Skadunkadunk

I have never had live plants before, and planning on getting them for a 30 gallon tank I'm getting over the summer, and I was wondering what plants would be good for a beginner? The tank will have zebra danios, mollies, and an angelfish. Also how should I take care of the live plants, what will I need to plant them, and when should I put them into the tank?

Isabella

If you have standard lighting (in a 30G tank, a standard lightbulb will have around 20 watts), get low-light plants. More demanding plants will die and rot under low light. Some examples of the plants that are considered low-light and hardy are: java fern, java moss, and various anubias. I personally have water sprite that also grows well under low light. I hear that various vallisneria species also are quite good for low-light tanks. Plus, angelfish love plants like vallisneria because it complements their body shape - which is tall.

If you get low light plants, you either tuck them into your gravel or tie them to your decor where they grow their roots - depending on the plant type. Or you can get floating plants. You can put them in your tank anytime you want, however maybe it's better to put them there once all of your fish are already in the tank - so that the fish produce wastes which then become the plants' food. For more information on low-light plants, and more plant information in general, go to PlantGeek.com.

0morrokh