# Thinking about some plants



## danilykins (Dec 22, 2010)

I have a 10 gal freshwater tank with a platy, a mystery snail and some guppys. I was thinking about adding some plants to the tank. What kind of plants are good for starter plants that the snail wont eat and will be easy to care for? and is there a place here that I can find plant listings or anywhere on the web that is a good site for looking for plants? TIA


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

i really love Java Ferns and Anubias. they need very little light and they look great, they are so easyyyyyyy to care for, especially the java ferns. i've bought some super nice ones from most any major chain fish store, like petco and petsmart.
even my goldfish won't eat these, so there you go. good luck


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Add to that Wisteria, anacharis, cabomba (unsure of light requirement)....these you should easily be able to find at your lfs.

You could go a step further and change your light and substrate and even go a little more and add a DIY CO2. All depends on how far you want to take it.


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## danilykins (Dec 22, 2010)

cool thanks  I don't want to over do it with lots of plants, but it would be nice to add a little something to the tank, get rid of the silk plants and get some real ones


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Those plants should do fairly well in standard gravel also.


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## danilykins (Dec 22, 2010)

Ooooh I really like the Anubias plants... I can get these from petco/petsmart?
I really wish I could find a smaller more personal shop than these chain stores *sigh*


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I've only seen them sell the Anubias attched to pieces of wood. I guess you can always remove and do with what you want if you didn't like it.


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

Dani, i know what you mean, a 10 gallon is a perfect little-no trouble tank. you have a great mix in there! lovely easy fish that all get along. i sure know what you mean about not going overboard. the anubias and java ferns, you can literally TOSS them in the tank and walk away. i have a goldfish tank filled with both and they just float and grow very nicely. Petco sells some nice anubias in tiny plastic pots with pretty big plants in the tiny plastic pots (they have a whole two tanks with just plants and Petcos are all the same inside). i cut the plastic pot off and toss them in the tank. they have this cotton stuff on the roots, i just left it on, when it starts to fall off eventually i take it off. these two plant types have nice hardy leaves that don't make a mess in the tank. in fact they help keep the tank clean cuz they (plants) love ammonia!
i know the smaller stores are nice, you may find these two types at a small store too!


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## danilykins (Dec 22, 2010)

How does the plants mess with the water quality? Ph? nitrate nitrites??


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

danilykins said:


> How does the plants mess with the water quality? Ph? nitrate nitrites??


the plants balance out and stabilize the water quality.

ammonia->nitrItes->nitrates are plant food. pH rises because the plants consume carbon dioxide. plus they also return oxygen.

Stability is vastly improved because the plants actually prefer to consume ammonia over nitrates for nitrogen. So if something goes bump in the night and ammonia spikes up then the plants consume the ammonia increase preventing a parmeter spike that would otherwise crash the tank.


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

I'll throw in my $0.02 as well...

Plants have almost zero downsides from what I've found. Many can be planted and have almost zero care and will grow and provide many benefits. The main thing you will need to consider is lighting. You really need about 2 watts per gallon florescent light to grow plants well. If your 10G hood takes standard light bulbs, buy the spiral florescent, and get 'daylight' bulbs (6500K) which will give the right color light for plant growth. If it is a standard florescent bulb, at least try to get a bulb that is somewhere between 5000K and 10000K color.

Aim for "low light" plants, as they're more carefree and will grow better.
I've had very good luck with wisteria, vals, java moss, crypts. If you get some plants that want more nutrients out of the soil, (swords are like this, but they would be way too large for your tank) get some root tablets to go in the gravel underneath.

edit: One downside I forgot about is snails. If you don't like snails, you may want to get some sort of snail eater in your tank. If you add live plants you will inevitably get snails in your tank, and if you overfeed, even a bit, you will get a LOT of snails in your tank.
Good luck!


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

beaslbob said:


> the plants actually prefer to consume ammonia over nitrates for nitrogen.


so glad i found this site! i was waiting for someone to dispute my comment that plants love ammonia, good to see there are some folks who are knowledgeable.

on the 10 gallon tanks that most people get, there are the standard bulbs. kmart, walmart, in the pet dept sells little fluorescent screw in bulbs that will fit because they are long hotdog shaped bulbs about 5 inches long, and will be FINE for easy low light plants (i've done it).
i say this because if a new tank owner is overwhelmed with worrying about how many Kelvins their bulb has, they may just get overwhelmed. and frankly any fluorescent will do for a java fern in a 10 gallon and we pretty much all know that 
Dani, my 1st tank was a 10 gallon when I was about 10 years old. I still have dreams once in a blue moon that I have to feed my fish in that tank


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sand said:


> *so glad i found this site!* i was waiting for someone to dispute my comment that plants love ammonia, good to see there are some folks who are knowledgeable.
> 
> ...


me 2

FWIW some sites, reef/saltwater sites in my experience, Simply don't get that fact. Back is 2003 or so when I started posting at those sites I was banned for those types of statements.

fortunately mother nature just pressed on and now even saltwater/reef sites have rediscovered the effects of plant life.


my .02


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

what does beaslbob mean? reminds me of "Beelzebub" as in, one of the names of the "Devil" hahah, wait.... that's not funny!


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sand said:


> what does beaslbob mean? reminds me of "Beelzebub" as in, one of the names of the "Devil" hahah, wait.... that's not funny!


Oh really?

Hmmmmm























*old dude

bob beasley=beaslbob. 

Cute huh?*r2


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## sand (Dec 21, 2010)

hmmmmmmmmmmmm, well okay then  hahhaha *old dude


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