New to live plants

[Gonzo1683]

hey im new to the whole live plants and i have a small snail inside my breeding net with 2 fry mollies i was gonna release them all together but i read in other places that snails can be bad if they get out of control right now i see only that 1 in my whole tank and id be afraid if i release him they would populate i mean i know adding a bit of salt will probably kill them off quick n squishing them as they come up... but anyway should i release him when im ready with the fry n see what happens... also what kind of plants do u guys recommend for decorations i kinda wanna get that low to the ground stuff for the whole front my my tank the think grassy or clover like stuff but it seems hard to find by me the lfs dont really carry them. ill post a pic of my tank soon enough on my next post after this... im trying out a few plants to see which ones i like on the left i dont care for that one i like strong rooted plants they seem to grow better in the gravel then the ones without roots my small lfs said it would do fine in my tank but it doesnt seem to grow much n the roots are still small or non existing ... they are however getting taller but like i said i dont like the non rooted ones .. that are tied up... heres a pic in 5 mins or so....

i have
1 amazon sword my favorite
1 spiral my other favorite
and i forget what the tree looking one is
and the other 2 leafy ones... and on each side of the tank in front are my favorite cause they can survive anything it seems like
...not really caring for the one on the left of the tank....

sorry trying to ge tthe whole picture to show up

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Snails won't overpopulate unless your over feeding your fish, so you should be ok to release him.

As far as a covering plant, what kind of lights do you have?

 

[Gonzo1683]

marine land natural daylight 24" i see letters n numbers on it like f18t8ndl... but as far as wattage im not sure it came with the tank...the lighting right now that i have seems to be good enough for the plants



im gonna assume n im probably wrong its an 18watt bulb... but i dont know if theres a difference between the f18t8 n the f18t8ndl ... im assuming ndl is just natural daylight

ok hopefully this will be my last edit i found it on a website its 5200k

 

[Fishkeeper26]

I believe that that stands for 18 watts, t8 however I'm not sure. If that's what they are then unfortunately the lights aren't strong enough to grow plants that like to cover the bottom

 

[HN1]

T8 is a 1 in bulb. They come in many wattages and types.

Fluorescent-lamp formats - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Gonzo1683]

Marineland Lighting : Questions, Answers, How To, FAQs, Tips, Advice, Answers, Buying Guide

about half way down someone asked for the specs ill paste it on here

Question

in a aquarium starter kit your F18T8NDL (24) bulb was supplied, what are the specs on this bulb, nainly the k rating

Aquarium Type: Freshwater
Aquarium Size: Mid-Size (20-60g)
asked 6 months ago


1 answer

5200K
STAFF
answered 3 months, 3 weeks ago



Edit:
so if the lighting isnt good enough what kind of light should i use? in the 55gallon tank