Live plants

[FallenMessiah]

I'm lookin to replace the fake plants with live ones. Any recommendations?

[kelly528]

First you will want to make sure you have fluorescent lighting, about 1-3 watts per gallon of tankwater. Low-light plants like java fern, anubias and java moss are all good starting plants. Other low-light plants like cryptocoryne species are also good, however they are heavy root feeders so you will have to make sure you have either a specialized substrate (like Fluorite or Eco-Complete) or are supplementing your gravel with root tabs (like Fluorish Tabs).

When you shop for plants, avoid two things: medium to high-light plants (without a specialized lighting system and lots of research and practice they will die) and non aquatic plants: many pet stores pass off terrestrial plants like bamboo as aquatic plants, which will die after a few months of submersion. You don't want that!

[FallenMessiah]

Alright thank you :) my tank is in the kitchen/dining room where there's lots of windows around so plenty of light. So java fern? My PH is at 7.4 but I'm working to get that down, will it affect the plant if it is that high to put it straight into the tank?

[kelly528]

Nope. Java fern is quite hardy.

[Cravenne]

I'd suggest Java Fern, Wisteria, Crypts, Anubias..I even have a Sword on each side of my tank.

I left out Java Moss only because I hate it!
I searched for months to find some and was so excited when my LFS actually had some for sale. I just found it never attached properly. Ended up all over the tank etcetc. I was tossing bits and pieces with each water change. Since then I saw a great trick..
Get the rock or piece of wood you wish to attach the moss to. Buy a hairnet. Place the moss on the rock, cover it with a hairnet and tie it tight at the bottom. It will grow through the holes and ends up looking pretty sweet.

Enjoy planting! It's just as addictive as bettas are!

Oh..also..I only use regular gravel small rocks as my substrate. My 10G is heavily planted and growing like crazy. In my experience with this tank purchasing a special substrate is really necessary if you're going with easy, low-mod light plants.

:)

[FallenMessiah]

The bottom of my tank has black glass beads will the plants attach to that fine? also my tank you cant really have a light on it otherwise it might melt the plastic lid, so i might have to upgrade the tank eventually to one that has a hood with an inbuilt lid

[Cravenne]

For java Fern and Anubias, there isn't substrate needed. You can attach those to ornaments, rocks, wood, whatever you want. Wisteria can be left floating, although I find that annoying. Crypts need to be buried and glass beads might not keep them down well enough.

When I first set my tank up I had only wanted to use small rock..then I decided to plant it and I just mixed in some gravel in the areas I wanted plants to be rooted down. You could try that if you want.

As far as lighting..Java Fern would likely do just fine until you can afford a light. It will be really slow growing, but it should survive at least. Even a desk lamp or one you can clip to the side of the tank works in a pinch..it would also give you more choice as to the plants you can keep.