Never had real plants before

[Durbkat]

I've been thinking about switching all my tanks to sand and putting live plants in them. So could someone tell my all the plants that can be put in my tanks that can survive without all that extra stuff like co2 and fertilizer? And some pics would be nice as well.

[|V|][{|-|/\[-|_]

You might try www.aquariumplants.com for some information on that. They have articles that give great information about keeping plants, as well as a list of good beginner plants. They're also a fantastic place to order from. I got a great deal of plants there and their portions are good, quality was excellent and I only got 1 snail who was quickly eradicated. You can also get some good information from www.plantgeek.net.

[Alin10123]

You would probably need some lighting to go with that. If this is for your 55 gallon, you will need at least 2 watts per gallon. I've previous tried with just a smple plant lights you buy at petsmart. Those dont work. Your plants will die out eventually from lack of lighting. There are only a handful of plants you can keep without adequate lighting or CO2 or substrate.

[Durbkat]

Well its for both my 10g and 55g, I'm thinking about changing to sand. In my 10g it has a 15 watt bulb and the 55g has a marine land natural light 18" strip on each side, for some reason it doesn't have a wattage on it. So are these bright enough lights for plants?

I could also go to my lps soon and look at their plants and write down names of plants I like, would that help narrow down what I could get?

[nero66]

dwarf hair grasshttp://www.plantgeek.net/plant-115.htm has worked for me also maybe Amazon melon swordhttp://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_viewer.php?id=97 is a choice

[flamingo]

Fertilizers and higher lighting depend on what plants you want. Stuff like java moss, java ferns, and straight vallisneria don't need the greatest lighting or ferts.

If you want a great starter plant the won't die easily try straight vallisneria. Awesome plant that reproduces like crazy. Just trim it down if it takesover!

[Durbkat]

Do you have a pic of one flaming?

[JustOneMore20]

In your 10g, I'd upgrade the lighting. