nina_k

ok so still in the planning stage for my 4ft tank. now im thinking about plants. this is what im thinking. some driftwood as some sort of ornament, brazilian pennywart for the top, anubias barteri v nana, ceratopteris thalictroides, amazon sword, and some java moss to stick to a pot. does this sound any good? i don't really know much about plants at all and just looked for some stuff that looked good and wasn't rated difficult on plantgeek.net. i would like to have some red or yellow in the tank but it seems to require more light than those ones. im wanting to stock a dwarf gourami, 4 guppies, 6 harlaquins, and a bristlenose. thanks, Nina

Barbrella

What plants you can have really depends on your lighting!

Low light would be under 2 watts per gallon. Red plants require very high light, due to their lack of chlorophyll.

nina_k

thanks! so i would be going for low lighting for the tank? i haven't bought anything other than the tank yet

Barbrella

So you don't have a hood? If not, I would aim for lighting that creates 2 watts per gallon. With that much light, you can grow a wide variety of plants, without having to go high-tech if you don't want to.

There are even some plants that do have colour and can grow with that light.

Anubias
Cryptocorynes
Java Fern
Rotala - some have pink/red on them!
Ludwigia
Hygo
Wisteria

and probably more are good candidates for your tank. These are all plants I have that are doing very well in my 2 wpg!

If you want them to do really well, try a substrate like EcoComplete or Flourite.

nina_k

thanks. no, i don't have a hood. its good to know that i can get some reds in there because i am aiming for a colourful pretty tank. it is amazing how much of this hobby can be missed by only having listened to your petshop chain store!

Barbrella

I don't know what they told you at the petstore, but judging by everything I've ever heard at those places, it probably wasn't good advice.

You don't really need lots of coloured plants for a great tank. Different shades of green, various shapes and textures can be just as interesting.

Here's my low tech tank - everything grown with 2 wpg and I'm quite a newbie to planted, so anyone can do it!:

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