Lighting and plant suggestions?

[Fishingforfish]

I'm doing a fish in cycle (don't judge me!) and it's been 4 days. On Wednesday, I'm planning to add live plants for the sake of the cycle and to maintain water conditions. I've noticed that my platy have been trying to nibble on the fake plant I have in there (is that normal?) even after I feed them..so I don't know if this will affect the live plants or not.

The tank starter kit came with incandescent lighting, which I plan to take out for appropriate lighting. I plan to plant it moderately--not lightly but not heavily either. I have a 10g, and I prefer more of low-medium lighting plants.

My stocking plan consists of platy, cories, and maybe a scarlet badis or two.

Any suggestions on how many watts and what kind of plants I should get? Thanks!

 

[germanyt]

Platies will tear your plants up.

 

[Fishingforfish]

Platies will tear your plants up.

Darn, it's no wonder they're trying to nibble at the fake plant I put in. Oh well, guess I have to stay in the plastic/silk side of things then? I really want a planted tank but I don't know what they will completely destroy and what they will leave alone. It's also kind of weird to me because I've heard that they do well in planted tanks...

 

[Fishingforfish]

UPDATE: Im going to try and add some live plants as a 'trial and error' thing. Still looking for suggestions though

 

[eAts]

UPDATE: Im going to try and add some live plants as a 'trial and error' thing. Still looking for suggestions though

For lighting take out those bulbs and get some screw in cfls from any store. Get them in the 6500k range. My ten gallon has two of these 20w cfls. I would recommend looking for crypts, java fern, Anubias, water sprite, wisteria, and there area by others as well. I personally dose my tank with fertilizers and a co2 supplement ( I do it in my larger higher light tank so it's no big deal to dose the ten gallon) I'm sure others will give more plant suggestions also.

 

[Fishingforfish]

For lighting take out those bulbs and get some screw in cfls from any store. Get them in the 6500k range. My ten gallon has two of these 20w cfls. I would recommend looking for crypts, java fern, Anubias, water sprite, wisteria, and there area by others as well. I personally dose my tank with fertilizers and a co2 supplement ( I do it in my larger higher light tank so it's no big deal to dose the ten gallon) I'm sure others will give more plant suggestions also.

Thanks! As for the lighting, I already found a pair of 23w cfl in the 6500k range, so I'm all set. I'm just trying to find various plants that would suit the lighting.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Platies will tear your plants up.

Mine have never done that...

 

[Fishingforfish]

Mine have never done that...

Mine do..well not tear, but in a way that looks like they're talking minuscule nibbles at it, or say 'picking' at the plastic plant. They do this occasionally, and it's kinda of funny because its not an actual plant..haha.

I also just so happen to own very picky platies, sometimes when I give them flakes they would spit it out and wait until they realize that that's their food for today! I think they would appreciate a planted tank though, just a gut feeling

 

[azmodan]

Your platies should be fine with plants.

A 10g is pretty small so here's a list of plants that stay a bit smaller (and have lower light requirements) that I'd recommend:

Anubias nana
Anubias nana "petite"
Java fern "narrow leaf"
Java fern "Philippine"
Crypt parva
Crypt lutea
Crypt tropica
Dwarf sag
Java moss
Flame moss
Marimo moss balls
Amazon frogbit

Wisteria and water sprite are great too but I'm not a huge fan of them in smaller tanks because they can take it over.

Good luck!

 

[Fishingforfish]

Your platies should be fine with plants.

A 10g is pretty small so here's a list of plants that stay a bit smaller (and have lower light requirements) that I'd recommend:

Anubias nana
Anubias nana "petite"
Java fern "narrow leaf"
Java fern "Philippine"
Crypt parva
Crypt lutea
Crypt tropica
Dwarf sag
Java moss
Flame moss
Marimo moss balls
Amazon frogbit

Wisteria and water sprite are great too but I'm not a huge fan of them in smaller tanks because they can take it over.

Good luck!

Wow, thank you! I think I may just find all on that list..if I can. Lol