What Plants Should I Get?

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Java Moss can sort of work as a carpeting plant, but it doesn’t work out for most people.

It’s working sort of well in my 10g:
View attachment 135136
Some people call it messy, but I kind of like the look of it.

I second the Vals and the Amazon Swords.
Do you have any alternatives? It is a little too messy for me. Maybe I could try it out in the planted section of my 170L or something. Would be nice for the shrimp possibly.
 
Do you have any alternatives? It is a little too messy for me. Maybe I could try it out in the planted section of my 170L or something. Would be nice for the shrimp possibly.
Most carpeting plants need high powered lights and some even require Co2.

You could try dwarf Hairgrass once it comes back in stock. That is an easy plant to grow.
 
Most carpeting plants need high powered lights and some even require Co2.

You could try dwarf Hairgrass once it comes back in stock. That is an easy plant to grow.
does monte carlo or japonica need high light or no
 
does monte carlo or japonica need high light or no
Not sure about “japonica”, never heard of that one.

Monte Carlo does benefit greatly from Co2, but it’s not necessarily. Some say Monte Carlo grows best when it’s started dry, while others have had success in growing it from tissue cultures.

As long as @PlasticGalaxy‘s light is decent, it should work out. The more powerful the light, the faster the carpet will spread.

Liquid fertilizers will also make this plant spread rapidly.
 
Not sure about “japonica”, never heard of that one.

Monte Carlo does benefit greatly from Co2, but it’s not necessarily. Some say Monte Carlo grows best when it’s started dry, while others have had success in growing it from tissue cultures.

As long as @PlasticGalaxy‘s light is decent, it should work out. The more powerful the light, the faster the carpet will spread.

Liquid fertilizers will also make this plant spread rapidly.
oh that's good, i have seachem flourish
oh my bad i meant

Hydrocotyle Tripartita Japan

not japonica, japonica is a val like thing
 
Right now my 54L tank for guppies (and hopefully otocinclus by Autumn) has amazon frogbit, some elodea densa and java moss (which isn't growing all too well so far but we'll see). I'm hoping to get some more plants in, since the main idea was to have it be a planted tank.

Any suggestions? It's not got much hardscaping aside from a few large lumps of slate/rock, so it's a completely free space.

I'd like some larger plants that make it look sort of like a rainforest or something, if that's anything to go by.

My current ideas were maybe some anubias or something else with big, exotic looking leaves to fill out space in the tank. I'd also really like a carpeted tank "floor".

Here's a photo of the tank in all its cruddy glory. Sorry about the bad angle + lighting!

View attachment 135135
The rocks look to spaced in a row. I like things natural looking. Clump them up a bit. It will give you more planting room and hollows for the fish to swim through. The black sand is a great choice for a planted tank. Green or red plants will stand out well from the black. Much depends on your fish you have and may still get. But a very cool looking and feathery type plant, is the Cabomba, green or red or purple. Look it up if you don't know it. It's easy to grow, (honest) and looks a bit like plants from the movie, Avatar! Also, the Manzanita wood is great. I'm lucky it grows all over the hills where I live. You can stand it up or poke it down to look like roots in a pond. It's a highly sought after wood in the aquarium hobby and quite expensive in stores. Cut out some of the floating plants if your going full on planted tank. They need a lot of light. I also have DIY CO2.... Yeast and sugar. Costs me about 60 cents a week. So my plants grow massive fast. And deep red if that's what you want. Also, if your adding wood, you may want to think of a moss creeping on the wood. Java moss grows quick. But I prefer the Christmas moss. Be sure to add up date photos so we can see the growth. Good luck!
 
Not sure about “japonica”, never heard of that one.

Monte Carlo does benefit greatly from Co2, but it’s not necessarily. Some say Monte Carlo grows best when it’s started dry, while others have had success in growing it from tissue cultures.

As long as @PlasticGalaxy‘s light is decent, it should work out. The more powerful the light, the faster the carpet will spread.

