Best Starter Plants?

[Phaedra]

There's nothing like the look of a planted tank. After browsing around for months, and sighing enviously over everyone's great live-plant tanks, I think I may be ready to give it a shot myself.
I've spent most of the day studying, browsing, trying to get ideas, but I'd love to have some feedback from all you experienced members around here.
I'm a complete newbie, having experience only with a moss ball in my 10g, which I bought about 2 months ago and doesn't seem to be dying... yet.

The tank is an Eclipse System 3 (3g), filtered, heated, lighted betta abode.
From the research I've done on it, here are the specs as I've been able to turn them up:

Tank specs
Size:
Overall: 13" long x 7" wide x 11" high
Front: 13" long. Tapers to 10 1/2" long in the back.

Light:
120 vac, 60 Hz, .18 amp, 6 watt,
9" full spectrum, Natural Daylight fluorescent lamp

I've been keeping a list of plants that I like, but aquahobby doesn't list everything I think I may need to know, so I thought I'd post here, and maybe someone will be nice enough to tell me if I'm completely off my rocker even considering [insert plant name here].
Being a newbie, I'd prefer to go with easy plants, so I tried to pick some reasonable-sounding ones. But Crystalwort is SOOO pretty, I had to list it at least. I love the carpets and floating plants.

Plants I like:
wub: indicates a favorite)

Riccia fluitans
Crystalwort

Anubias nana
Dwarf Anubias

Anubias afzelii
Afzeli Anubias

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green'
Green Wendtii Crypt

Limnobium laevigatum
Amazon Frogbit

Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Brazilian Pennywort

Monosolenium tenerum
Pellia

Hemianthus Callitrichoides

While it was great at first, my spoiled betta deserves better than this:

Help me brainstorm what I need to do to start out, or ply me with links, or some ideas- please?

 

[Lord Spooky]

Actually, that tank would look really nice with a few rocks(not to big, not to small) Mabey a banana plant and java fern is always nice! Thats just me though. Mabey someone would have a even better idea

 

[Phaedra]

Actually, that tank would look really nice with a few rocks(not to big, not to small) Mabey a banana plant and java fern is always nice! Thats just me though. Mabey someone would have a even better idea

Don't banana plants get pretty big though, and require bright light? With my tank getting only 2 watts per gallon, I think that's considered low to medium light.

Edit: I think you're probably right about the rocks, it really needs some redecorating. I was leaning toward wood though.

 

[Lord Spooky]

Actually, that tank would look really nice with a few rocks(not to big, not to small) Mabey a banana plant and java fern is always nice! Thats just me though. Mabey someone would have a even better idea

Don't that banana plants get pretty big though, and require bright light? With my tank getting only 2 watts per gallon, I think that's considered low to medium light.

Edit: I think you're probably right about the rocks, it really needs some redecorating. I was leaning toward wood though.

o boy i completely forgot how tall they get Sorry! but actually if you could get some small pieces of drift wood you would attach moss balls to it. That would look wicked pretty. i dunno why but moss balls are kinda expensive.

 

[Phaedra]

Np!
I've got one moss ball in my 10g, but it grows really slow. It was pretty expensive, around $7 if I remember right... they grow very slowly, so maybe that's why they're so expensive. I haven't been treating my 10g with fertilizer or co2, so maybe it would be bigger if I did.

 

[Lord Spooky]

Np!
I've got one moss ball in my 10g, but it grows really slow. It was pretty expensive, around $7 if I remember right... they grow very slowly, so maybe that's why they're so expensive. I haven't been treating my 10g with fertilizer or co2, so maybe it would be bigger if I did.

not sure if fertilizers helpo moss grow ive never had it before. but yeas deff get a piece of drift wood and some rocks. mabey make a cave for him with the rocks. i think he would like that!

 

[Phaedra]

I'm sure he'd love it!
I just read that small tanks like mine need a lot of light though, and 2 wpg is almost nothing.
Now I'm a bit worried about being able to grow anything in there.

