Plants for bettas!? (And plant newbie...)

[bellachan]

Hey guys! I am really wanting to start adding live plants to my fish tank. I want to start on my smaller tank, my 20 gallon divided betta tank. Do you guys have any suggestions on hardy plants? I really like the look of grass beds or tall grass walls. Unless you guys have a cookie cutter aquascape for me lol i'd appreciate that. I'm willing to get soil or whatever, and change my light bulbs (just have this regular yellow heat bulb thingy?) but i'm hoping not to get all into that confusing co2 or fancy stuff. Hope you guys can help!

 

[TJBender]

Java fern and java moss do very well in almost any conditions. Anubias nana are also great to have. Any of those three plants can be planted directly in the substrate or tied off to a decoration or driftwood. I believe that every single tank I own has at least two of those three in it.

Moneywort and water wisteria are also favorites of mine for betta tanks, as they can be planted or float on the surface, and bettas love floating plants. Marimo moss balls are also small, simple conversation pieces, and shrimp (if you have any) love them.

Lots of other plants out there, too, but those are my go-tos. There are lots of forms of vallisneria grass, both small and tall, that can be used to form walls, as can moneywort, wisteria, or any other stemmed plant. Check out this thread for some ideas:

 

[_Fried_Bettas_]

To add to TJs list, Any anubia species will work, I have a fondness for the broad leaf variety and some bettas like sitting on these wider leaves. Anubias golden have a nice different color to them. Any java fern species, I actually like the narrow leaf to the regular, and I really like the Windelov (lace java fern) variety, which doesn't look at all like the regular and narrow leaf. They are best tied or better yet superglued to a rock or driftwood, if you plant them in substrate you have to be careful not to bury the rhizome. The anubias, java ferns, and java moss and be planted and survive in just about any tank that has light at all. If you want them to grow, you should have a bulb of proper spectrum (close to 6700K). If you want to grow anything else you need a little more powerful light. Then I would add hornwort, vals, willow hygro, and my favorite group of plants, crypts. Crypts come in all kinds of colors and sizes and turn some people off because often they melt when you first put them in the tank and you have to wait for them to grow back.

In a low tech tank, the only way to get the grass look is micro chain swords, to grow this well you need either a plant substrate (eg EcoComplete) or fine gravel/sand with loads of root tabs. Standard gravel is not recommended for plants.