Liquid fertilizers will also make this plant spread rapidly.
I've got the same light as you, I'm pretty sure. Nicrew Classic LED. Might have been someone else, I've got really bad memory hahaha. I keep it on from about 12PM to 9PM every day on the white setting.

The rocks look to spaced in a row. I like things natural looking. Clump them up a bit. It will give you more planting room and hollows for the fish to swim through.
It used to be in a big pile, but I moved the rocks when I was cleaning the sand a few days back. I'll put them back in after I'm done adding a few bits and pieces.
The black sand is a great choice for a planted tank. Green or red plants will stand out well from the black. Much depends on your fish you have and may still get. But a very cool looking and feathery type plant, is the Cabomba, green or red or purple. Look it up if you don't know it. It's easy to grow, (honest) and looks a bit like plants from the movie, Avatar!
I'll definitely have a look into different plants. I've always thought the plants with some red looked quite exciting.
Also, the Manzanita wood is great. I'm lucky it grows all over the hills where I live. You can stand it up or poke it down to look like roots in a pond. It's a highly sought after wood in the aquarium hobby and quite expensive in stores. Cut out some of the floating plants if your going full on planted tank. They need a lot of light. I also have DIY CO2.... Yeast and sugar. Costs me about 60 cents a week. So my plants grow massive fast. And deep red if that's what you want. Also, if your adding wood, you may want to think of a moss creeping on the wood. Java moss grows quick. But I prefer the Christmas moss.
I've seen some stuff about Christmas moss lately. Would you say it's any good?
Be sure to add up date photos so we can see the growth. Good luck!
Thanks! I do have a journal but it's pretty outdated and completely deviates from what I'm doing now... You can have a look at the original plans in the 54L guppy tank journal in my signature. It's not that thrilling of a read though lol. Maybe I'll revamp it or something.
 
I've seen some stuff about Christmas moss lately. Would you say it's any good?
Christmas Moss is similar to Java Moss, except CM almost grows in ‘sheets’:
A9BF3106-30BF-4A46-A260-3BCD8EF7A84C.jpeg


I've got the same light as you, I'm pretty sure. Nicrew Classic LED. Might have been someone else, I've got really bad memory hahaha. I keep it on from about 12PM to 9PM every day on the white setting.
I’m sure the LED classic would work for Monet Carlo. ?
 
I've got the same light as you, I'm pretty sure. Nicrew Classic LED. Might have been someone else, I've got really bad memory hahaha. I keep it on from about 12PM to 9PM every day on the white setting.


It used to be in a big pile, but I moved the rocks when I was cleaning the sand a few days back. I'll put them back in after I'm done adding a few bits and pieces.

I'll definitely have a look into different plants. I've always thought the plants with some red looked quite exciting.

I've seen some stuff about Christmas moss lately. Would you say it's any good?

Thanks! I do have a journal but it's pretty outdated and completely deviates from what I'm doing now... You can have a look at the original plans in the 54L guppy tank journal in my signature. It's not that thrilling of a read though lol. Maybe I'll revamp it or something.
I like xmas moss. Yes it's good, but not as fast growing as java. But once established, it takes off. I use the super glue GEL to attch it to rocks and plants. Also, if your going planted, you NEED snails. I always hated snails. But I've learned that they are part of an Eco-friendly tank and necessary.
 
I like xmas moss. Yes it's good, but not as fast growing as java. But once established, it takes off. I use the super glue GEL to attch it to rocks and plants. Also, if your going planted, you NEED snails. I always hated snails. But I've learned that they are part of an Eco-friendly tank and necessary.
Some pest snails will eat plants, so I would be wary of that.

Maybe get a few Nerite snails.
 
Some pest snails will eat plants, so I would be wary of that.

Maybe get a few Nerite snails.
I like xmas moss. Yes it's good, but not as fast growing as java. But once established, it takes off. I use the super glue GEL to attch it to rocks and plants. Also, if your going planted, you NEED snails. I always hated snails. But I've learned that they are part of an Eco-friendly tank and necessary.
What about rabbit snails? I love those. Been looking out for nerites too.
 

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