How Many Plants Can I Have

[Chaydell]

Hello, I have a 55 gallon tank and was wondering what kind of plants I can have and how many. I don't use CO2 or any fertilizers. I would be willing to use root tabs if I needed to. I have two T8 15 w lights. I know I will be limited to low light plants but am not sure which varieties this includes. I currently have 3 java ferns, 1 anubiss, 1 cryptocoryne and 20-25 anacharis strands of various lengths. I also have 14 tiger barbs, 2 Bolivian rams, 1 flying fox and 4 bronze cory cats. I plan on adding more fish as well. So, are there any other plants I can add or should I just stick to what I have now?

 

[DrRob]

There's no particular limit to your planting, apart from space in the tank and what nutrients are available. I've seen, and grown, tanks where you can hardly see the fish for the plants with little by way of complex fertilisation, depends a whole lot on the plant and the conditions. The dimensions of the tank make a difference as well, taller tanks against wider tanks can make a big difference to the planting plans.
 
There are some amazing low tech systems out there, this one for instance remains one of my favourite tank scapes of all time.

 

[Chaydell]

So how do I know if the fish are creating enough bio load for the plants? I'm looking to pack the low light plants on but don't want to over do it. Is there a rule of thumb like add a plant a month or something like that to follow? I'm just very new and don't want to kill a bunch of plants with impatience.

 

[daizeUK]

That's a great answer from Dr Rob. I frequently hear it said that "you can never have too many plants" but the reality is that you are limited by available nutrients, particularly carbon.

My plan with my first tank was to pack in lots of low-light plants but I eventually reached a point where the more vulnerable plants (e.g. trident java) were dying due to lack of carbon. I'm pretty sure the problem was lack of carbon because I doubled my dose of EasyCarbo and all the plants are starting to put out healthy growth again.

I also suspect a lot has to do with your water quality. I have very hard water which makes it harder to dissolve CO2 (don't quote me on this as I'm not sure on the exact chemistry going on!) and I think it is easier to run a low-tech tank in soft water. At least I've seen low-tech tanks which seem packed out with more plants than mine and they seem to do better and I think the reason is their soft water.

 

[DerpPH]

Depends on the hardiness too. Dosing ferts and liquid Co2 like easy carbo and excel can boost your nutrient levels so they wont starve on nutrients

 

[Chaydell]

Is there a short plant I can use in a low light tank to act as flooring? I'm looking for a grassy type plant. Maybe even a moss. Any thoughts?

 

[pingu2013]

Echinodorus tenellus grows well for me no co2 or anything fancy