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What plants?

802 views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  wallywestisthebest333 
#1 ·
Im going out to buy some plants today.. any suggestions on what to get?
 
#4 · (Edited)
Are you buying them at the petstore?

If so then:

Anacharis
Hornwort
Java Fern
Anubias
Water Wisteria
Any kind of Moss
Water Sprite if they have it.

A marimo ball if they have any real ones and it's not just moss attached to a cork.

I highly suggest purchasing plants online if you can though as you'll have a greater selection. ;]

None of the above plants require substrate and most are low light plants but they'll really flourish under 2 watts per gallon or more of Daylight. You can simulate this using a regular sized or miniature Daylight (6,500 K(Kelvins)) CFL (swirly bulbs).

Over 2 watts per gallon can sometime promote algae growth unless you have a lot of stem plants (anacharis, hornwort, water wisteria, water sprite) so you'll want to be careful with that or try to buy some snails like ramshorns (red or blue) or nerites (olive, tracked (orange), or zebra/striped) online.

The ramshorns can float or sink at will due to a special boyancy system they have and can be lighter than nerites so they can clean your more delicate plants (whereas nerites can sometimes be too heavy) and be very entertaining but the price for that is they breed easily so you'll want to be careful not to overfeed your fish.

Another great option to combat algae are shrimp. Red Cherry shrimp, Yellow Shrimp, and anything in the neocardina family are awesome algae eating shrimp though most freshwater shrimp do well eating algae off your plants. They don't do that well at eating it off of your glass though (like snails can) so there's that to consider.

I'd start off with ghost shrimp as they're cheaper, more readily available in-stores, and can hide morea easily from your betta. ;]

Good luck! =]
 
#5 ·
Alright, thanks. ive got gravel in all my tanks, so i have it xD Ive got 1 anubias and some wierd looking plant. and yea, lfs. i hate ordering online, i cant see the actual thing im buying -.-

And, ive got a nerite on one side. maybe ill get a ramshorn, then. or a shrimp ;D
 
#12 ·
As I said (trust me! ;]) none of the plants I listed need any special substrate. Marbles will be just fine. =]

You have to be careful when planting the Anubias and the Java Fern though because although they don't need substrate they do take their nutrients in through their rhizomes (Anubias) and their roots (Java Fern) and are best when tied to a piece of decor so that their rhizomes (anubias) or roots (java fern) are exposed to the water. =]

They DO need the correct lighting however. They need a Daylight (6,500K(Kelvins)) Bulb. The easiest to find these days are CFLs (swirly bulbs) and you can find them at any hardware store. =]

Here's an example of what you'll want to see somewhere on the light bulb's packaging:

<-- notice the big bold DAYLIGHT and the clearly visible 6,500 K? That's what you want to see somewhere on the packaging whether it be display on the front (where it should be and normally is) or on the back somewhere. =] Sometimes the lights will say cool natural or full spectrum and you'll have to look on the back for the K (Kelvins) rating but yeah! ;]
 
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