real or plastic??

[x_tra]

i have had fish tanks my whole life but never with real plants in them but i read that for smaller fry that live plants help them with food so i was wondering are there any changes that will happen to my water if i add live plants.... (i am trying it in my 10 gallon before i do any damage to my larger tank)

 

[talenzmeier]

Full Speed Ahead

Go for it. Add a real plant. They provide benefits beyond their aesthetics. Start out slowly. Do you have sufficient lighting? This may be your only limitation initially. If you're not sure, look for a plant at your lfs that does nto require a lot of light.

 

[x_tra]

well in my 10 gal i have bout 3 watts per gal and two real plants and two neon blue dwarf gouramis but i was wondering what if any ph changes there might be or anything like that??

 

[Guest]

plants by themselves will not change water chemistry. if you fertilise the plants, or add co2, then you will have changes. Some easy plants that would do well for you to try out, and that are really good for fry tanks, are hornwort and anacharis. my one fry tank has white cloud mountain minnows in it, with just these 2 types of plants and the fish thrive and grow quickly.

 

[wabyrd]

Just go for it. I slowly converted my 50 plastic to completely real plants. It's doing well (except for the ammonia issue) and I don't do CO2 either.