I'm new here...

[Davidschmidt41]

Hi everyone,
My name is David and I am pretty new to the aquarium hobby. I came to this forum to learn about live plants and their reqirements. I currently have a 10 gallon aquarium that has been cycled with fish recently added. I have a male and 3 female guppies currently. I was wondering if anyone had some plant recommendations and their requirements/where I can purchase them (or if anyone wants to dump some plants or cuttings on to a young fish keeper.) I have fake plants currently and I am looking for something better looking and I found live plants look amazing. Can anyone tell me plants care.
Thanks, David

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Welcome David.

Live plants can look amazing when healthy, but not so amazing when they aren't getting what they need.

Live plants aren't that different from fish. Different plants have different needs, and you'll have the most success if you match the plants to your conditions. The difference between fish and plants is that light comes into play with plants. Fish don't care about light, as long as it's not too bright.

So, questions to start:
What is your water parameters?
What lighting do you have?
What's your substrate? (Not that substrate is a huge deal, we can work with almost anything, it's just nice to know what we are working with.)

 

[dascrow]

Welcome to the forum David!

 

[Davidschmidt41]

Welcome David.

Live plants can look amazing when healthy, but not so amazing when they aren't getting what they need.

Live plants aren't that different from fish. Different plants have different needs, and you'll have the most success if you match the plants to your conditions. The difference between fish and plants is that light comes into play with plants. Fish don't care about light, as long as it's not too bright.

So, questions to start:
What is your water parameters?
What lighting do you have?
What's your substrate? (Not that substrate is a huge deal, we can work with almost anything, it's just nice to know what we are working with.)

I'm not sure of my exact water parameters but I have had it tested by a pet store and they said everything was good
These are the light I have https://m.lowes.com/pd/SYLVANIA-6-P...-A19-CFL-Light-Fixture-Light-Bulbs/1000074253
I just have plain ol aquarium gravel as my substrate
Thank you for your reply

 

[Davidschmidt41]

Welcome to the forum David!

Thank you

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Typical pet store answer there I'm afraid. Not a big deal. Go back again and ask them to explain the results, or at least give you a range for your kH and gH.

Or, check your local municipality website. They can help with that as well. Inert substrate will work fine for plants.

 

[Davidschmidt41]

Typical pet store answer there I'm afraid. Not a big deal. Go back again and ask them to explain the results, or at least give you a range for your kH and gH.

Or, check your local municipality website. They can help with that as well. Inert substrate will work fine for plants.

Do you have any recommendations for plants? I was thinking maybe some java fern and amazon swords. Also I'm confused on whether or not I need to add any fertilizer to them, do you have any input?
Thanks again for your replies

 

[Mr. Bones]

Welcome Aboard David

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I was going to wait for the water parameters for a recommendation, but... yes.

Java fern are the easiest to grow. Yes, by all means get them. They don't get planted into the substrate though, they get attached to decor. Their rhizome must stay in the water.

Amazon swords are heavy feeders and would greatly benefit from root tabs. Personally I make my own. Empty pill capsules filled with osmocote+ fertilizer. These should be good for about 3-6 months. I push about 4 into the substrate in the root zone of the sword. With that light though, be sure to steer clear of any red varieties, there just won't be enough light for that. Most Amazon swords can grow huge and take over a 10 gallon. But with your light, I think the growth rate would be extremely slow.

Anubias are also super easy, and get treated just like the java fern. There are lots of anubias species, find your favorite. They all have about the same needs.

 

[LyraGuppi]

Welcome!

 

[Davidschmidt41]

I was going to wait for the water parameters for a recommendation, but... yes.

Java fern are the easiest to grow. Yes, by all means get them. They don't get planted into the substrate though, they get attached to decor. Their rhizome must stay in the water.

Amazon swords are heavy feeders and would greatly benefit from root tabs. Personally I make my own. Empty pill capsules filled with osmocote+ fertilizer. These should be good for about 3-6 months. I push about 4 into the substrate in the root zone of the sword. With that light though, be sure to steer clear of any red varieties, there just won't be enough light for that. Most Amazon swords can grow huge and take over a 10 gallon. But with your light, I think the growth rate would be extremely slow.

