Taking The Plunge

[njstockley]

so i set up my tank about a month ago, and just when i thought i was finally happy with it, i started looking at some of the pictures on here, and realised i need some real plants in there for the best effect. ive got friday off work, so am going to pay a quick trip to the lfs and do some aquatic plant shopping! (i do sometimes wish i had never found this site, as there is too much in the way of inspiration!)

i've got a sand substrate, and from what i've picked up plants will root into this, so that's fine (?), but then i get a bit confused about co2 and ferts etc...are there some easy to grow/maintain plants that don't require all this extra care? i really like amazon swords and java fern as well as anubias. but i want a mix of the sword style plant, as well as some that grow denser, or bushier. and some kind of grass/moss as well as some floating plants...but for the latter i dont know any names or care requirements - from the description i have given what would you guys recommend i look out for?

and are there any additional considerations - like lighting or extra aquarium supplements that i need to pick up whilst im there...and im probably going to phase the introduction of live plants with some of the more realistic fake ones too, just so if it goes wrong im not left with an empty aquarium.

of course photos will follow as soon as i get the plants in there!

nick

 

[aaronnorth]

There is a good post here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=22604&st=0

You might want to pick up a fertliser and just dose weekly to start with, increasng the frequency if any problems appear.

It could just be the plant adapting to submerged conditions though, trim off any dead/ dieing leaves.

Thanks, Aaron

EDIT: And the plants you listed are a good start

 

[GrayScale]

What are the dimensions of your tank and what kind of lighting do you have? Java moss grows great in low-high lights. It's sort of a slow grower at first but once you get your lighting, ferts and flow working well together, it wil grow pretty fast. Anubias and java ferns are great and are best grown tied to a peice of wood, slate or rock. Never tried swords in my tanks yet. Vallisneria and hygrophila are great background plants and fast growers.