# beginner plants?



## BrokeNewbie (Mar 21, 2012)

I'm looking to add a plant to my basic rectangle 15 gal freshwater tank, sick of the fake look of the plastic plants. I have a basic white gravel on the bottom, and I want to keep my tropical beach theme. I have a small group of Neon Tetra and thinking of adding a couple Guppies. Any advice on what kind of plant may be a good fit for my tropical setting?


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

A lot of what decides what plants you can have depends on the kind of light that you have. You'll want at least 1.5 watts per gallon (wattage of the light divided by gallons of the tank) should let you grow a decent variety. With that kind of light, you can grow low-medium light plants, which are usually very easy. Make sure though, that your light is meant for growing plants.

You'll also need to consider fertilizers, since fish alone usually can't provide all the nutrients that plants need. These can be as easy as root tabs (for swords, crypts, and root-feeding plants) that you stick into the substrate and leave for 1-2 months.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Good easy plants that usually require very little light and nutrients are java fern,most mosses,crypts and anubias species.

As Kay said the more light the more types of plants you can have.What kind of lights do you have?


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## dclark61 (Jan 21, 2012)

BrokeNewbie said:


> I'm looking to add a plant to my basic rectangle 15 gal freshwater tank, sick of the fake look of the plastic plants. I have a basic white gravel on the bottom, and I want to keep my tropical beach theme. I have a small group of Neon Tetra and thinking of adding a couple Guppies. Any advice on what kind of plant may be a good fit for my tropical setting?


I have an Eclipse System 12 which, with a 13 watt bulb, has barely over one watt per gallon. In it I have java fern, pennywort, and anubias nana. All are doing well, and the java fern has actually grown a fairly good amount.


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## BrokeNewbie (Mar 21, 2012)

It is a 20 inch flourescent 19 watt 60hz. Doing some research I noticed this light set up is basic for a 10gal tank. Would this be strong enough for my 15gal or should I shop for something else? The only freshwater plants available in my area are java ferns. It's a bummer that I don't have any decent stores around other than petsmart and petco.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

BrokeNewbie said:


> I'm looking to add a plant to my basic rectangle 15 gal freshwater tank, sick of the fake look of the plastic plants. I have a basic white gravel on the bottom, and I want to keep my tropical beach theme. I have a small group of Neon Tetra and thinking of adding a couple Guppies. Any advice on what kind of plant may be a good fit for my tropical setting?


I like anacharis and vals as easy plants.

You could also take a look at the link in my signature for more suggestions.

my .02


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## z1200 (Jan 26, 2012)

Hygrophilia difformis, could even trim it up to look like a palm tree.


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## Hawk1018 (Apr 12, 2012)

I have less then one watt per gallon on my 55 and the plants that are doing best are the hornwort, crypts, and anubias. I also have some vals, java fern, amazon swords that are not showing much... But healthy looking. Also have some water sprite floating that is starting to show some roots.


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## dclark61 (Jan 21, 2012)

BrokeNewbie said:


> It is a 20 inch flourescent 19 watt 60hz. Doing some research I noticed this light set up is basic for a 10gal tank. Would this be strong enough for my 15gal or should I shop for something else? The only freshwater plants available in my area are java ferns. It's a bummer that I don't have any decent stores around other than petsmart and petco.


You'll have more watts/gal than I have on my tank, and as I said, my plants are doing fine. Just focus on "low light" plants. Really it's the distance from the light to the plants that is relevant. My java fern is mounted on a piece of wood so that it is only a couple of inches from the surface, and I actually see oxygen bubbles forming on the leaves during the day.

If you don't mind shopping online, there are plenty of places from which you can order plants and have them delivered. I got some of my plants from an eBay seller.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

There are a ton of people on here and elsewhere in the hobby that would be happy to sell you some plants that would be good for beginners. (self promotion? noooo) Usually people on here give you a better deal on plants than just some petstore or some anonymous person online.


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## hanky (Jan 18, 2012)

+1 ^, I just started getting into live plants myself and got some from people here, they were very healthy and I knew I was getting good plants. People at my petsmart/petco had no idea about certain plants and were no help, actually they sold me "aquarium" plant that I later found out was not intended to be in water. ( go figure). Although I have'nt dealt with Kehy for plants "yet" from what I've read everyone who has has been totally satisfied. and even with shipping costs you'll find better deals here than at LFS. check out the classified forum.


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## BrokeNewbie (Mar 21, 2012)

Sweet! On my way to the classified forum. Ya'll are the best, thanks for the input. As a beginner I really appreciate the honest info!


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

hahaha, no problem, we're here to help!


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