Hardy Plants for 75 gallon Community

[Nortzy21]

Hello all,

I currently have a 75 gallon Community tank that is very bare and open. The domensions are 48x18x21. The depth of the tank is 21 inches. As of now, I only have 3 Buenos Aires Tetras and a tiger barb. Don't worry, I'm going to add more fish. I also would like to add some plants to for some color, shelter for the fish, and PO4/NO3 removal. The tank used to house two turtles so it's kind of set up for turtles. I plan to add some schools of corydoras and tertas/danios.

Here are some links to pictures of my setup:

http://i1155.photobucket.com/albums...4-FD52-4A85-9134-CC9DBDE36F6F_zpsc4kibe9g.jpg

http://i1155.photobucket.com/albums...a17-33843b0950d1_zps1b4e2124.jpg?t=1397591189

The lighting is as follows:
The strip light is powering a Reptisun 5.0 UVB bulb.
The hanging dome lamp is powering a small turtle basking bulb.
The clamp light on the end of the tank is a small UVB reptile bulb.

My question is.... Can i keep any hardy, nice plants to provide pleasure and shelter for the fish? I just don't know if my lighting is adequate enough.

I'd appreciate any advice/suggestions/feedback!

Thanks,
Sam

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Nort...

Tiger Barbs are aggressive in small groups, not really a good community tank fish with smaller fish. But, apparently the combination works for you.

Basic lighting is all you'll need for the floating plants like Pennywort, Anacharis, Water sprite, Water wisteria and Hornwort. These don't require planting in the substrate. Varieties of Anubias like nana and nangi and Java fern attached to pieces of driftwood or lava rock with dark sewing thread will do well too. Any of the mosses like Java or Singapore attached to driftwood and lava rock will work too.

B

 

[Nortzy21]

Ok thanks. I think I'll somehow fasten some java fern and Anubis to the rock island and I'll throw some floating plants in on the right side of the tank although they may move around across the surface of the water because of my maxi jet. Should I add dose some minerals or anything? I'm already using tap water.

 

[Luananeko]

Any of the Hygrophila varieties are excellent nitrate removers and hardy. The more colorful varieties do best with mid to high light and ferts, but will usually still survive in lower light tanks. Amazon Swords are usually well appreciated by fish and tough enough to handle any nibbles, but they may need root tab supplementation and can take up about of foot of space in any direction when full grown.

Floating plants are great nitrate removers, but may struggle if the current from the HOB filter is too strong, and tend to block out a lot of light from your non-floating plants if not regularly harvested and disposed of.

 

[Nortzy21]

One more thing... Are there are plants that do well with moderate to high flow? I have a MaxiJet 900 that creates a pretty strong current.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

your lights will not grow plants I believe because the Are UVB. Plants can't absorb this spectrum and will at least need some builds meant for planted aquariums. If you want to be able to grow a decent variety of plants do yourself a favor and go on amazon and buy a cheap 60$ t5-ho dual light fixture. I use one on my 55 and I grow basically what ever plant I want excluding super highlight species. As for ferts your plants would appreciate at least a decent liquid multi fertilizer that can be purchased at most fish stores.

 

[Luananeko]

Anything that roots in driftwood and rocks will do best in high flow, but those are generally not good nitrate sponges. Anubias and Bolbitis are the usual high flow options, Amazon Swords will also tend to stay well rooted in higher flows too and are better at handling nitrates if well root fed.