Help With First Plants

[catfish4ever]

I am going to buy some plants for my aquarium this week, Live Plants. I don't really have a lot of experience with them, i heard Java Moss and Anubias are fairly easy? Do i have to add fertilizer constantly? Can they be planted instead of attached to bog wood? Also what does it mean when someone moves to Co2?

 

[Ninjouzata]

Java moss and anubias are pretty hardy, yes. They are best attached to something but you can leave them floating if you want.
You could sort of plant the java moss but the buried part would probably die. You can sort of plant the anubias..you don't want the rhizome buried.
 
Some other hardy low light plants to look for: Anacharis/Elodea, Vallisneria, Watersprite, Java Fern (attach to rocks or driftwood), Cryptocorynes, Amazon Sword, Aponogetons, floating plants like hornwort & dwarf water lettuce. You don't have to add fertilizer constantly. Root tabs might be good to put in though. This is something that you push into the substrate and it lasts a few months.

 

[508]

Anubias is hardy and one of the easiest plants I'd say. Takes a while to grow. Same thing with Java Moss, except that it generally grows more like a weed. There are also the plants that Ninj listed, I have a few of them and they're all relatively easy. I would add the hygrophilia polysperma and difformis from the top of my head. Best to tie the Java Fern and Anubias to a rock or piece of bogwood. If you bury the rhizome, the roots will rot and the plant will die.
 
Generally, the more light you have the more your plants need co2. In a high light tank, you pretty much have to use co2 in order to control algae growth. My tank has medium to low lights and I think they work well. I'm able to grow most plants, even if at a very slow rate, and I don't have huge algae problems. I did though dose ferts and liquid carbon until they both ran out but I still haven't purchased more. For now my plants seem to be doing just fine though without them. I used root tabs as well.

 

[daizeUK]

Also what does it mean when someone moves to Co2?

 
It usually means injecting CO2 gas into your tank so that the plants have more carbon for healthy growth.  There is also a liquid form of carbon which can be bought in bottles (e.g. Excel or EasyCarbo).  Carbon enriched tanks tend to have lusher, greener plant growth but they also require more fertilisers to support the growth.  CO2 can be used with high or low light tanks but a high light tank will nearly always need added CO2 to keep plants healthy.