Anubias are also super easy, and get treated just like the java fern. There are lots of anubias species, find your favorite. They all have about the same needs.

Thanks for all of the tips I know they will help a lot. Do you have any places you reccomend to buy plants from? Or if you know someone that is overgrown and wants to give me some? Thanks again!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well, given that you are describing your tank as being 10 gallons, I assume you are in the US.

There are a lot of options... money is the question. How much do you want to spend? How planted do you want it to be?

I really like the service at http://www.bamaplants.com The prices are pretty good. The selection is limited, but he's a really easy guy to work with. If you tell him what you are looking for, he'll hold plants for you until he has what you want.

You can also buy off aquabid. There's a few sellers on there that I like. Their Saturday Night Express sales are a lot of fun. 3rd Saturday night starting at like 7pm or 8pm. These are one hour auctions and you can easily set your top bid you are willing to pay and then in an hour you know if you won. Not much waiting. And if your bid doesn't win, you might still get the same plants the next hour at your price. When bidding on plants in this scenario, you are bidding for ONE plant, but you can get more for a set price (either the winning bid price, or a predetermined price by the seller), if you want more than one. The best part of this is that you can buy multiple plant options from the same seller and the seller will combine your order from multiple auctions for the same shipping (focus on winning auctions all from one seller to cut your costs!). There's also just getting them from Petsmart or Petco or your local fish store. The prices will vary.
Java ferns will readily replicate themselves with a bit of time and decent conditions. They put little 'plantlet' out on their leaves. Wait until you get 3 or more leaves and a bit of the brown 'hairy roots', the remove the leaf and attach the plantlet wherever you'd like more plants. These will also grow more leaves on their rhizome, so they propagate two different ways.

In your situation, smaller tank, I'd still to the smaller leaved anubias, with a few of the larger ones. Here's a list from bamaplants to give you some ideas... any of these plants should work for you.

 

[Davidschmidt41]

Well, given that you are describing your tank as being 10 gallons, I assume you are in the US.

There are a lot of options... money is the question. How much do you want to spend? How planted do you want it to be?

I really like the service at http://www.bamaplants.com The prices are pretty good. The selection is limited, but he's a really easy guy to work with. If you tell him what you are looking for, he'll hold plants for you until he has what you want.

You can also buy off aquabid. There's a few sellers on there that I like. Their Saturday Night Express sales are a lot of fun. 3rd Saturday night starting at like 7pm or 8pm. These are one hour auctions and you can easily set your top bid you are willing to pay and then in an hour you know if you won. Not much waiting. And if your bid doesn't win, you might still get the same plants the next hour at your price. When bidding on plants in this scenario, you are bidding for ONE plant, but you can get more for a set price (either the winning bid price, or a predetermined price by the seller), if you want more than one. The best part of this is that you can buy multiple plant options from the same seller and the seller will combine your order from multiple auctions for the same shipping (focus on winning auctions all from one seller to cut your costs!). There's also just getting them from Petsmart or Petco or your local fish store. The prices will vary.
Java ferns will readily replicate themselves with a bit of time and decent conditions. They put little 'plantlet' out on their leaves. Wait until you get 3 or more leaves and a bit of the brown 'hairy roots', the remove the leaf and attach the plantlet wherever you'd like more plants. These will also grow more leaves on their rhizome, so they propagate two different ways.

In your situation, smaller tank, I'd still to the smaller leaved anubias, with a few of the larger ones. Here's a list from bamaplants to give you some ideas... any of these plants should work for you. View attachment 82358

Thank you so much you are AWESOME

 

[Toney]

Howdy

 

[julielynn47]

Amazon Swords are extremely easy to grow, or they have been for me. Water Wisteria has done so well in my 10 gallon I have stocked 2 other tanks with it, from cuttings in the 10 gallon. I got both of these at Petco.