Best plants for a new build

[Metalman]

Wife and I are back with a metre long tank and now have gravel washed and in tank with heat on and first bit of bog wood cleaned and now floating barely as it soaks. So next is plants and I am after easy growing onEs that give height and bush out. Also smaller ones that carpet spread. I have a 750mm lump of bog wood ordered and should be here next week.

 

[Colin_T]

How high/ tall is the tank?
What light is on the tank?
How many watts is the light?
Are you adding any aquarium plant fertiliser?

 

[Metalman]

Tank is 450mm high
Dbl strip lights but may well be changing for led
Will be adding planting medium as we go

 

[Wills]

Your best option for carpets in low tech tanks are grass types like Sagittaria Subulata, Helanthium Tenellum, Littorella Uniflora or Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis. You could even do a mixed carpet of a few and see which does best, I think mixed carpets look more natural anyway. I think its worth going with the invitro pots for these as they are already in their submersed form and you get loads in each pot.

Cryptocoryne are a great plant for gravel, really big mix of species available now loads of shapes, colours if you push root tabs in at their base too they will do really well. Amazon Swords are an other good candidate but get much bigger so make sure you put these towards the back.

For big stem plants things like Hyrgophila Siamensis 53b, Limnophilla Sessiflora and Cardamine Lyrata are really easy to grow plants and fill out quickly too.

Wills

 

[Metalman]

Your best option for carpets in low tech tanks are grass types like Sagittaria Subulata, Helanthium Tenellum, Littorella Uniflora or Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis. You could even do a mixed carpet of a few and see which does best, I think mixed carpets look more natural anyway. I think its worth going with the invitro pots for these as they are already in their submersed form and you get loads in each pot.

Cryptocoryne are a great plant for gravel, really big mix of species available now loads of shapes, colours if you push root tabs in at their base too they will do really well. Amazon Swords are an other good candidate but get much bigger so make sure you put these towards the back.

For big stem plants things like Hyrgophila Siamensis 53b, Limnophilla Sessiflora and Cardamine Lyrata are really easy to grow plants and fill out quickly too.

Wills

Thanks Wills, gives us food for thought....found a lovely big section of bog wood on fleabay I have bought and now needing some natural slate etc to make the basis of the tank prior to plants. Last will be the fish themselves once we have the look of the tank correct. (Rather exciting after all these years)