Looking for plants and info on what type of plants are best

[Kevinmadden]

Like I said My girlfriend and I have discovered the awesome hobby of having an aquarium so we went out and bought a 20 gallon tank to see if we could do it. So I thought I'd come here to see what type of plants would be best for us as beginners..help anyone?

 

[BigJim]

First, what kind of lighting do you have? That's usually the limiting factor for beginners.

 

[Kevinmadden]

Guy at petco said the light that came with the hood would suffice.

 

[BigJim]

Chances are the guy at Petco has no idea what he's talking about. I honestly think most of them make it up as they go. Every once in a while you find a good fish person in the big box store, but it's rare.

Chances are you have a 24" single fluorescent T8 bulb rated at 20W. On a 20g, this might be enough light to keep low-light plants like java fern, java moss, anubias, vals, and most crypts going.

 

[Kevinmadden]

Wow Bigjim your right that's exactly what I have. Ha! So were can I find these type of plants bc all the pet shops around here sell only I think they called it a banana plant and bamboo stalks.

We really love our tank. We've kinda made it our little project it's so much fun!!

 

[BigJim]

The Petco by me carries some crypts. You can find anubias nana in those little tubes with the gel. I got my java fern and java moss on eBay pretty cheaply. If you're patient, both of these plants will reproduce rather quickly. The java fern I got about a year ago with three leaves is the size of a volleyball and has put out tons of babies, about a dozen of which I've got attached to driftwood in a couple tanks.

There's always online retailer too. I've heard good things about aquariumplants.com and sweetaquatic.com. Sometimes people post plants for sale in the Classifieds or Barter/Trade forum here too.

 

[neilanh]

Moving to Planted Tank Forum.