Help filling in the gaps for plant care?

[Quin]

I'm planning to introduce Anubias Nana, Anubias (coffeefolia), Amazon Sword, Java fern, Java moss, Salvinia, and Indian Almond Leaves into my tank. My current water parameters compared to their needs (minus the leaves, plus marimo moss balls) are:

Total range of requirements:	Tank parameters (from strips/LPS):
Lighting: Minimum: Low (x5) Maximum: medium (x2), high (x3), very high (x1) Temp: Minimum: 59, 60, 68 (x2), 71, 72 Maximum: 70 (salvinia), 82, 84, 86 (x3) pH: Minimum: 5 (x2), 6.5 Maximum: 5.9 (x2), 7.5c Other: neutral, acidic-basic Hardness: Minimum: 3 KH, very soft, soft (x2), average Maximum: 8 KH, hard (x4), very hard	Lighting: Undetermined (adjustments necessary) Temp: Preset at 78F pH: 7.8-8.4 (basic) Hardness: GH: 0 KH: 240+

I did some research on each plant's range of care and I have quite a few questions.
1. When the lighting says low-high, how do I know how many watts/lumens/whichever measurement I need so I can search for an appropriate lightbulb?
2. Salvinia's maximum temperature appears to be 70 F, but my tank heater is preset to 78 F. Will the salvinia be able to survive anyways?
3. My pH is way beyond every plant's requirements except one. I read that indian almond leaves can reduce the pH of the water, should I invest in that before purchasing my plants?
4. My test strips consistently give me those tank parameters (LPS did too for GH and pH) but I have no idea if the soft-hard scale measures for GH or KH, and whether those plant requirements are also measured in ppm(mg/L) or a different unit of measurement

Is my tank just unsuitable for plants? I'm worried that my pH is naturally too high to sustain any of them, and I know I've been told repeatedly that pH adjusters are a bad idea (I'm not sure if that carries over to almond leaves).

Also, I only looked at one site for every plant except for Anubias Coffeefolia. Does anyone have any better, perhaps more comprehensive guides to these plants? I know I see guides for fish and plants floating around here every so often, but I had trouble finding them.

 

[Byron]

Without getting into details yet, I would just offer a couple of general comments here. And the first is that plants are no where near as sensitive to GH, KH, pH and temperature as the source you used seems to suggest. Most (but not all) aquarium plants come from soft water areas, and that means an acidic pH, and many of them are bog or marsh plants and not true aquatic species. Sudden changes in any of these parameters can impact plants, to varying degrees depending upon the species and the parameter and the fluctuation. But fish are also or even more sensitive to such things anyway, so keeping the parameters suited to the fish, or more correctly only selecting fish species suited to your source parameters, is the only way to go, and then the plants will manage with the same--or if one species won't, you then try another species.

Lighting requirements are critical for plants. Three very generic groups are low-light, moderate-light and high-light. There is some overlap here, but plants requiring high light will not survive under low light, and low-light plants will not manage under bright light though here you can always use floating plants or other forms of "shade." With respect to the plant species you mention, all are moderate-light requiring, and a couple are more low-light, but it is easy to balance these two by creating shade areas and open areas. Adding high-light requiring plants to this list would cause problems, as that is going far afield of what you already intend.

I have never bothered with all the technical complexity of lighting, beyond some very basic needs. Spectrum is crucial. Intensity is critical because of the needs of the plant species but also we use this to help control problem algae, but I have settled on specific lighting for my fish, and the plants have to manage or they go and I try others.

The GH at zero with a KH of 240 ppm is a bit unusual. GH and KH tend to be close, either on the soft side, or moderate, or hard. The pH will follow suit, as it is related to the GH, KH and CO2.

 

[Quin]

Without getting into details yet, I would just offer a couple of general comments here. And the first is that plants are no where near as sensitive to GH, KH, pH and temperature as the source you used seems to suggest. Most (but not all) aquarium plants come from soft water areas, and that means an acidic pH, and many of them are bog or marsh plants and not true aquatic species. Sudden changes in any of these parameters can impact plants, to varying degrees depending upon the species and the parameter and the fluctuation. But fish are also or even more sensitive to such things anyway, so keeping the parameters suited to the fish, or more correctly only selecting fish species suited to your source parameters, is the only way to go, and then the plants will manage with the same--or if one species won't, you then try another species.

Lighting requirements are critical for plants. Three very generic groups are low-light, moderate-light and high-light. There is some overlap here, but plants requiring high light will not survive under low light, and low-light plants will not manage under bright light though here you can always use floating plants or other forms of "shade." With respect to the plant species you mention, all are moderate-light requiring, and a couple are more low-light, but it is easy to balance these two by creating shade areas and open areas. Adding high-light requiring plants to this list would cause problems, as that is going far afield of what you already intend.

I have never bothered with all the technical complexity of lighting, beyond some very basic needs. Spectrum is crucial. Intensity is critical because of the needs of the plant species but also we use this to help control problem algae, but I have settled on specific lighting for my fish, and the plants have to manage or they go and I try others.

