[Bluewind]

Hello All! In a few months I will be geting a 20-23 gallon tank with Tetra 10-30i filter and heater and I need help choosing which plants will work best for me. I have posted all the information I think yall will need below. I have no problem with the extra work required for fast growing plants. However, I'm trying to avoid slow growing ones because of algea. Please note if the plant is edible or any other tidbits. I appreciate all the help. I would do all the footwork myself, but searching is tough on my Kindle :-/

Facts: The tank will be stocked with female Bettas (sisters raised together) and Kuhli Loaches and/or Otos (most likely Kuhlis as I can't find a lfs that sells Otos). Although my decision about how to stock my tank is mostly made, I am open to suggestions as long as they are Betta compatable.
The lightbulbs I have are 550Lumens/6500K.
My fert is API Leaf Zone Plant. It's a liqid and the only one avaliable in my area.
I will be atempting to get a glass tank in long dimentions
PWCs are done religiously
Water Stats: Soft (can't find exact number). pH is 6 straight from tap, 6.8 after treated and sitting out for 2 days, and 6.6 in tank.

*Additional Question: What would be a good substrate for this setup? Please include type and brand

 

[redchigh]

Since you wont be using a comprehensive fertiliser, have you considered a soil substrate?

What type and wattage are the bulbs in The light fixture? (Tubes, CFLs, etc)

I love crypts in 20 longs, and crypt wendtii adds color. Bettas also love floaters, like pennywort or amazon frogbit. There's a lot of plants that can work.... Its better if you tell us which ones you like and can get locally, and well help you narrow them down.

 

[Byron]

Floating plants are the essential component with any anabantid (like Bedtta), and Water Sprite is the perfect for this as it has extensive dangling roots which these fish love to spend time in picking off microscopic food. Also useful for bubblenests though that won't apply here. Another that works much the same is Brazilian Pennywort left floating.

I would try online for a better liquid fertilizer. LeafZone only has iron and potassium, and this may cause algae issues since the plants will be unable to use all this iron without the balance of other essential nutrients. There is also the issue of iron excess for the plants and fish, iron being a very toxic heavy metal. Flourish Comprehensive Supplement or MultiFlorin are both available from several places online, hunt around for the best price. I buy all my plant additives and water conditioner online as I can get the larger sizes for a fraction of the cost. You won't need to worry about this, unless you have other planted tanks of course, but online is still less expensive in most cases, and you can get what you need.

Byron.

 

[Bluewind]

Red:Soil with Loaches? Wouldn't they make a mess? And what about digging? It's why I've been looking into sands. My blubs are mini spiral 40w replacements. They are energy smart so theyonly use 10w.Getting plants locally is a pain but I met the owner of one pet store who said he might be able to order plants for me as long as they are in his cataloge. It's why I need sugestions for plants that would work in my tank.

Byron: Great to see you! I'm always happy to see you post in my thread. I will look into the ferts. What plants would be good for the other water levels? I want a NPT feel to it as female bettas do better with less open area.

I'm still looking for substrate suggestions if anyone has any. I would also like some help with my stocking if anyone is familiar with betta and kuhli loach bioload. I'm ot sure about how many I should have of each and rather or not I should include Otos.

My kindle is black and white and can only load certain pages so yall giving me a direction to look in is EXTREAMLY helpful! Thank you

 

[Byron]

Red:Soil with Loaches? Wouldn't they make a mess? And what about digging? It's why I've been looking into sands. My blubs are mini spiral 40w replacements. They are energy smart so theyonly use 10w.Getting plants locally is a pain but I met the owner of one pet store who said he might be able to order plants for me as long as they are in his cataloge. It's why I need sugestions for plants that would work in my tank.

Byron: Great to see you! I'm always happy to see you post in my thread. I will look into the ferts. What plants would be good for the other water levels? I want a NPT feel to it as female bettas do better with less open area.

I'm still looking for substrate suggestions if anyone has any. I would also like some help with my stocking if anyone is familiar with betta and kuhli loach bioload. I'm ot sure about how many I should have of each and rather or not I should include Otos.

My kindle is black and white and can only load certain pages so yall giving me a direction to look in is EXTREAMLY helpful! Thank you

Thank you for the nice words.;-)

I don't think redchigh nor I caught on with the loaches previously, but with kuhlii I would definitely have plain sand. Course, if you don't mind the mess, there is not other problem as the loaches could worm their way through it unless it compacted tight.

CFL bulbs sound fine.

Given you want floating plants for the bettas, I would do crypts down below, and/or Java Fern. These would be more close to the natural, if that is something you'd prefer; otherwise Anubias could work too. And Java Moss or similar mosses on wood. And some chunks of wood or branches would also be ideal, again natural habitat plus a spot for all these wood-loving plants to grow.

As this is a 20g long, the depth top to bottom is not great so with floating plants esp Water Sprite and the others on the bottom, the space is filled. For fish, five kuhlii is good, for the fish and in the tank. Betta sororities I know nothing about so one of the Betta experts will be able to help with suitable numbers.

In case you're wondering about thick planting and sand, below is my former 10g with play sand and the plants were so thick you couldn't move your hand in the tank. I had small fish in there, some can be seen.

Byron.

 

[redchigh]

If you want a natural tan, then there's always playsand.

If you like color, like black, i reccomend Estes ultra reef sand.