So, I want to try some plants first time in a long time.

ok, I'm in other parts of this forum, but I'm looking into lighting, and I have a diatom problem hat won't go away that I believe to be nitrate related. I'm going to use a water polisher and see if that helps at all but not optimistic.

my "on hold" plan was to upgrade my lighting from T5 fluorescent "color enhancing" bulb, to a full spectrum LED. my idea is to add nitrate consumers that will use up the nitrates that are in the water column, and plants that aren't "high tech"
my lighting currently isn' conducive to even algae growth diatoms is where it stops at.

My idea is to change the lighting, whic will then promote algae of course, which will get rid of the diatoms, but will just be another problem,

I'm looking for simple plant recommendations for beginners, that are water column feeder maybe, but definitely low tech, I dont' want to go into CO2, I have a 23" depth also,
I'd prefer not to have like soil or sand. Just my river rock bottom. I don't want to reinvent the wheel here. Just gets some beginner plants that might consume a good amount of nitrates and hopefully they take over and I don't just go from diatoms to green algae.
Oh and plants that stay in the tank, I don't want like Pothos or something like that growing all over the place.

So any recommendations of plants that could fit the bill? The easier and simpler the better for me. I have a LFS that carries many species of plants all submerged already as well as some that aren't.

 

I'd start off with:

Hygrophila corymbose or polysperma, perhaps mother plants (aka. large/tall ones). I'm pretty sure you can stick the roots between your rocks and just let it grow.

Hydrocotyle leucocephala; perhaps you have some suction cups left with a ring or anything that can hold a very slim stem. Place the cups at the back, close to the water surface, and have fun.

 

Hornwort is easy and grows fast.

 

Hey,

if it's diatoms, you have silicate issues, not nitrates.
Careful though, some bateria colonies look just like diatoms.

The mentioned hornwort is the best against diatoms. It's one of the only plants in our hobby, in fact I can't think of another one, that actually uses silicates for itself, stealing the diatoms' food. Moreover it's an expert at allelopathy, especially against algae, which makes it one of the greatest plants for your problems. (The allelopathy is not to be overestimated, but hey, every little bit is a win in my book)

Ruud already named my favorites and I'd like to add Limnophila sessiliflora. It's in the same ultraeasy-category as Hygrophila polysperma.

And of course, another great choice for your setup: Any Anubias and any Bucephalandra.

 

The two first plants that come to mind for your tank are hornwort and anacharis. These plants are easy to grow and grow fast. They also don't really root, so you won't need any sand or soil. You could let them float around freely or wedge them between your rocks. When they start looking ratty, pull them up, trim off the bottom parts, and re-wedge the tops.

 

Want floating plants ? All my tanks have guppy grass its easy and fast growing. Usually have to trim it back every 2-3 weeks

 

Want floating plants ? All my tanks have guppy grass its easy and fast growing. Usually have to trim it back every 2-3 weeks

I got to devise something to keep floaters out of my filter, I've got a wet/dry filter with an overflow surface box and while I can keep the plants out of the wet/dry itself they will get sucked in off the surface into the overflow box and jam up in there on the prefilter sponge. When I go to unclog that some of its going to wind up down in the filter, but I'm worried it may pile up in the overflow box and cause that to spill water.

Appreciate the thought but I'm going to stay away from floaters for now just in case until I figure out how best to keep the filtration clear of them.

 

I suggest Java Moss! Grows easily and can be nice to look at if attached to driftwood.

 

Need plants! I just closed up a 5g shrimp tank. Lots of westeria,suswasertang,hornwort and giant hygro! Pm me I’ll mail it to you tomorrow.

 

Hey,

if it's diatoms, you have silicate issues, not nitrates.
Careful though, some bateria colonies look just like diatoms.

The mentioned hornwort is the best against diatoms. It's one of the only plants in our hobby, in fact I can't think of another one, that actually uses silicates for itself, stealing the diatoms' food. Moreover it's an expert at allelopathy, especially against algae, which makes it one of the greatest plants for your problems. (The allelopathy is not to be overestimated, but hey, every little bit is a win in my book)

Ruud already named my favorites and I'd like to add Limnophila sessiliflora. It's in the same ultraeasy-category as Hygrophila polysperma.

And of course, another great choice for your setup: Any Anubias and any Bucephalandra.

Of course I have a deviant opinion . Silicates are not the cause of diatoms. They are a prerequisite. But so is water.

Besides, it has to be some type of silicic acid and not silicon dioxide ("silica"). Silicic acid is also taken in by plenty of plant species (crypts for instance).

​