Newbie Plants

[charlton]

i'm after some live plants for my new tank but after doing some research i don't feel i've got very far. i'm thinking of just buying in bulk from greenline aquatics and seen they do a starter pack consisting of

# PRE-SET 730 for 101 plants (WITH FREE FOOD CODE 76)

Contains
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

Number of plants in bunch in brackets


for about £15 i thought this sounded quite reasonable, what i'd like to know are these quite easy to grow, as i haven't got any type of co2 injection and just standard lighting !!

cheers

charlton

 

[littlest]

you might get more responses in the planted section - lots of experts lurking around there.
Also post what wattage your lights are and how big your tank is, substrate, whether you add ferts etc

 

[darknirvana217]

Some of these plants are little more advanced. If your looking for an easy and hardy plant try Anubias, Cryptococoryne, and Java Fern. All of these require low light and you don't need Co2. Swords and Babay Tears require a lot of attention and management. Also when the stuff starts to die it pollutes your water, so don't get a plant unless you can take care of it.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

here a few comments on many of the plants. i don't know them all so some I said nothing. That package covers it all from low to high light and would really need co2 and regular fertilizing of both macros and micro nutrients as well as lots of pruning. It is also enough plants to fill a pretty large tank when they grow in, ie 150 gals would barely cut it.

10 X MICRO SAGITTARIA- Easy to grow any light.
3 X DWARF SWORDS- Easy to grow, does best in more rather than less light
2 X SAGITTARIA NATANS
BUNCH (7) BABY TEARS BACOPA- Baby tears is Hemianthus micranthemoides and a foreground plant while bacopa is something else. bacopa is typical stem plant, see below.
5 X CRYPTOCORYNE WENDTII- easy, works in low light. Appreciates good substrate.
1 X NARROW SWORD- Depending on what it really is- proably needs moderate to high light and will get sizable. Likes nutricious substrate.
BUNCH (10) MYACCA FLUVIATILIS- Its Mayaca and it needs lots of light and gets real tall and grows fast.
BUNCH (5) CREEPING JENNY- Lysimachia nummularia- easy to grow but needs high light.
BUNCH (5) HYGRO. POLYSPERMA- easy, any light, a real weed.
BUNCH (5) STRAIGHT VALLISNERIA- depends which val. Most get tall and spread fast.
BUNCH (5) ELODEA DENSA- Bunch/stem plants normally want moderate to high ligh and grow fast. Often are called algae busters. Usually easy to grow excwept for some of the more exotic ones. They usually grow tall.
BUNCH (5) LUDWIGIA NATANS- Bunch/stem as above.
BUNCH (5) GREEN CABOMBA- Bunch/stem as above.
BUNCH (5) BRONZE BACOPA- Bunch/stem as above.
BUNCH (5) TWISTED VALLISNERIA- Depends which twisted val.- corkscrew and contrtrion need more light and are harder to do than sprialis which can be any light. Spreads fast.
2 X SAGITTARIA NATANS
3 X WATER WISTERIA- Easy, any light. fast grower.
2 X BULB SPECIES
BUNCH (5) RED SPECIES- Most true reds need big light, ferts and trace elements and co2. Not so easy to grow.
5 X SALVINIA FLOATING- Salvinia natans, needs high light and is medium difficuly.
2 X AMAZON SWORDS- Any light but they get very big- can outgrow a 75 gal tank. Likes nutricious substrate.
BUNCH (4) THAILAND STRICTA

 

[charlton]

here a few comments on many of the plants. i don't know them all so some I said nothing. That package covers it all from low to high light and would really need co2 and regular fertilizing of both macros and micro nutrients as well as lots of pruning. It is also enough plants to fill a pretty large tank when they grow in, ie 150 gals would barely cut it.

10 X MICRO SAGITTARIA- Easy to grow any light.
3 X DWARF SWORDS- Easy to grow, does best in more rather than less light
2 X SAGITTARIA NATANS
BUNCH (7) BABY TEARS BACOPA- Baby tears is Hemianthus micranthemoides and a foreground plant while bacopa is something else. bacopa is typical stem plant, see below.
5 X CRYPTOCORYNE WENDTII- easy, works in low light. Appreciates good substrate.
1 X NARROW SWORD- Depending on what it really is- proably needs moderate to high light and will get sizable. Likes nutricious substrate.
BUNCH (10) MYACCA FLUVIATILIS- Its Mayaca and it needs lots of light and gets real tall and grows fast.
BUNCH (5) CREEPING JENNY- Lysimachia nummularia- easy to grow but needs high light.
BUNCH (5) HYGRO. POLYSPERMA- easy, any light, a real weed.
BUNCH (5) STRAIGHT VALLISNERIA- depends which val. Most get tall and spread fast.
BUNCH (5) ELODEA DENSA- Bunch/stem plants normally want moderate to high ligh and grow fast. Often are called algae busters. Usually easy to grow excwept for some of the more exotic ones. They usually grow tall.
BUNCH (5) LUDWIGIA NATANS- Bunch/stem as above.
BUNCH (5) GREEN CABOMBA- Bunch/stem as above.
BUNCH (5) BRONZE BACOPA- Bunch/stem as above.
BUNCH (5) TWISTED VALLISNERIA- Depends which twisted val.- corkscrew and contrtrion need more light and are harder to do than sprialis which can be any light. Spreads fast.
2 X SAGITTARIA NATANS
3 X WATER WISTERIA- Easy, any light. fast grower.
2 X BULB SPECIES
BUNCH (5) RED SPECIES- Most true reds need big light, ferts and trace elements and co2. Not so easy to grow.
5 X SALVINIA FLOATING- Salvinia natans, needs high light and is medium difficuly.
2 X AMAZON SWORDS- Any light but they get very big- can outgrow a 75 gal tank. Likes nutricious substrate.
BUNCH (4) THAILAND STRICTA

thanks for all your advice especially TwoTankAmin this is exactly what i was after, at least now i can find things that are easy to grow and see the ones i like and go from there !!

cheers

charlton