From Fake To Real in a 10g

[Elsewhere]

So I am really wanting to go from fake plants to real plants in both of my 10g tanks. There is one problem- I am a horrible plant keeper and have no clue what I'm doing. I've read the sticky about beginning with plants, but it wasn't much help to me. I have quite a few questions. My one tank has a Betta, a Mystery Snail and some Otos and the other tank has just one Betta, soon to be three Mystery Snails and maybe some Tetras and one Mystery Snail, it all depends. Here are my questions:

What kind of plants are Betta safe?
What are some cheaper plants?
In one tank I have a mixture of stones and gravel- is that okay?
Do I need special feeding things for the plants?
What kind of lighting do they need?
Will my Mystery Snail just eat the plants?
Will this change affect my Betta?
How will this change affect my water?
How will this affect my water changes?
Will I need to get special water conditioner?

Please answer ASAP, I could be going to get them as soon as tomorrow!

[mattoboy]

1) Any aquatic plants are betta safe!
2) Not sure on cheaper plants, depends on retailer, but every plant has a "keeping" level of either easy, medium, or hard. Some easier plants are Jungle Val, Java Moss, Java Fern, Anubius, Water Sprite, etc. If you look around on Google you will find tons of plants.
3) Should be fine for most easy-keeping rooted plants
4) Yes, you will need to dose you're plants either once or twice a week either with liquid fertilizers or root-tabs. I use a fertilizer called "Seachem Flourish" which is a pretty standard fert. that alot of people use. Where I live in Canada, its about $7.99 give or take for a medium size bottle which lasts me for the better part of a year, so it is definitely affordable.
5) It all depends. Again, plants have a low, medium, or high level of light. I would consider asking the people that work at the retailer what light level the plants you're interested in need, or else they will rot and leave a mess in you're tank. What kind of light setup are you using now and how big of tank?
6) Mystery Snail should only really eat the decaying plant life but might eat the leaves of plants, depending on how much food is already available.
7) it will most definitely make you're betta ALOT happier!
8) It will only really make your water for oxygenated and better for fish. Also might make your water more crystal looking.
9) Depends on what your water change schedule is already and how many plants you are keeping
10) Nope!

*EDIT*

What part of Canada are you in? Also, plants can be quite affordable if done right. Also, if everything is going good in your tank and your plants are doing good, they will send out runners (Or split) and produce new plants. I bought a Jungle Val for $2.99 and now I have 8 of them!

[Elsewhere]

Thank you for all the awesome information. What I'm most concerned about is the water changes and the cost of plants- I do weekly 30-75% changes on both 10g tanks, would that be too much with the plants? Also, would I still need a filter?

I'm in Ontario, and I'm going to PetSmart- I've been looking on their website and it seems like they mostly have more expensive plants.

[mattoboy]

Weekly 25% water changes would be good with the odd 50%. And yes, I would recommend a filter still but use a baffle (http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=30139) to slow down the filter and make the tank for "natural". Petsmart can be pricey, but thats where I got the jungle val. Definitely go for Jungle Vals, Corkscrew Vals, Italian Vals, Amazon Swords, Java Moss, Java fern, Water Sprite, and Moneywort but make sure you stick away from the Mondo Grass and Bamboo.

[kfryman]

In a standard tank with little flow I wouldn't get vals, they get tall and unless they have flow to tip them over and keep algae and gunk off them they won't do too good and will just block light from other plants. Swords also get too big, especially if you are using dirt. Good plants are wisteria, rotala, crypts instead of swords, and dwarf sag.

An NPT's nutrients will become depleted much faster if you do weekly water changes. Also Do not stock until you have tested the water and ammonia is at zero, I set mine up and had ammonia that if I put anything in there it would have most likely died.