Where Do I Start?

[tonyshadow]

Hello, I am new to this forum and new to fish, we are going to be starting an aquarium for my 10 year old daughter. We really don't know what type of fish yet, however as we are all new to this we are thinking something easy for beginners. Also not totally sure on the tank size, possibly a 29 gallon, but again have not decided yet. We do know we want live plants, but have no idea where to begin. Can anyone reccommend some easy to care for plants for beginners and also what is required to keep them alive and healthy.

Thank you.

 

[Ian H]

java fern (dont plant this, tie onto bogwood, rocks whatever)
java moss (same as java fern, most moss is easy to grow actually)
Crypts (plant these in the sand/gravel)
anubias (again dont plant these, tie to anything)

To get them looking amazing lush and green it gets a bit complex for a beginner with things like extra light, fertalisers and co2. You dont have to worry about that though, obviously you can look into it later though if you wish

For the above you just need light really, Dont expect them to look like the members tanks in here though!

 

[tonyshadow]

Thanks so much, that helps a lot. We are still not 100% sure if we are going to go with live plants, only because we want my daughter to be 100% (or as close as we can get to it) responsible for the upkeep of this tank and the additional requirements for live plants may prove to much for her. This will be her first pet, and the entire idea was to teach her how to be responsible for something other than herself . Obviously we won't let any harm come to the fish, but truthfully, I am not sure we would be much help to her anyway, as we are all new to aquatic life.

 

[Bobtastic]

If it will be your daughter doing all the maintenance, (water changes, feedings, etc) then I would probably suggest just starting out with artificial plants. The fish don't really care and it would be another complication or thing to go wrong.