i think i want to try a planted tank... o3o

[Luimeril]

but, i don't have a huge tank to plant up. ;A; can one plant a 1.5 gallon?

Caroline looks so beautiful, being the only spot of color in her green tank. i'd love to try my hands at a planted tank, since i do SO well with my Java moss, and i'm actually growing some kind of little plant in this tiny pot, and it's GROWING! :D(i'm super excited about that, btw. :p) but, i've some questions.

can i use a 1.5 gallon to do a planted tank? i always hear about 5 gallons and bigger being used. no one ever plants up anything small, that i know of. D:

what's the general price range for plants? if my art sales do good, i'll have money to buy online, so that'll be helpful. :3

will the light that came with my Tetra 1.5 gallon be okay to use? i don't have fancy-pants lights. >3>

what kind of gravel/rocks/sand is best to use? right now, she has light green and dark green rocks. o3o i'd bought them for Theo, but i keep his tank bare-bottomed.

what are some good plants for beginners? :3 my moss is my first ever aquatic plant, and i really like it(as do my fish! :D). i like how easy it is to care for. just plop it in. >3> the end. lol

[LittleBettaFish]

In a tank that size, I would attach some narrow-leaf java fern, or anubias nana to a piece of branchy driftwood. Both are easy to care for, and can get by with minimal ferts and low lighting.

They also can easily be removed if you need to do large water changes. Just take out the driftwood, clean your tank, and then put it back in.

[bettafish15]

Java fern/moss :D

[Luimeril]

i already have moss. :3 and i'm getting some Marimo! :O i'd like something that Caroline can wiggle in, since she LOVES wiggling in her tall grass-like plant. :d

[Thunderloon]

Two concerns. Lighting and substrate.

The plants will need overhead light for proper growth and the bottom material needs to be plant substrate of fairly good quality (like dirt...) since the plants can't reach out very far to get their nutrition.

OFL is, I think, our reigning queen of plantedism and while she doesn't come in a handy coffee table book form you can look through her posts using search (the STALK function!) and find a lot of tidbits. I kinda remember her using a petco 2gal hex and planting it so the plants in it would probably do fine in a 1.5. I would like to point out that a glass 5.5 kit or a bow-front 2.5 are much better suited to planting.

Generally you need some water circulation (betta fin pump), a good over-head light so the plants know where to grow to and fine enough soil to maximize surface area while still not packing so hard that the plants can't get roots through. I can tell you that straight sand, especially white white sand, isn't right for the job. I've been using a 2 to 3 millimeter black crushed rock that gives me good rooting and also lets me siphon-sweep the surface without sucking my dirt out. It works as-is and also works on top of real dirt. I'd suggest if you're new at it to try with this finely crushed rock and use Seachem's Flourish tabs (in a 1.5g you only need to use one) if you do use rooting plants. I put two in the bottom of my hex5 (marineland) and everything I stuck into the rock exploded into health within about 2 weeks.

The java ferns are fairly hardy and will give you baby plants from time to time if you've got conditions good for them.

I've been playing around with aquatic "banana" plants and have found they're nice for shade and coverage of open areas. You simply bury the "banana" bits under the rocks so that all you see is the plant stems and watch out for the plant coming loose when the "bananas" finally rot away. It is a plant that makes its own dirt and works well in rock bottoms. They don't like high flow or touching by hands but Sherbert has never made them do a die-off. When the plant floats free of the rotted banana bit you can simply re-plant it off to the side. They will, when very happy, send a new leaf to the surface and grow a little banana cluster on it. New plant!

[Luimeril]

Caroline's tank does have a filter. it's just the little Tetra Whisper 3i, baffled by a 'fish toy'. i honestly don't know what kinds of plants to get, i'm so new to this. xD so, any advice is appreciated. :3 so far, everyone seems to like the java fern. :3

[demonr6]

I started a NPT over the weekend as a test in a 1.5 cube Tetra I have laying around for QT duty. PM me and I can share with you as much information as to what I am using and how it has been progressing. It is simply a test for a larger 4g I am going to put together in the next week.

[Littlebittyfish]

Anubias, java fern and moss should work well attached to rocks and or small pieces of driftwood.Marimo moss balls would look really cool as well.My fish love the anubias because they have huge broad leaves to rest on. I Had a few small amazon sword plants in my 2 gallon unfiltered at one time and they were alive for 8 months.You might want to get a small florescent daylight bulb with 6500k and turn it on for a few hours a day..

[scootshoot]

Can't go wrong with Hornwort as your virgin plant