Evolution of my first 10g planted tank
all of the plants pictured are relatively easy to care for plants with low lighting requirements and not very demanding on fertilizers. If you aren't interested in biotope tanks and just want to get an idea of the environmental effects with plants these are good plants to experiment with, in my experience- moss (java especially), anubias (any variety, but 'nana' is an especially good starter plant), ludwiga repens, nymphaea (tiger lotus), sword plants (mid to large established plants are easiest), tropica fern, Borneo fern and/or any other common java fern variant and wisteria.
I've come to notice these hearty plants will show eye popping color when you've hit proper parameters and will help maintain stable parameters while you experiment (giving you an almost instant reaction when you've done something 'wrong').
This specific tank was a 10g with an under gravel 10-20g air pump powered filter along with an ac10 with poly fiber, bio max and either the normal sponge or a purigen insert (when I made mistakes in fertilizing). I used a screen between both the under gravel filter and the bottom of the tank and the under gravel filter and the substrate.
Substrate consisted of a quarter inch of gravel on the bottom, an inch of first layer laterite followed by 2 1/2 inches of floramax red planted substrate.
A couple tips from my experiences- start with easy plants from cuttings or bulbs. Crypt plants, though very hearty, will generally 'melt' when they are first planted, keep your tank clean and you won't have as much of a potential for a mini cycle when they do. Cuttings that have been in water all along will generally not give you the problems that packaged plants do. Plants do better in cycled tanks, but can also help your water quality between water changes while cycling. Finally- if you think you have an aquarium collecting hobby now don't be surprised of your passion doubles once you've gotten the basics on planted tanks- biotope tanks are only a step away....
Hope that helps a little
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