add plants to a up and running tank

ok so I have a 60 gallon tank with 3 gouramis 1 betta and 4 cory cats. there's three fake plants and I wanted to upgrade to real plants. I don't know any thing about aquarium plants. I have sand in my tank with fake drift wood and fake plants. I talked to a lady at petsmart and she said she thinks I need to add flora max to the tank. So when I heard that she thinks and doesn't know I stopped asking questions at pet smart. but I went to youtube and saw some videos were they added this plant soul stuff at the very bottom of the tank before adding gravel or sand. so does this been I have to drain my tank completely and add flora max or what.

 

No, I didn't do that. When I first got plants, they didn't do so well, but now that I give them ferts they're doing great. I feed my plants seachem root tabs and flourish (liquid). Since I started using the root tabs I noticed a lot of growth in my swords, and the liquid helped my crypts a ton. Petsmart and Petco sell plants in plastic tubes, don't get these because they're usually not aquatic. Private LFS's are the best places to find good plants, or you can order them online if you don't mind paying for shipping. Good luck. Plants make a big difference in the tank, and the fish love them.

 

Welcome to FishLore!

I really can't help with the plants, but I can say that you probably will have trouble with the gourami's and the betta getting along.

 

welcome to the site!

what kind of lights are you running? you will not need to change your substrate as long as you have the right lighting and not get any really high maintenance plants.

 

All my plants re growing in egular aquarium gravel. Depending on your plants you may need to add some root tab fertilizers, but no you do not "Need" a special substrate.

 

well to be honest the male betta and male gouramis get along good for the most part. I have caught them swimming together from time to time.

 

Good morning,

I have moved your thread from Freshwater Beginners to Aquarium Plants section of the forum.

Now that the member is aware of compatibility issues with his/her fish, let's please stay on the topic of Aquarium Plants.

Thanks!

Ken

I have merged your duplicate threads. Please only create 1 thread per topic. Multiple threads on the same subject by the same member can be very confusing.

 

I agree, I had a jungle in my 75 and it really starts with the lights. I will say the finer substrate was a little easier to plant in but that was about it.

Once you get the lighting figured out then you know where your going. It all starts there.

 

I had an extremely low light 55 gallon 'progressively planted' (AKA had the tank and everything figured out and then went onto plants, such as you are doing) and it turned out really well! I started with java moss, since everyone seemed to say it was the thing nobody could kill.... and I killed it. I don't know how, but it just never grew. But then I bought a of the 'betta bulbs' you can get and out of a packet of about 4 or 5, only two plants grew. But those two plants were going strong so I decided it wouldn't hurt to mail back the ones that didn't grow and get a few more free bulbs to try out. I sent the 3 bulbs back and received in return a bulging envelope of 15 or 20 bulbs! And out of that new bunch, every single one grew into a healthy plant that produced more baby plants. Confidence restored I bought a little anibus, a Java fern, and watersprite and had great sucess with all of those. Unfortunately that tank had to be emptied on quick notice so I wasn't able to save any plants from it.

The moral of this story? Just try some cheap low light plants. Experiment. See what people are doing, and what different sites recommend and attempt. Some plants will die. Others, maybe the ones you least expect, will thrive! You never really know how it will turn out. Plants have gone from decorations to the stars of the tank for me, and never once was I tempted to get plant substrate, or co2.

 

What do you have for lighting? Planted tank all starts with the light.

Some good low light beginner plants would be Java Fern and Anubias which are amphibians-tied to driftwood, rocks and other decor. Rubber bands or fishing line work well until they anchor themselves. There are also some Crypts that can be inserted into the substrate. With a root tab for food. Like Flourish Root Tabs. Start with those plants and see how things fair. Then maybe Watersprite and Vals.

 

Some good low light beginner plants would be Java Fern and Anubias which are amphibians-tied to driftwood, rocks and other decor.

Had to laugh, funniest typo ever

I grow a selection of java moss, christmas moss, and anything else which will grow when I chuck it in my tanks

 

Had to laugh, funniest typo ever

I grow a selection of java moss, christmas moss, and anything else which will grow when I chuck it in my tanks

my turn to laugh lol

Then again that is kinda how I started, hmm well lets see if I don't kill this now.

 

Had to laugh, funniest typo ever

I grow a selection of java moss, christmas moss, and anything else which will grow when I chuck it in my tanks

. I didn't even notice that! Hahaha.