from lowes or home depot would work assuming its a 15w fixture, you could have some low light plants like anubias and anachris... if you dont have a fixture, something like a small 20-30w flourescent fixture would get you closer to medium light and would really open up the possibilities for plants...

 

[RnLGG]

I'd recommend java fern. I planted one in my tank to see how it did, when I got it, it seemed it only had on leaf that seemed healthy. Now, a few months later, the leaf has gotten bigger by at least 2 inches, and there are now 3 leafs that size, with others still growing. These plants don't need too much light either, there is a little bit of water lettuce in my tank blocking a bit of the light for the plant, but still grows.
The only thing though, is that the plant should attach itself to something as it grows, your best option is a log. You'll need to use string or something else to keep it on the log or whatever you put it on, but it should attach itself in under a month.
I hope this helps!