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Beginner Plants

6K views 46 replies 8 participants last post by  Zeetrain 
#1 ·
Im planning on planting a 10 gallon tank and going for a natural look. Its going to be a betta sorority so im planning on adding plenty of hiding places with maybe some drift wood or maybe fake wood and probably some tera cota pots. So i was wondering what would be a few beginner plants or easy plants to take care of?
 
#2 ·
Well you don't want nothing that get's too tall for a 10g..
What would look nice in the back is some Narrow leaf Chain Sword or Sagetarria; both kinda broader leaf grassy style looking.
Then maybe something like Cryptocoryne either Walkeri (green) or Wendtii (Red) mixed in with some Kleiner Bar Sword.
Java Ferns would also work for the height of the 10g.

My fav shopping place currently has a 25% off sale going on you may be interested and they have a ton plants to choose from (gotta love their quality!) www.sweetaquatics.com

But just to cross check and be sure here: What kinda lights do you have (Kelvin? Wattage?)?
 
#4 ·
If it came with the fish tank it's likely not a light thats good for plants...
 
#6 ·
Well, I believe lights intensity wears out after a year (T12) and a few years (T8 ), but anyways make sure its somewhere around 6500k - 6700k for plants. :)
 
#8 ·
Yea that bulb (wattage wise) would be alright. But see if you can find a name on it or Kelvin rating this info is always printed on its sides. If you got T8 sizes you're easiest up to go to Walmart, Homedepot, Lowes and get what's labeled as "Daylight" these are offered by GE, Phillips, Bright effect and rated 6500K (it'll say it on the box; GE Daylights box is white and light blue colored) with that you can grow anything in your tank and these bulbs are only few bucks (contrary to the pet store) as that's no expensive matter since you have a fixture already.
 
#10 ·
I'd also get an anubias nana and a red ludwigea.
(It wil probably turn green in the tank, but mine is growing like CRAZY. Plus you can trim it frequently, making it into either a modground or background plant.
Might look nice if you kept a couple 4-7 inch tall bunches right in from of your background plants.
By the way, Anubias and Java Fern do best tied to driftwood, but I've grown java fern on the substrate. (read on, not in)

Now I have a little weighted java fern because it attached itself to some pieces of gravel. Just make sure you place just a few pieces of gravel on it (don't "bury" the root).
 
#11 ·
The Ludwigia would already be the size of a 10g and outgrow the tank is less then 1 week and you really only can trim that much before you wind up having leave-less sticks sitting there; I'd not recommend that plant for a 10g set up.
 
#14 ·
Ok cool. I've beebn thinking about maybe doing sand in this tank. Would it be better to use sand rather than gravel? If so then what kind of sand should I get. I've seen it at a local pet store but if I remeber correctly it was a little pricey. I've also heard that you can use a sand from pool filters or something that you can get at Home Depot, Im not sure about that though so please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
#15 ·
It really dep on two things mainly 1) What do you like to look at better? 2) Exactly what plants you like to use eg. Dwarf Hairgrass will sprout better/ faster with sand. Stem plants or Swords, Anubias, Java Fern will do fine either in sand or fine gravel.

Again on the sand what do you like LOL you can use playsand or pool sand from the home store if you want natural looking colors or if you'd like something else get black sand from the petstore

Here's 2 pcitures for ya, one is playsand set up the other one black petstore sand
http://www.fishtanks.net/fishtank.php?fishtank=1442
http://www.fishtanks.net/fishtank.php?fishtank=1413
 
#17 ·
underwater filter? Do you mean undergravel filter?
Hmmm they don't do well with plants... stem plants should be fine but plants with functional roots might not get the nutrients they need.

Ah, and angel- have you ever used play sand?
I've read many many places that it compacts, doesn't encourage good bacteria in the substrate and inhibits plant growth.
Pool filter sand is good tho... and just as cheap. Wouldn't see the point in risking it.

As for the ludwigea-
That's why when you plant the tops you pull up any bare stems.
 
#18 ·
+1 I'd remove the UGF for plants and/ or sand.

@redchigh Yup if you look at my aquarium log here all light colored sand tanks you see if play sand from the home store :)
 
#20 ·
Yup know that filter will work just fine with sand.
 
#22 ·
Substrate is very important for several reasons. Sand and gravel will both work, but I would recommend gravel for you, as I'll explain.

In a planted aquarium there is a significant biological process going on in the substrate. Aerobic and anaerobic bacteria live there and interact with the plant roots to break down organics into nutrients. The plant roots release oxygen to keep the aerobic bacteria alive. Water must be able to easily pass through the substrate as part of this, but not so easily that it affects it negatively.

A too dense substrate like sand has the risk of compacting because of the organics and plant roots. Gravel will also compact, but it is much less likely to do so. Which is why every plant authority I've read to date recommends gravel over sand, and some recommend soil with gravel on top, but that's another issue.

Fine gravel, grain size around 1-2 mm, works best. It is small enough to anchor the plant roots, allow good water passage, oxygen and gas exchanges, etc., and not too fine to compact quickly. Too large a gravel has the opposite effect, it allows too much water passage and bacteria don't have the best opportunity, plus plant roots do not fare as well.

You can buy gravel in bulk which is much less expensive. And in a dark natural colour. A darker substrate not only looks better, it is better for the fish that prefer dark substrates. Fish will be more at ease over a dark substrate and thus show their best colours. Black, dark brown, dark gray, or a natural mix works well.

Byron.
 
#23 ·
I can only speak for my own set up's over the last years with sand (play sand) and I have not had compacting issues. Put a few MTS in there and its all good, never had issues not in the old set ups under harder water conditions nor with e soft water now :) I just also decide on my substrate based of my fish/ inverts needs and some just simply don't do as well on gravel (even fine gravel) then they do thrive in / on sand.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the info guys. Im probably gonna go with sand because im not too sure how easily itll be for me to keep the sand clean and not accidentally suck up the sand. Plus I think I like the way gravel looks more. I like the natural coloring for gravel.
 
#25 ·
A good plan I think [I'm assuming you meant "not" going with sand...]. Find the smallest grain size gravel you can, and inthe darknest natural colour. The dark substrate has a considerable impact (stress and behaviours) on many forest fish (tetras, characins, catfish) and they will not show their best colouration over light colour substrates. This is very important, and often overlooked by aquarists.
 
#27 ·
There's actually 2 different fine gravel's found at chain stores right now both called "River mix" but one is more lighter/tan colors while the 2nd one is different darker brown tone rock - Being the different shades mixes as they are both of these look pretty nice.
The lighter tan version you can see here in this tank http://www.fishtanks.net/fishtank.php?fishtank=1412
And for the darker version you'd need to give me a few more days till I have the 30g built lol
 
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