What Plants Should I Get?

PlasticGalaxy · Apr 22, 2021

Right now my 54L tank for guppies (and hopefully otocinclus by Autumn) has amazon frogbit, some elodea densa and java moss (which isn't growing all too well so far but we'll see). I'm hoping to get some more plants in, since the main idea was to have it be a planted tank.

Any suggestions? It's not got much hardscaping aside from a few large lumps of slate/rock, so it's a completely free space.

I'd like some larger plants that make it look sort of like a rainforest or something, if that's anything to go by.

My current ideas were maybe some anubias or something else with big, exotic looking leaves to fill out space in the tank. I'd also really like a carpeted tank "floor".

Here's a photo of the tank in all its cruddy glory. Sorry about the bad angle + lighting!

OliveFish05 · Apr 22, 2021

I would think some water sprite would give a bit of a rainforest look, Amazon sword would go well too, it has a very nice color. Anubias is really nice too, especially the darker varieties! Maybe some dwarf sag, jungle vals, or even corkscrew vals to add a bit of extra variation?

OliveFish05 · Apr 22, 2021

I don't know much about carpet plants, but I have always though dwarf hairgrass and Dwarf Pennywort look awesome!

Sgooosh · Apr 22, 2021

OliveFish05 said:
I would think some water sprite would give a bit of a rainforest look, Amazon sword would go well too, it has a very nice color. Anubias is really nice too, especially the darker varieties! Maybe some dwarf sag, jungle vals, or even corkscrew vals to add a bit of extra variation?

vals would be super nice!
maybe some small sword plants or a big one that can grow out of the tank and make on land leaves

OliveFish05 said:
I don't know much about carpet plants, but I have always though dwarf hairgrass and Dwarf Pennywort look awesome!

hairgrass is not a full aquatic plant, last time i planted it it died

monte carlo is cool
japonica is also cool

PlasticGalaxy · Apr 22, 2021

OliveFish05 said:
I would think some water sprite would give a bit of a rainforest look, Amazon sword would go well too, it has a very nice color. Anubias is really nice too, especially the darker varieties! Maybe some dwarf sag, jungle vals, or even corkscrew vals to add a bit of extra variation?

I've got some sort of vals in my 170L, definitely a favourite of mine. It's got a very wild look, I just wish it spread out more.

OliveFish05 said:
I don't know much about carpet plants, but I have always though dwarf hairgrass and Dwarf Pennywort look awesome!

Dwarf hairgrass was actually my first choice, but unfortunately there was none in stock locally and I couldn't find any online, so I settled for micranthemum umbrosum (terrible idea, just don't use it lol. It just made me depressed lol). Got java moss now which looks quite nice, but hasn't grown like I was hoping it to so I might get some more or add another type of moss.

Sgooosh said:
vals would be super nice!
maybe some small sword plants or a big one that can grow out of the tank and make on land leaves

That sounds really cool actually, got any plants by name that do that?

Sgooosh said:
hairgrass is not a full aquatic plant, last time i planted it it died
monte carlo is cool
japonica is also cool

I've seen monte carlo being praised a lot throughout forums and YouTube channels, I might try it out if I can find it. It's got a really nice cress look which I find quite appealing.

OliveFish05 · Apr 22, 2021

Sgooosh said:
hairgrass is not a full aquatic plant, last time i planted it it died

Oh no. Maybe it just didn't have enough light and nutrients and such, I have heard it is harder to grow?

OliveFish05 · Apr 22, 2021

If you wanted to go full blown "rainforest" you could get some branchy driftwood pieces and create some really cool scapes

Sgooosh · Apr 22, 2021

PlasticGalaxy said:
I've got some sort of vals in my 170L, definitely a favourite of mine. It's got a very wild look, I just wish it spread out more.

Dwarf hairgrass was actually my first choice, but unfortunately there was none in stock locally and I couldn't find any online, so I settled for micranthemum umbrosum (terrible idea, just don't use it lol. It just made me depressed lol). Got java moss now which looks quite nice, but hasn't grown like I was hoping it to so I might get some more or add another type of moss.

That sounds really cool actually, got any plants by name that do that?