The GH at zero with a KH of 240 ppm is a bit unusual. GH and KH tend to be close, either on the soft side, or moderate, or hard. The pH will follow suit, as it is related to the GH, KH and CO2.

I'm glad to hear that about the other parameters, and I can certainly manage to find lighting for them then. Since Salvinia requires a lot of light I believe I'll get a brighter overhead and just use airline tubing to float and keep it off of the areas where the plants need more light. Time to dive into more care research!

As for my GH, KH, and pH levels the manager at my LPS also said that they were unusual. We run off of a well (we live in the country) so he said that may be the cause of it. As long as it doesn't affect my fish at all I'm okay with weird lol

Edit: I forgot to add, this is a 10 gallon betta tank and I'm hoping to add the indian almond leaves anyways. Even if the plants won't be as sensitive to my GH, KH, or pH levels as I thought, would those leaves also benefit them, in addition to the fish itself?

 

[Byron]

Edit: I forgot to add, this is a 10 gallon betta tank and I'm hoping to add the indian almond leaves anyways. Even if the plants won't be as sensitive to my GH, KH, or pH levels as I thought, would those leaves also benefit them, in addition to the fish itself?

Not really, but also do no harm. You have soft water, which is good (more fish options!). But the very high KH means the pH will remain where it is, unless you dilute the source water with pure water (that will also lower the GH obviously). You would have to stuff the tank with leaves before they could make any change to the pH. The leaves will still provide nutrients, tannins, bacterial benefits. But they will not lower the pH with the KH that high.

These photos were/are some of my tanks with Amazon Swords, and you will note all have a good cover of floating plants. I have Salvinia in my 40g now, other floaters are Frogbit, Water Sprite, Water Lettuce (not all may show in these photos). Light impacts fish significantly, so my tanks always have floating plants and lower plants either make it or they don't. Swords seem to do well.

 

[Quin]

Not really, but also do no harm. You have soft water, which is good (more fish options!). But the very high KH means the pH will remain where it is, unless you dilute the source water with pure water (that will also lower the GH obviously). You would have to stuff the tank with leaves before they could make any change to the pH. The leaves will still provide nutrients, tannins, bacterial benefits. But they will not lower the pH with the KH that high.

These photos were/are some of my tanks with Amazon Swords, and you will note all have a good cover of floating plants. I have Salvinia in my 40g now, other floaters are Frogbit, Water Sprite, Water Lettuce (not all may show in these photos). Light impacts fish significantly, so my tanks always have floating plants and lower plants either make it or they don't. Swords seem to do well.

Wow your tanks are gorgeous, I'm stunned . I'm going for a planted look similar to yours, where did you find those awesome hardscapes? I'm from the US too so if it was online maybe I can finally find a good source for fish products.

Noted about the leaves. As long as the pH won't harm the plants or fish I won't worry too much about it, but one site did say that you should use 1 medium sized leaf for every 10 gallons. That striked me as odd as I assumed most people used more, especially if they use it as a carpet.

 

[Byron]

Wow your tanks are gorgeous, I'm stunned . I'm going for a planted look similar to yours, where did you find those awesome hardscapes? I'm from the US too so if it was online maybe I can finally find a good source for fish products.

Noted about the leaves. As long as the pH won't harm the plants or fish I won't worry too much about it, but one site did say that you should use 1 medium sized leaf for every 10 gallons. That striked me as odd as I assumed most people used more, especially if they use it as a carpet.

The leaves will tint the water, and darker the more you use. No problem for most soft water fish, plants may have limits, that's another issue.

Those tanks are just Quikrete Play Sand for substrate, and several chunks of Malaysian Driftwood. You can get this wood in some fish stores, and online. Each piece is different, so I like to see it in the store.

 

[Quin]

The leaves will tint the water, and darker the more you use. No problem for most soft water fish, plants may have limits, that's another issue.

Those tanks are just Quikrete Play Sand for substrate, and several chunks of Malaysian Driftwood. You can get this wood in some fish stores, and online. Each piece is different, so I like to see it in the store.

Good to know! I appreciate the help

 

[Barry Tetra]

Not really, but also do no harm. You have soft water, which is good (more fish options!). But the very high KH means the pH will remain where it is, unless you dilute the source water with pure water (that will also lower the GH obviously). You would have to stuff the tank with leaves before they could make any change to the pH. The leaves will still provide nutrients, tannins, bacterial benefits. But they will not lower the pH with the KH that high.

These photos were/are some of my tanks with Amazon Swords, and you will note all have a good cover of floating plants. I have Salvinia in my 40g now, other floaters are Frogbit, Water Sprite, Water Lettuce (not all may show in these photos). Light impacts fish significantly, so my tanks always have floating plants and lower plants either make it or they don't. Swords seem to do well.

It's look great Byron, I hope I have a beautiful tank like this.