Complete New Beginner To Planted Tanks

[JRM]

I have a 15 gallon tank and I've decided I want it to be a planted tank instead of the plastic plants I have in there. At the moment I have two pieces of driftwood, I bought one of them with a plant attached and it is still growing so that is good I have no idea where to start, I have looked at the pinned topics and understand for best results you need CO2 but I would prefer not to use this so is it possible to have a planted tank with very basic plants that dont need co2?
Also, I am very confused about substrate, what am I supposed to have on the bottom of the tank? At the moment I have gravel which I want to change over to a much finer, more natural looking gravel. Is gravel all I will need on the bottom or do I need some soil substrate or something?
I've been looking at species of plants and I want to go for the very hardy species, like java fern and moss as well as water sprite and anubias. Are these all able to be grown without co2 and low light? Thanks in advance for your advice
Fish in the tank are 3 Kuhli Loaches and 2 Blue Rams

 

[Squid]

I have a 15 gallon tank and I've decided I want it to be a planted tank instead of the plastic plants I have in there. At the moment I have two pieces of driftwood, I bought one of them with a plant attached and it is still growing so that is good I have no idea where to start, I have looked at the pinned topics and understand for best results you need CO2 but I would prefer not to use this so is it possible to have a planted tank with very basic plants that dont need co2?
Also, I am very confused about substrate, what am I supposed to have on the bottom of the tank? At the moment I have gravel which I want to change over to a much finer, more natural looking gravel. Is gravel all I will need on the bottom or do I need some soil substrate or something?
I've been looking at species of plants and I want to go for the very hardy species, like java fern and moss as well as water sprite and anubias. Are these all able to be grown without co2 and low light? Thanks in advance for your advice
Fish in the tank are 3 Kuhli Loaches and 2 Blue Rams

I don't know what water sprite is, but anubias, java moss and java fern are suitable for low light tanks, and should be ok without co2 too! The laterite or other plant type substrates are more useful if you are planting into the gravel or sand, but anubias, java moss and java fern are usually attached to rocks or wood, so this is less of an issue. If you do get some plants that need planting in the gravel, you can buy root tabs which allow you to target the nutrients at the roots of the plant (which is what the other substrates are for. saves ripping it all out!!

I an alternative to co2 injection with fermentaion or pressurised etc. would be to look at products like seachem excel. and a good all round fertilise would be seachem flourish. The excel product is a different way to get carbon into the tank for the plants.. ! These are available on places like www.aquaessentials.co.uk.

Hope that helps...

Good luck
Squid

 

[BiffMalawi]

Watersprite is an excellent choice, it can handle low light and grows very quickly.

Do you know how many watts your lights are?

Plants will look great with those fish.

 

[JRM]

Watersprite is an excellent choice, it can handle low light and grows very quickly.

Do you know how many watts your lights are?

Plants will look great with those fish.

My tube says 15 watt, so 1watt per gallon? Is this considered very low or low?
Also, can anyone recommend some other very easy plants that grow with no co2 or high light? Thanks

 

[wei0204]

Yeah I would suggest watersprite too. It is a very very easy to grow plant. It requires the least but can grow.