Wanting A Few Plants, Don't Know What To Get?

[TCroker]

Hello everyone. i currently have a 20 gallon tank with some serpae tetras and some painted tetras. i would like to add a few live plants to the tank if possible. i don't really know a whole lot about planted tanks so i was looking for some advice. i only have gravel at the bottom of the tank so i would need something that would be able to thrive on just that. currently i have a piece of driftwood with some flame moss on it and a castle. i want to remove the castle and center the driftwood and put some plants on the sides and towards the rear of the tank. i would like to get something that is easy to take care of and not have to mess around to much with fertilizers and such. any advice would be greatly appreciated. if there aren't any live plants that i could use i'm going to get some fake ones but would much rather some live ones and i'm sure my fish would as well. thank you!

 

[mike455555]

amazon sword - expect melting when first in tank, it will regrow, stick a root tab under it
java fern- attach to bog wood or rock,(super glue? cotten? your choice) dont burry as rhizome will rot and kill the plant
anubias - same as java fern
moss's- attach down or will float around and root all over the place
crypts- like to be tightly packed plant in substrate, with a root tab if you want
microchain swords- invasive and will spread well to form a carpet, likes light for fast growth

 

[KrystaK]

There are a variety of plants that would do fine in your tank. Rooting plants can do well in gravel as well as sand, a mixture is best but I've had plants in gravel do fine.

I would recommend you buy a full spectrum light if your really want plants. As unless the tank is by a window the plant's won't get the right spectrum of light to complete photosynthesis. (Keeping the tank by the window is not a good idea, algae will take over your tank with that much light) A full spectrum light from the pet store costs about 20$ (CAN)

Putting some sort of fertilizer in your tank is best if you want your plants to do well, it's as simple as buying an 8$ container of liquid fertilizer and adding a half cap (or however much is needed) every week with your water change. Or if you prefer getting the root tabs that you just stick in the gravel about an inch away from the base of your plant. I don't use these but usually the box tells you how long the tab lasts.

As far as a list of plants, some of the hardier ones are:

Java fern (This one is very hardy and grows well in most conditions, it can spread pretty quickly and requires some pruning)
Amazon Sword (This is a hardy plant, but it grows rather slowly. They can grow up to three feet around so pruning is a necessity)
Horn Wart (Is a floating plant that doesn't need any substrate, it can be placed in the substrate but it won't root, it's very easy to care for and grows quite quickly)
Java Moss (Is a moss that you can put on your drift wood, it grows slowly but can get very thick, it's good if you have live bearers and want to keep small fry in the tank)

Basically everything from the list above

 

[Ps3Steveo]

First thing to check is your lighting, what wattage is it and are your bulbs regular white? They may have a colour written on them or a K rating.