I've seen monte carlo being praised a lot throughout forums and YouTube channels, I might try it out if I can find it. It's got a really nice cress look which I find quite appealing.

basically the biggest amazon sword you can find at your store, do not force it to crow leaves out of water, it will do so on its own
your tank looks pretty shallow, so maybe some pothos, monstera, mangrove or ribbon plants
mangrove will be cool, i am planning to get some.
ludwiga gives off a nice jungle feel when grown out of tank.
ferns are cool too

OliveFish05 said:
If you wanted to go full blown "rainforest" you could get some branchy driftwood pieces and create some really cool scapes

that;s cool, maybe get a driftwood that is ridded off all tannins (becuase of liveberaers) and make it stick out of the water with some on land anubias hanging onto it

Sgooosh · Apr 22, 2021

PlasticGalaxy said:
I've got some sort of vals in my 170L, definitely a favourite of mine. It's got a very wild look, I just wish it spread out more.

Dwarf hairgrass was actually my first choice, but unfortunately there was none in stock locally and I couldn't find any online, so I settled for micranthemum umbrosum (terrible idea, just don't use it lol. It just made me depressed lol). Got java moss now which looks quite nice, but hasn't grown like I was hoping it to so I might get some more or add another type of moss.

That sounds really cool actually, got any plants by name that do that?

I've seen monte carlo being praised a lot throughout forums and YouTube channels, I might try it out if I can find it. It's got a really nice cress look which I find quite appealing.

oh no, what happened to the baby tears, did it die?

OliveFish05 · Apr 22, 2021

Sgooosh said:
that;s cool, maybe get a driftwood that is ridded off all tannins

Manzanita has very little tannins in it. I have 3 large branches of it, very nice wood

Sgooosh · Apr 22, 2021

OliveFish05 said:
Manzanita has very little tannins in it. I have 3 large branches of it, very nice wood

that's cool, i might head over to the forest and get some manzanita!!
it looks like a bonsai, but i dont think anubias likes it.
totally optional
@PlasticGalaxy i just thought of crypts, easy to grow and give off jungle vibe

PlasticGalaxy · Apr 22, 2021

OliveFish05 said:
If you wanted to go full blown "rainforest" you could get some branchy driftwood pieces and create some really cool scapes

Ooh, I'll look into that for sure. Since I'm putting some rocks into the 170L (hopefully) I might not have space for the tiger wood root, so I might cut it to size for the 54L.

Sgooosh said:
oh no, what happened to the baby tears, did it die?

Died, withered, always floated away, just made me sad really lol. I didn't really like how it looked in the end either.

Sgooosh said:
basically the biggest amazon sword you can find at your store, do not force it to crow leaves out of water, it will do so on its own

I'll see if there's any there when I go to the LFS next. I'm planning on making a lid (a sliding one) so I might not be able to, though...

Sgooosh said:
your tank looks pretty shallow, so maybe some pothos, monstera, mangrove or ribbon plants

Do you mean depth from back to front or how much water's in there?

Sgooosh said:
mangrove will be cool, i am planning to get some.
ludwiga gives off a nice jungle feel when grown out of tank.
ferns are cool too

that;s cool, maybe get a driftwood that is ridded off all tannins (becuase of liveberaers) and make it stick out of the water with some on land anubias hanging onto it

Had a nice big lump of wood in there actually. Took it out because it wasn't benefiting anything in the tank and just became a nasty breeding ground for fish poop. Might put it back in when I've got more plants though. Thanks for the ideas!

Sgooosh · Apr 22, 2021

PlasticGalaxy said:
Ooh, I'll look into that for sure. Since I'm putting some rocks into the 170L (hopefully) I might not have space for the tiger wood root, so I might cut it to size for the 54L.

Died, withered, always floated away, just made me sad really lol. I didn't really like how it looked in the end either.

I'll see if there's any there when I go to the LFS next. I'm planning on making a lid (a sliding one) so I might not be able to, though...

Do you mean depth from back to front or how much water's in there?

Had a nice big lump of wood in there actually. Took it out because it wasn't benefiting anything in the tank and just became a nasty breeding ground for fish poop. Might put it back in when I've got more plants though. Thanks for the ideas!

i mean the depth.

PlasticGalaxy · Apr 22, 2021

Sgooosh said:
i mean the depth.

Ahh, yeah it is really. 30cm deep, so there isn't much room at all.

PheonixKingZ · Apr 22, 2021

PlasticGalaxy said:
java moss

Java Moss can sort of work as a carpeting plant, but it doesn’t work out for most people.

It’s working sort of well in my 10g:

Some people call it messy, but I kind of like the look of it.

I second the Vals and the Amazon Swords.

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