 

[Glod]

Take a look at the sticky at the top of this forum for a list of easy to grow plants.

Some that do pretty well in lower light are java moss and java fern. You could try things like Rotala Rotundifiolia, Elodea Densa, Hygrophila species etc, unfortunately most of the carpeting plants and tiny plants require a lot of light and CO2/fertilizer.

I have most of those and a few others (HM, Eleocharis parvula and some Limnophila aquatica) all growing quite happily in low light small tanks. They won't grow at the same rate as they would in an EI high light tank but they will grow.

Give the plants a decent substrate, CO2 and some fertilizer once a week and you will porbably be able to grow some that you "shouldn't".

 

[Dave Spencer]

With such a small tank, personally I would concentrate on small leafed plants to give tha tank the illusion of being bigger. Hemianthus micranthemoides and Micranthemum umbrosum are two excellent examples. I know that these types are considered more difficult to keep than average, but I would say that they are relatively easy, particularly the M. umbrosum.

If you find yourself struggling for light, you could consider an 11W Arcadia Arc Pod clip on light.

Dave.

 

[thumbless1]

Your tank looks clean and should not take much to get into order.
I am a newbie from Scotland and got a beginers selection from greenline for my 30" tank that i am very pleased with as they are all beginers plants and easy to keep.

10 X MICRO SAGITTARIA
3 X DWARF SWORDS
2 X SAGITTARIA NATANS
BUNCH (7) BABY TEARS BACOPA
5 X CRYPTOCORYNE WENDTII
1 X NARROW SWORD
BUNCH (10) MYACCA FLUVIATILIS
BUNCH (5) CREEPING JENNY
BUNCH (5) HYGRO. POLYSPERMA
BUNCH (5) STRAIGHT VALLISNERIA
BUNCH (5) ELODEA DENSA
BUNCH (5) LUDWIGIA NATANS
BUNCH (5) GREEN CABOMBA
BUNCH (5) BRONZE BACOPA
BUNCH (5) TWISTED VALLISNERIA
2 X SAGITTARIA NATANS
3 X WATER WISTERIA
2 X BULB SPECIES
BUNCH (5) RED SPECIES
5 X SALVINIA FLOATING
2 X AMAZON SWORDS
BUNCH (4) THAILAND STRICTA

They all arrived well packed in individual labelled plastic bags.
They seem to keep the Algae at bay as i have not seen any since i have put them in the tank.
As i am a numpty i took the easy option.

 

[Phaedra]

Glod- Thanks for the advice. I have been over all of the pinned threads in the forum (it was my first stop when I wanted to do some research), but thanks all the same. I'm a bit too nervous to try anything with the substrate/ferts/CO2 right now, considering I've only recently been able to keep my house plants alive. (House plants for dummies, worked like a charm! ) Not to mention I'm a little nervous about changing the tank at all, after just going through a nasty bout of something-or-other in my 10g tank.
I hadn't thought about dwarf hair grass though!

Dave- I love the look of Hemianthus micranthemoides and Micranthemum umbrosum, but from according to Aquahobby, they both require bright light, which my tank doesn't have a lot of. Correct me if I'm wrong! I love the small plants and I agree that if I could get my hands on some that it would enhance the look of the tank wonderfully.
The Arcpod Light is a great idea too, but I can't seem to find it anywhere but on European websites. The only other problem with that is that Bettas can be jumpers, so I don't know if I'd like to leave the top off of Darby's tank.

Thumbless- Thanks for the vote of confidence. And welcome to the site! I'm still quite newbish to all of this myself, so even considering getting plants is a big step for me.
Wow, that's an amazing first order, if you don't mind my saying. I'll bet your tank is going to be so beautiful. But really, a 30" tank? Love to see some pics once you get everything in order! And the list is great, thank you. I've run across a few of them, but I think most of them would be too large for my tiny little tank.
I'd love to see less algae, that's one of the reasons I'd like to try plants. Darby is such a bully, I can't bring myself to drop shrimp in there. They probably wouldn't last a day.



to everyone who's replied! I'm getting some great ideas!