# Plant Advice for the Low-Tech Newb?



## Shrimpette (Feb 17, 2015)

Ok, I'm so over java moss. too much shedding and littering the tank and clogging the filter. I need *real* plants. 

I'm kind of new to all of this (had the typical guppy/platy/tetra type stuff as a kid) and I've never had much luck with plants. I'm looking for advice on what I should get. Neither tank is very strongly lit so my best chances would be with something requiring low light, no CO2, no special substrates for now. I don't mind a bit of offshoots happening, but littering tiny bits and pieces to break down and pollute the water/filter is what I'm hoping to stay away from. Something pretty hardy I guess and ones I can plant rather than float.

They'll be going in a 10 gallon with gravel and dwarf frogs and in a 29/30 gallon I'm hoping to change to sand or fine grain gravel for the kribs and corries living there.

Oh, and I guess locally obtainable and inexpensive would be most ideal. What are your go-to plants for newbies lacking in green/wet thumbs?

Thanks for your advice, I appreciate everything I'm learning from you guys


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

Some of the easiest might include but are not limited to:
Amazon swords
Java fern
Anubias
Cryptocorne wendtii
Elodea
Wisteria

What is your existing lighting and filtration on your tanks? These may make a big difference in what you can hope to grow.


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## Shrimpette (Feb 17, 2015)

Hi DBam, thanks for your reply! To answer your questions, they are both florescent lighting. The 10 gallon was sold with a 18W compact florescent spiral giving 1170 lumens but I need to change that as 1) it seems *too* bright for such a small aquarium and having it on for more than a few hours a day was bringing on the algae quicker than I'd like; and 2) the hood calls for a max 25W *tube* light, and I think the one in there isn't even made for aquariums. The 29/30 gallon has a 20 watt T8 Aqua Glo tube (light diluted a bit by a small patch of lime build up on the glass under the fixture. I'd love to upgrade the lighting on these tanks but I've sunk more of my budget into getting these started up again than ideal, so that might be a separate post to run in the equipment section (lighting on a budget!) lol 

10g is running an aquean quiteflow10 hang on back, while the 30g has an AC70.

Thanks for the great suggestions so far - that anubias in particular is quite pretty!


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## Chiumanfu (Oct 30, 2014)

I would stick to Anubias and Java fern. They are super simple and water column feeders so no need for special substrate. They shouldn't be buried rather attached to rock or wood. There are enough variations to create a good variety of textures. ie. standard Java fern contrasting with "windelov" and bordered by "narrow" can look really spectacular. Maybe add a large Anubias barteri var coffeefolia as a center piece. In the ten gallon stick to the smaller varieties to create a sense of scale. Anubias nana petite and Narrow java fern.

Don't throw away all the java moss. It looks really good when tied to driftwood and trimmed on a somewhat regular basis.


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

+1 for everything Chiumanfu said. Check out some of the sponsors for lighting. You can get a new HO T5 setup for under $30 in a size appropriate for your larger tank. I picked one up from Canadian Aquatics for very cheap the last time I needed to change lighting and didn't have to spend much. Replacement bulbs are inexpensive for those units too.


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## Shrimpette (Feb 17, 2015)

Thank you both so much. Java fern was already on my radar and I have a couple driftwood pieces awaiting adornment.

I did visit the LFS this afternoon and already picked up a java fern, what I recognized as wisteria, and what I think is a sword. Anubias was a bit pricey, but it's on my radar and I'll keep my eyes open for it 

The sword and wisteria I will plant and I'll try to attach the java fern to one of the driftwoods (and will attempt the moss on the other one). Will I need fertilizer for the sword and wisteria?

I didn't know there were so many varieties of java fern... I see it in stores labelled java fern, but no specification on variety as far as I can recall.

Oh, and what is a HO T5 setup? (I recognize the T5 part but don't know the HO part lol). $30 seems pretty reasonable but every time I turn around I seem to be dropping another $25, $30, $40 etc etc on "just a couple more things/fish" 

Thanks again for both your help <3


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

HO = high output; higher effective lumens/watt and the bulb is lower wattage than it's regular fluorescent equivalent. For example a regular cfl bulb might be 55W but the HO bulb might only draw 47W and will be brighter. 

I know what you mean about budgeting. There's always something more to get. I basically tell myself my fish budget is $0 at all times. Keeps me out of trouble.


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## Shrimpette (Feb 17, 2015)

ah gotcha, thanks 

I'm looking forward to the near-zero budget days. Had no choice on the broken filter and heaters, and the plants and new gravel were almost no-choice lol. Replacing the lights and lid on the 10 gallon are high-desired luxuries in comparison! That's where I could "stay strong" but... I guess we'll see  Can't hurt to obsessively stalk classifieds and CA's stock list in the meantime...............................


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