Advice on plants for a NPT?

[Oldfishlady]

The water lettuce I have only get about the size of a half dollar in the house under florescent lights-but when I place it outside in the summer it will get nearly as big as a dinner plate....

My red, pink and purple plants grow great in my soil based tanks under the 6500k lights, however, they usually will not stay that color for very long-they do seem to fade or turn more green-but grow fine...

[bethyMT]

Remember that floating plants will affect the amount of light that reaches the bottom of the tank.

You've heard a lot of good advice on here...it's important to keep it simple when you're just starting out.

I wouldn't bother with stem plants yet...anacharis and elodea can get messy in low light. Just try some of the anubias (practically indestructible) or java fern (same). Couldn't possibly get any easier than that.

Also, your betta will like the broad leaves of the anubias for hiding under or maybe even resting on. Anyway, that's my .04, since I posted twice...good luck with whatever you choose!

[Oldfishlady]

If you plan on a soil based-it is really important to start off with enough of the right species of plants or the tank can crash.

Lots of different methods to setup/start a soil based tank-my method is only one of many. I have found that when using a high nutrient soil that you need lots of stem plants and some floating plants from the beginning. Once the soil matures and starts its life underwater and stem plants are thriving-you can safely remove some of the stem plants to allow more room and light to the rosette plants.

[redchigh]

And I think we both agree you need either good roots or fast-growing stems, with soil anubias and java fern won't cut it.

We also agree you need to cram your tanks with plants (75% or more from day one)

[bethyMT]

I didn't read anywhere that the OP is using soil. If they are, that's a game changer, and my suggestions wouldn't work. I have no experience with using soil.

I was giving advice if using regular gravel, or maybe even planted tank substrate (like floramax or whatever). I am growing lots of low light plants in floramax in my betta tank and they are doing really well, and no algae either.

[Lundinn]

Thank you for your input everyone. :)

I have both a tub of Sera Floredepot and a bag of compost, so I can do either. I would just prefer to having a heavy planted tank.

I'm figuring out a new list of plants to get from what is available to me.

[Oldfishlady]

Originally Posted by bethyMT

I didn't read anywhere that the OP is using soil.

When I see NPT (Natural planted tank) I see it as soil based...lol....

[Lundinn]

I've finally made a list from what is available to me, hopefully this is ok:

Cabomba
Rotala India
Water Wisteria
Crypt Ciliata
Red Ludwigia
Sagittaria Subulata
Frogbit

I've bought a clip-on lamp and a 6500k bulb.

I was planning to get a pair of assassin snails (and some shrimp?) for my 8g, but would it be ok to just have one snail in my 2.5g with my betta?

Also slightly off topic; what are assassin snails like for trying to escape? My 8g has a hood, but my 2.5g has a piece of glass on top with a gap.