Live Plants

[EthanF]

hi i was wanting to buy some live plants for my aquarium and get rid of some of the plastic ones that, dont look so real. i also want the benefit of having live plants but i have no fertilizer or special substrate under my gravel and im simply not paying for co2, anyother suggestions? do you really need these things?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Reckon always a good thing to have live plants in a stocked tank.
 
Looks more natural and fish like it, as well as shrimps 

 
And no, you do not need to have C02 or ferts if you go with low tech plants like, Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias and Elodeas. There are qute a few plants that are not demanding, just a bit of research and you'll soon get the hang of it.
 
All pretty easy to look after and does not need any extra lighting either.

 

[jeffadams]

You can also do your own diy Co2 with yeast sugar and water. Its pretty cheap and will help your plants grow nice. Just throwing a suggestion out there. But live plants make the tank look great! Good luck!

 

[BerryAttack]

for a low tech, you can have a dirt tank, just add organic potting soil under the gravel substrate.. plant away and with the proper lighting you'll have no issue and have wonderful plants of you hands. also never having to fertilize the tank for a long time

 

[Tim95]

If you want some plants that don't require any of the above (Special Substrate, Co2 system, or fertilizers) Many species of Amazon Swords work, Anubis Nana work well, and most fish don't like to eat them (Bonus) Wisteria work, Java Fern work, if you anchor them to something (A rock or driftwood) Vallisneria also work.
 
A plant I found (I bought without knowing what it was) ended up being a Indian Swamp Weed. With the 1 I got, I ended up with 13 plants in the next 2 weeks, which now cover the bottom on my tank, Oriental Swords are another very beautiful plant, with a nice purple tinge. 
If you don't intend of using a Co@ system, don't try to use fertilizers, as they tend to end in string algea growing off your plants, also, don't worry about your plants if you add them to early, they will trhive in PH infested waters, but they will also slow your cycling process. 
Most plants you will find at your LFS will most likely work.

 

[daizeUK]

Tim, it is not correct that fertilizers cause algae.  All plants will benefit from a comprehensive liquid fertilizer although there is usually no need to add macro ferts (particularly nitrogen & phosphorus) unless you are using CO2 as the plants will be able to extract these from fish waste.  However plants will still benefit from being supplied with micro ferts (e.g. iron and trace elements) and this will not cause algae but does help to keep plants healthy.  If algae is seen in a tank this is due to other factors such as too much light and/or too little carbon.

 

[CrimsonBoli]

Also, Liquid carbon may help if you do not want a CO2 system