Getting Started with Plants

HI everyone! I'm just getting back into the hobby after a few years of just saltwater tanks! I'm really wanting to learn about keeping live plants in my aquarium with my fish. I'm just getting ready to set up my 90 gallon corner tank and I'd like to have a big wood or stone centerpiece with some plants around it. I'm looking for recommendations on easy to care for plants, what type of substrate I should use, etc! I'd really like to use sand in the front of the aquarium where I will be feeding to make it easier to clean and more aestheitc but I know that sand isn't a good choice for plants. Is there a way to separate sand and soil to have the best of both worlds?
Thanks in advance everyone!
I'll include a couple photos of my tank so that you have a visual of what I' working with!

 

Hi, Amydrewcat. I have sand substrate in my 40G (Caribsea Supernatural sand) and the plants are doing well. (Java Fern, Crypts, Anubis, etc...) Some are tough to keep rooted in the sand so I use small pebbles to anchor them better. I use root tabs and some liquid fertilizer. I did run into a hair algae issue recently. I think I was over feeding my fish and had the lights on for too long. Good luck!

 

Plain sand is the best for plants! Dose the water column with what the plants need and you're set.
Pool filter sand, play sand, black diamond blasting sand, silica sand, aquarium specific non-buffering sand etc. any sand that is inert will work.

Don't fall for Flourite / Eco-Complete nonsense, it's a complete waste of money that can be spent elsewhere. ADA aquasoil or similar styles of active substrates are worth the money, but do some research and see if a buffering substrate is right for you.

Easy to care for plants are abundant with a simple google search, provide them with light, nutrients and patience and you'll have success.

 

If you think sand isn't a good choice for plants, just stick some water wisteria cuttings in your sand and see what happens.

 

We've had mixed success with plants and like minimum effort maximum return so now we have Aponogeton on one side, Echinodorus on the other, Cryptocoryne for the front, some moss balls to hide roots and our favourite plant - Aponogeton Madagascariensis the Madagascan Lace plant (search for pics on the internet) - grows really quickly and is stunning. Your tank is three times the size of ours so Aponogeton which have leaves up to 60cm long would go well. As above, we also went for sand throughout - if you have a lot of plants there's not much need for vaccing and we only vac the front/ side of the tank where it's open and debris sometime accumulates. You should be able to get a planting substrate to add below a thick layer of sand (I think we used JBL Aquabasis cos it's what the fishstore recommended at the time) and, especially with these non-stem plants, root tabs (we use Seachem) work well with some liquid ferts too.

...and I'm sure we're all looking forward to pics when it's done - good luck!

 

This will contradict what others say about sand and ferts, but my 5 year old 90g


I have organic soil under the sand topped with gravel because I like the look of it. No fert dosing, only a root tab or two on occasion.

For your setup with a rock or driftwood centerpiece, I recommend some bolbitis seen on the shady left side of my 90g. It's attached to hardscape and grows very lacey wide leaves and super easy to take care of. Other easy plants for taller tanks are vallisneria spiralis, aponogenton and red tiger lotus. I like to add one or two stem plants to help use up more water nutrients and avoid algae. I have water lettuce growing well on the surface. Also crypt wendtiI and spiralis are good simple plants.

In my 120g, I use Brazilian pennywort and hygro angustifolia (now pantanol) and reneikiI sp.minI for stems with amazon and melon swords. And a little garden of emersed houseplants growing out the back gap.

 

This will contradict what others say about sand and ferts, but my 5 year old 90g
View attachment 637779
I have organic soil under the sand topped with gravel because I like the look of it. No fert dosing, only a root tab or two on occasion.

For your setup with a rock or driftwood centerpiece, I recommend some bolbitis seen on the shady left side of my 90g. It's attached to hardscape and grows very lacey wide leaves and super easy to take care of. Other easy plants for taller tanks are vallisneria spiralis, aponogenton and red tiger lotus. I like to add one or two stem plants to help use up more water nutrients and avoid algae. I have water lettuce growing well on the surface. Also crypt wendtiI and spiralis are good simple plants.

In my 120g, I use Brazilian pennywort and hygro angustifolia (now pantanol) and reneikiI sp.minI for stems with amazon and melon swords. And a little garden of emersed houseplants growing out the back gap.

Thank you! Beautiful tank!

 

We've had mixed success with plants and like minimum effort maximum return so now we have Aponogeton on one side, Echinodorus on the other, Cryptocoryne for the front, some moss balls to hide roots and our favourite plant - Aponogeton Madagascariensis the Madagascan Lace plant (search for pics on the internet) - grows really quickly and is stunning. Your tank is three times the size of ours so Aponogeton which have leaves up to 60cm long would go well. As above, we also went for sand throughout - if you have a lot of plants there's not much need for vaccing and we only vac the front/ side of the tank where it's open and debris sometime accumulates. You should be able to get a planting substrate to add below a thick layer of sand (I think we used JBL Aquabasis cos it's what the fishstore recommended at the time) and, especially with these non-stem plants, root tabs (we use Seachem) work well with some liquid ferts too.

...and I'm sure we're all looking forward to pics when it's done - good luck!

Thank you!

 

Thank you! 4] Beautiful tank!

Thank you Just to show how easy it can be when you pick the right plants. Some plant inspiration for your 90g, you can see the scale size.