Live plant for a ten gallon tank

[TXaquaFanatic]

Hi everyone so I have a 10 gallon tank with a goldfish in it and would like to add a live plant. Thoughts? attached is a picture of my setup as of right now.

 

[Mebbid]

Assuming you have a low light level fixture than cryptocorynes (crypts), anubias, java moss, java fern, and bolbitis are good choices.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

Yah it came with the tank ha. Thanks for the advice, I will look into those.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

Lighting

The lights I have are LED. Should I wait on plants until I get different lighting? *sigh* Looks like I should do some more research before I jump into this.

 

[Mebbid]

The plants i mentioned earlier will he perfectly fine for you to have.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

Ok cool thanks. I like the look of the java fern so thats what I am going to go with.

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Mebbid]

Ok cool thanks. I like the look of the java fern so thats what I am going to go with.

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Go for a mix of them It's more fun with more plants.

The java fern doesn't get planted, instead it needs to be tied to a decoration. Black cotton thread is great for this as by the time the java fern anchors itself the thread will decompose.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

After doing some reading I saw that I should not bury the roots in gravel but rather put it fixed to rocks or driftwood. How does this work? I would ask the people where I am buying it but my local fish stores dont have any and petsmart is the only place that had it so instead of asking them I figure I would ask on here.

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

Also does it need to be a real rock or will my little fake formation do?

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Mebbid]

After doing some reading I saw that I should not bury the roots in gravel but rather put it fixed to rocks or driftwood. How does this work? I would ask the people where I am buying it but my local fish stores dont have any and petsmart is the only place that had it so instead of asking them I figure I would ask on here.

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Go for a mix of them It's more fun with more plants.

The java fern doesn't get planted, instead it needs to be tied to a decoration. Black cotton thread is great for this as by the time the java fern anchors itself the thread will decompose.

I think you were in the middle of posting when I posted this Black cotton thread.

I got most of my drift wood at a local river so you might try that. Just try to press a finger nail into it and if the nail sinke in then don't use it. Also, don't use it if it still has bark.

Some of the driftwood pieces I picked up. Just try to combine multiple pieces into a more complex structure.

The java fern probably won't anchor to your fake rocks but you can just keep retying it if you need.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

Cool once I figure my arrangements and get the stuff I will post pictures. Also I am really jealous of your tank it looks awesome!

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

So my goal is to move my goldfish out of his tiny 10 gallon into a 45 gallon. with that said I want to redo my 10 gallon completely. Here is what I am thinking of doing and would love some feedback!
Sand bottom, plant some grass in so the whole bottom of the tank is covered, then 2 pieces of driftwood one on each. Would like some java fern on each end too. my question to you all, is this possible? does anyone have a setup that is similar that I could see? and advice on growing grass?!

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

It sounds great glad you are Reno,ing your goldfish cause they get bigger( when they get even bigger I reccomend moving them to a pond since they grow big)


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

You don't wanna put plants in sand really because they will grow very slowly and sand will feed no nutrients to the plants . What I reccomend is getting a strong medium or high light light. This way plants will thrive and you will get great and fast growing with all plants even slow growers like crypts anubias and Java fern. What I reccomend is getting 1 bag of eco complete substrate or flourite. These substrates ARE expensive but They last you long and are one of the best substrates for plants. If you want to make it more appealing and easier to plant plants and hide ugly roots I reccomend putting some black sand over it.( black sand makes everything pop out more.) then I reccomend getting some of the cheaper fertilizers like flora pride since Java fern feed through the leaves primarily. It will also make your plants grow faster. If you do all of this the lights the substrate and the ferts it will set you back maybe 80 or 100 bucks but the plants will be beautiful and healthy and growing fast. The fish will have a healthy environment and you will have to do less water changes ( plants absorb and feed on fish nitrite and ammonia.)

Anyway now my fingers are a. It sore but I hope this helps!


