Low maintenance planting advice

The tank where I work has gravel and harder water. Java fern, water sprite, and several other plants that I can't remember the names of grow just fine without a bit of co2 or fertilizer. In this case, the plants were added well after the fish were there, already adding plenty of their own fertilizer, but if you are starting out, you could just use a fertilizer tab that is made for aquariums and just try whatever plants you like. Some may grow, some may not, but I don't think the gravel or lack of co2 should be an impediment. I also have a 10 gallon that has plants growing in gravel. The only thing I've had a problem with is the little tiny plants (sorry, again can't remember the name) that grow roots that are so tiny that they can't really grab onto anything and they float out whenever I bump them with the gravel vac. I'll try to post a pic so you can see what I mean.

These are some pics of my 10 gallon with gravel, no co2, and no fertilizer. Ultra-low maintenance! A lot of Java fern, which I have left alone and not removed the daughter plants. There's also some cryptocoryne. One of my favorites for gravel are banana plants, which, even after they lose their bananas, still look good with nice big leaves and strong roots that you can see some of. I also like Brazilian pennywort but it comes out of the ground easily. Of course, it goes right back in again too, so no biggie. You can see the little teeny plant that I was telling you about. You can even see some of it that got out and is stuck on a branch above. In hindsight, perhaps not my smartest plant choice. Ha ha!

Regarding fish, I believe the guppies and platys like hard water, but if you haven't had them before, look into the issue of their fecundity. I'm not sure how people manage to not be overrun.

Re the water hardness...8.8 dGH is not particularly hard, so for fish I would say you should be fine with many of the "soft water" species. Many of the tetras are commercially raised now. Wild caught sensitive species would be a different thing. And at the opposite end, some "hard water" species would find this water insufficient in hardness. Generally, staying with either group (which are artificial and subjective) is preferable. In other words, tetras and catfish, but not livebearers.

Re the plants, these will have no trouble in this water either. Light is your single most important factor for plants. Once you have the light, then the nutrients can be balanced by adding fertilizers of some type if necessary. I will leave getting into this subject for the moment, other than to say that I agree with the other members that CO2 is not necessary for what you are intending. In a high-tech "aquatic garden" method, yes, but this is a very different thing from a fish tank that happens to have live plants.

Byron.

Many thanks for the replies folks

BeckyCats said:

These are some pics of my 10 gallon with gravel, no co2, and no fertilizer. Ultra-low maintenance! A lot of Java fern, which I have left alone and not removed the daughter plants. There's also some cryptocoryne. One of my favorites for gravel are banana plants, which, even after they lose their bananas, still look good with nice big leaves and strong roots that you can see some of. I also like Brazilian pennywort but it comes out of the ground easily. Of course, it goes right back in again too, so no biggie. You can see the little teeny plant that I was telling you about. You can even see some of it that got out and is stuck on a branch above. In hindsight, perhaps not my smartest plant choice. Ha ha!

Regarding fish, I believe the guppies and platys like hard water, but if you haven't had them before, look into the issue of their fecundity. I'm not sure how people manage to not be overrun.

Click to expand...

Good looking 10g i like it. Very dense. Of of the better ones around. Great job.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk