Good plants for Goldfish tank?

I want to add some actual plants to the tank (to eventually replace the plastic ones) but I don't know anything about botany, let alone aquatic botany. I have 7 goldfish and a pleco in a 30 gallon tank. Suggestions? Or even plants that I should stay away from?

Also, snail recommendations would be super helpful too if you guys have any.

Hi Erin!
Any plants will do honestly. I would go for some anubias or some java fern, they are pretty hardy and do not require a lot pruning/maintenance. With the java ferns and anubias when you plant them make sure not to completely bury the plant bulb in the substrate. You will notice the bulb it is very thick and all of the roots are growing off of it. Marimo moss balls are also great and super easy. For the moss balls I recommend taking them out with every water change and rinsing them with cool water. Marimo balls prefer cool water so I do this as a treat for them every once in awhile - they still do fine in heated tanks. Also you don't need to go crazy and add a whole bunch of plants at first, maybe buy a few and see how you like them and go from there. Planted tanks are amazing and really change the look of your tank, also it gives a more natural environment for your fish.
Key things to keep in mind for planted tanks:
- Make sure your substrate is at least 2-3 inches to allow for proper root growth.
- Weekly water changes are recommended to aid in plant growth. New water = new nutrients. More water changes also helps reduce the increase/growth of algae.
- Fertilizer is not necessary but won't hurt, it is good to add with a water change.
- Dont stress if your plants start to "melt" after planting! This is normal it is just the plant re-acclimating to its new environment, it should perk up after a week or so.
- Make sure to prune your plants if needed. Dead plant matter can cause increase in ammonia rates.

Snail Recommendations:
If you don't have any snails at the moment I would recommend nerite snails. It is almost impossible for them to reproduce and they are extremely easy to take care of. Snails have a tendency to reproduce like crazy so its nice to have a more controlled species. Just make sure not to over populate your tank with snails. For a 10 gal or less I would recommend anywhere from 2-4 snails. For a 15-30 gal anywhere from 5-10 snails should be good. I have never had problems with these snails eating any of my plants and they clean everything up really nicely.

What sort of pleco?
Suckermouth catfish need algae and driftwood in their tank. Some species can grow to 18 inches or more and need a huge tank.

Goldfish love plant matter and need it in their diet. Duckweed is a good plant to grow and they can eat that.

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Do you have a light on the tank?
If yes, what type, what are the globes, and anything else you can tell us about the light?

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LIGHTING TIMES
Most aquarium plants like a bit of light and if you only have the light on for a couple of hours a day, they struggle. If the light doesn't have a high enough wattage they also struggle. Try having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day.

If you get lots of green algae then reduce the light by an hour a day and monitor the algae over the next 2 weeks.
If you don't get any green algae on the glass then increase the lighting period by an hour and monitor it.
If you get a small amount of algae then the lighting time is about right.

Some plants will close their leaves up when they have had sufficient light. Ambulia, Hygrophilas and a few others close their top set of leaves first, then the next set and so on down the stem. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem and then turn lights off.

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LIST OF PLANTS TO TRY
Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia (during summer, but don't buy it in winter because it falls apart), Hydrilla, common Amazon sword plant, narrow or twisted/ spiral Vallis, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).
The Water Sprite normally floats on the surface but can also be planted in the substrate. The other plants should be planted in the gravel.

Ambulia, H. polysperma, Elodia/ Hydrilla and Vallis are tall plants that do well along the back.

H. ruba/ rubra is a medium height plant that looks good on the sides of the tank.

Most Amazon sword plants can get pretty big and are usually kept in the middle of the tank as a show piece. There is an Ozelot sword plant that has brown spots on green leaves, and a red ruffle sword plant (name may vary depending on where you live) with deep red leaves.

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IRON BASED PLANT FERTILISER
If you add an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser, it will help most aquarium plants do well. The liquid iron based aquarium plant fertilisers tend to be better than the tablet forms, although you can push the tablets under the roots of plants and that works well.

You use an iron (Fe) test kit to monitor iron levels and keep them at 1mg/l (1ppm).

I used Sera Florena liquid plant fertiliser but there are other brands too.

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CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2)
There is no point adding carbon dioxide (CO2) until you have the lights and nutrients worked out. Even then you don't need CO2 unless the tank is full of plants and only has a few small fish in.

There is plenty of CO2 in the average aquarium and it is produced by the fish and filter bacteria all day, every day. The plants also release CO2 at night when it is dark. And more CO2 gets into the tank from the atmosphere.

Don't use liquid CO2 supplements because they are made from toxic substances that harm fish, shrimp and snails.

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TURNING LIGHTS ON AND OFF
Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

Try to have the lights on at the same time each day.

Crypts, Swords, Anubias, and Water Sprite can all be kept in a tank with Goldfish.

Crypts won't survive in cold water so if the goldfish tank gets cold, they will die.

Goldfish will devour Vallisneria,Ludwigia for sure. Amazingly,they won't eat Rotala rotundifolia..and I have 6 Goldfish in a 60 gallon outside in my backyard. 2 are hefty sized Shubunkins. The Rotala survives. It also takes our cold California winter temps..water around 55-60f in winter.

Swords and anubias are the only plants they will not eat. They will also eat snails, even large Japanese Trapdoors. One fancy goldfish needs 20 gallons of water and each additional one needs 10 gallons more. One single tail eventually needs 100 gallons. Your tank is way over stocked, I’m sorry to say.

It is a bit more. But- its outside and water temps never go much above the high 60's even in summer. Winter,they slow down in the colder temperatures.
The four others are feeder fish I bought for 10 cents each. So,they are now well over a year later still alive and healthy..considering what would have happened to them without my purchase.

But Deanusue...I have been thinking of making a small pool for the fish and bring that nice tank and stand indoors. Its only the wife who thinks it's a terrible horrible idea

Stan510 said:

It is a bit more. But- its outside and water temps never go much above the high 60's even in summer. Winter,they slow down in the colder temperatures.
The four others are feeder fish I bought for 10 cents each. So,they are now well over a year later still alive and healthy..considering what would have happened to them without my purchase.

Click to expand...

They should be about a 10”” long at a year. I had to move my single tails out to a patio pond. They definitely are lucky you rescued them from becoming prey. . I did too. My largest is almost a foot long now. These pics were taken last year. I also have 2 moor’s in a 75G tank inside. One is about 8” now. I have 2 male Oranda and calico in a 45G. They are young.

Holy moly,thats a HUGE Comet! You think maybe its X with Butterfly Koi? Although I know in breeder ponds of thousands of gallons,they can get up there in size. But 12" is without a doubt a huge happy fish.
My feeders don't even have a comet tail. Basically Prussian carp that are red..one developed some white. My Shubunkins I had picked out with some blue at 3"?..lost all the blue at 6" now. That's how goldfish keeping is.
I started out as a Goldfish guy. I had large beautiful Shubunkins,Orandas and what I thought were the top of the line,Calico Orandas with lionheads. It was always fun to see them spawn in the spring..all that noise of them tossing on to plant roots near the surface. I miss all that.

Lol! He’s a Common but my comet is about 9” now. Even the baby shubunkin born last June is about 4” now. They’ve just always been moved to larger tanks before stunting occurred. The 12” one is about 4 years old now. Paid 35 cents for him but my grand daughter fell in love with him. The pic doesn’t do justice for my one moor. She is much larger in real life. She got to where she was having tight turns in the 55G so we bought the 75G. I’m not going any bigger than that. She’s doing fine. People come in my house and drop their jaw when they see her in the tank. She’s 5 years old. Then, when I take them to the pond they can’t believe “Goldie” is a 35 cent feeder fish. I need to fine her pic as a baby. Maybe 2” at the time. Lol’. I do keep a pond net over their pond so predators can’t eat them.