Thinking about getting plants

[crazychris]

Hi I'm thinking about putting a few plants in my tank but don't know what I should go with. I've got some barbs, catfish, leporinus, and sharks. What would be best for these fish? Leafy, bushy, or grassy?

 

[Oohitsae]

First, what kind of lighting do you have, and how big is your tank?

In my experience, barbs like to make snacks of plants occasionally, so you'll probably want to go for some pretty hardy plants

 

[crazychris]

I've got led lighting on a 55 gallon tank.

 

[Catfish Lover]

You might want to switch up to fluorescent lighting. I'm running a single T8 6500k bulb and growing swords,anubias and crypts. If you go one step further and run a double strip T8 you could grow pretty much anything.

 

[crazychris]

Do the led's keep the plants from growing?

 

[Catfish Lover]

No, sorry for the confusion. I'm just not familiar with LED lighting. From what I've heard as long as you have good LED lighting you would be fine but I don't know what "good" LED lighting is. IMO fluorescent is more simple and good for growing plants. I'm sure someone else will chime in and give you suggestions as well.

 

[crazychris]

Okay thanks for the help though. I do have another tank with fluorescent lighting and did put a few plants in there and they seem to be doing ok. Doesn't look like they've grown very much at all.

 

[OceanOz]

Is your tank around any windows? I have a few betta tanks with no lights at all, but they receive indirect lighting from our windows, so their plants grow very well (but this doesn't work for high-light plants)
Try letting some natural light in, even if it's not hitting the tank, the plants can pick up some of it.
Also, keep in mind that some plants grow more slowly than others.
I've had a few plants that grew so well they had to be constantly trimmed, and that can be a pain.