Bishop169

OK my tank is pretty well established

ph firm at 7.5 nitrate and nitrites 0

I'm not sure about hard or soft but I know I dont get those calcium deposits. So i'm guessing soft

30g With a coral life light off my buddies salt he used to keep his reef tank alive

I have a fine to small sized gravel

Fish I have a few guppies hard to get an exact count keep revolving them to nursery tank but lets say 6
2 fancy lyria sword tails
1Whip tail pleco
2 Kuile Loaches
2 upside down catfish (that you never see) Not sure if they are still alive or not
and 1 Afrcan dwarf frog

So for the plant people what would you suggest for that set-up for plants

I was thinking some ferns but I have no real clue what plants would be good and I would rather not need pots.
What are good starter plants?

Are there plants that would take in just gravel or would i need to put sand or something under the gravel?

Is there any colorful underwater plants other then green?

Barbrella

The fact that you're showing zero nitrates makes me think the tank is not cycled yet. Are you getting any ammonia readings?

Plus, the african dwarf frog should really be kept on his own, since they prefer shallower water, and cannot compete with fish for food.

Anyway, to suggest plants we need to know how many watts of lighting you have? For a 30 gallon tank, you'll need about 60 watts minimum to grow low/medium light plants. You can check this plant guide for plants in those categories. It also tells you the level of difficulty:
http://plantgeek.net/plantguide.php

Yes, there are plants with different colours like red, but any plant that is not all green needs quite high light since they are deficient in chlorophyll. At lower light, they lose their colour.

Bishop169

my tanks been running almost 8 months with little to no nitrates.

My AFD loves the sinking shrimp pellets All the other seems to be top feeders and dont bother the pellets till the food on top is gone

Thanks for the link

SCC

I am just getting into plants, so I don't have much experience. However, I have added Java Fern to all my tanks, and Nitrates have reduced. The ferns are producing new plants, so I'm assuming they are getting what they need. I have less than 1 watt per gallon, as I'm using the lights that came with the tank. Maybe Java Fern can do OK without special lighting

Bishop169

For lights i'm running http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...3&pcatid=13733

With a 50/50 65w I believe

Barbrella

I have a 20 gal planted tank, with just medium/small gravel and the plants seem to be rooting okay. My pleco fertilizes them just fine!

The gravel should be at least 1 1/2"+ deep for good rooting to take place.

Bishop169

OK so with the help of my LFS

I added another 10lbs of gravel to my tank and now am the proud owner of some live plants.

I got some peacock ferns and some java moss to make my buddha statue more colorfull a few bannana plants and another forget the name right now

Butterfly

I am so sorry to have to tell you that Peacock fern isn't a true aquatic. It's scientific name is Selaginella Willdenowii and it's common name is Willendow's spike moss. It may live for a short time submerged but will eventually die.
The other plants sound great.
Carol

Bishop169

Aww thats aweful I love the peacock ferns well they will be a nice addition while they live