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

If you want you can plant some easy moss like willow moss or x mas moss in the nooks and crannies of your driftwood. If you want you can weigh down the moss on the driftwood it will look nice. For a carpeting plant you will need a strong light if you don't have one. Most carpeting plants require high light. I reccomend dwarf sag looks beautiful and isn't super hard to grow. A bunch of people on AA sell it Try DallasCowboys16 if you are interested and can't find any sag or carpeting plants in your LFS. That way you won't have to pay shipping


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

I cant move Alvin to a pond, he is my first fish! And in a pond he could get eaten by the many of hawks we have around here. That all sounds a bit more than what I thought it would cost. I might just stick with a couple pieces of java fern and drift would and then maybe later on expand

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

Ok man I understand. The fish hobby is a lot more expensive than most people think at first. I understand how it sounds pretty expensive just for a couple of nice looking plants. Ik how you feel I'm a 13 year old who doesn't have a job which = not much money for fishtanks except for what I win in tournaments and stuff. What I reccomend is slowly adding plants. Stick with that Java fern and some low light plants as you get more money if you really want that stuff pour it in and set out a small part of your profit and money for fish. If you really want it that's what I reccomend because after a few weeks or months you can get what you want.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[coralbandit]

Goldfish often eat plants.
Almost all goldfish and almost all plants.
That said the plants Mebbib listed are good choices.
I would add other SIMPLE plants that are cheap(for fish to eat) and easy(for the new plant keeper);
Anacharis,hornwort.
Both are stem plants that do well as floaters if they come loose!
They are easily found and cheap!
Your light should work for low light plants or at least get well into knowing if you dig planted tanks and how far you want to go!

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

Ik but mebib wants to redo and plant his ten gallon because he is going to move his goldfish which what why he was considering more plants and stuff


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Mebbid]

Cool once I figure my arrangements and get the stuff I will post pictures. Also I am really jealous of your tank it looks awesome!

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Thanks! It grew up a lot after that.

So my goal is to move my goldfish out of his tiny 10 gallon into a 45 gallon. with that said I want to redo my 10 gallon completely. Here is what I am thinking of doing and would love some feedback!
Sand bottom, plant some grass in so the whole bottom of the tank is covered, then 2 pieces of driftwood one on each. Would like some java fern on each end too. my question to you all, is this possible? does anyone have a setup that is similar that I could see? and advice on growing grass?!

It's mostly possible. Grassy plants generally require high lighting and some more difficult plants such as dwarf hair grass actually need CO2 injection as well. Other than the grass it's completely possible with your current setup.

You don't wanna put plants in sand really because they will grow very slowly and sand will feed no nutrients to the plants.

I beg to differ. The tank I posted earlier was grown with inert sand and root tabs that I made.

This picture was taken 3 months after the previous picture I posted.

That's hardly what I would consider "slow" growth. The plant substrates offer absolutely no nutrients for the plants, but instead they help absorb nutrients and hold onto them for the plants to use. It's fine, but from what I've tried it's unnecessary as you will need root tabs regardless of whether you use eco complete, gravel, or sand.

What I reccomend is getting a strong medium or high light light. This way plants will thrive and you will get great and fast growing with all plants even slow growers like crypts anubias and Java fern. What I reccomend is getting 1 bag of eco complete substrate or flourite. These substrates ARE expensive but They last you long and are one of the best substrates for plants. If you want to make it more appealing and easier to plant plants and hide ugly roots I reccomend putting some black sand over it.( black sand makes everything pop out more.) then I reccomend getting some of the cheaper fertilizers like flora pride since Java fern feed through the leaves primarily. It will also make your plants grow faster.

Doing that the sand will often shift to the bottom revealing the eco complete. Also, if you move up to either medium or high light flora pride is not going to come close to cutting it for ferts. Above low light I would never recommend anything other than dry ferts. They are far cheaper and much much more effective than the pre mixed fertilizers. You will also need a carbon source or else you will start an algae farm.

Goldfish often eat plants.
Almost all goldfish and almost all plants.
That said the plants Mebbid listed are good choices.
I would add other SIMPLE plants that are cheap(for fish to eat) and easy(for the new plant keeper);
Anacharis,hornwort.
Both are stem plants that do well as floaters if they come loose!
They are easily found and cheap!
Your light should work for low light plants or at least get well into knowing if you dig planted tanks and how far you want to go!

Goldfish can reside in planted tanks presuming you feed them very often and that you offer plenty of veggie matter in their diet. I knew a few members here that had very successful planted goldfish tanks.

Ik but mebib wants to redo and plant his ten gallon because he is going to move his goldfish which what why he was considering more plants and stuff

Mebbid*

I don't have a 10g tank to redo currently