New Tank, New Fish, and What Kind of Plants?

[wolffish]

I just got a 30 gal tank and i am going to have neon tetras, black tetras, cory cats, white clouds, and endlers livebearers in their. I want to have some live plants but i want the plant to be hardy and easy to care for. I would also like to have some plants that the fish can eat. Also what plants can i use in my 10 gal breeder?

 

[meegosh]

Well first off, none of the fish you listed will eat plants (as far as I know). The only time any of those would eat anything out of the plants would be when they are fry. If you get male and female endlers you will have tons of endlers in no time. The fry will eat microorganisms that live in the plants. Java moss is a common plant kept in breeder tank because it gives the fry something to eat and something to hide in. Java moss will grow in almost any lighting conditions so you should be fine with that.

That gets to the next question, what type of lighting do you have? You will be limited as to what you can grow with stock lighting. I have had some success with growing some vals and swords in my 10g with a new 6700k bulb and some root tabs.

There are many options as far as plants go, you just have to make sure you can meet their requirements.

 

[wolffish]

Yes i know that endlers and platys are fast breeders. (my sister has platys) So me and my sister decided that we would have one batch of platys and endlers and then put the male fish in my tank and the female fish in her tank. We would put the fry in my 10 gal breeder and after they get bigger we have a person that will take them off of our hands. Also i was looking these types of plants. They were called java fern, dwarf hair grass, dwarf baby tears, micro sword, wisteria, and moneywort. Do you think they would be okay in the tanks?

 

[mfdrookie516]

what light do you have on the tank? micro sword and dwarf hair grass requires alot of light. the baby tears requires medium light, the wisteria requires medium low light, and the java fern will do in low light... not sure on the money wart.

 

[wolffish]

Ok thanks the fish i have dont like the light that much(or at least thats what iv read about them) so i definetly want plants tht need medium to low light. So ill proably want the jave fern, wisteria, and the baby tears. Also do you know of any good hardy free floating plants. I would like some of those in my tank also.

 

[dkpate]

I have fish that supposedly like the dark too, but they are out all day lol. (loaches and the BGK)

 

[wolffish]

lol I dont mean like pitch black dark i mean they like the normal light (like celing lights) but they wont come out of the silk plants when i put on the tank light.

 

[mfdrookie516]

they wont mind, it may just take a few days for them to adjust

 

[dkpate]

+1.
Mine come out with the tank lights on. They're crazy lol.

 

[wolffish]

lol ok I will try it but that is partialy why i want floating plants. To dim the light. So dose any one have any suggestions to what floating plants i should get?

 

[dkpate]

You could try this duckweed stuff, but it gets stuck in the filter intakes.
Duckweed - Lemna sp.

You could try this stuff:
Amazon Frogbit - Limnobium laevigatum

Azolla - Azolla filiculoides

Floating Watermoss - Salvinia natans

And here is the whole page so you can check out the different plants and what kind of light they need.

Aquarium Plants Photos & Profiles at the Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

 

[wolffish]

WOW thanks i find these pages very helpful. But i dont think i will use duck weed. I am the type of person who dosent usually have the time to trim plants. I need a self sufficent, hardy, plant that needs low light, no trimming, and dose not need extra fancy gravel. But thanks to that site and my own resorces i think i will stick with the java fern, four leaf clover, water lettuce, brazilian pennywort, brazilian waterweed, and cabomba. I also will be trying to grow riccia/crystalwort. Thanks for all the help. More sugestons will be appreciated thought.

 

[dkpate]

No problem! Good luck!
MGamer will probably be on sometime, and hopefully he will see this thread, because he knows a lot about plants, as well as sells them.

 

[wolffish]

Thanks!

 

[meegosh]

As far as the Amazon frogbit goes.. is it legal in the USA? I mean its legal but is it considered an invasive plant? Ie, shipping across state lines is illegal? I've always been curious about that.. sorry to threadjack. I've been looking at floating plants to give my angel some shade.

 

[dkpate]

Meegosh, I did find these sites for you:

Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas

Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas: Table of Contents

I didn't see the frogbit anywhere on there, and the only places I could find where it is illegal was CA. I will have to do some more digging though lol.
Oh, and it looks like you guys have some Eurasian milfoil there, like we do, and I talked to the biologist here at work, and he said that it would grow really well in an aquarium. I am gonna go dig me some up this Spring when I can get in the water, since we have a TON of it!

 

[wolffish]

Also the fish i want eat plants but if i put plants in will they over eat? And how much will i need to feed them if they dont over eat?

 

[dkpate]

Well, if you get fish that eat plants, I wouldn't waste money on live plants. Would you just be able to put fake ones?
What kind of fish are you going to get?

 

[mfdrookie516]

none of the fish you listed will eat plants

 

[wolffish]

Really? Thanks i thought they would. Then yeah i just want plants for dimming the light and for makeing the tank look nice. Also for hiding fry. Oh and i know this sounds stupid but is their any fish that helps fry in any way? And if not i know i am a expert when it comes to asking stupid questions.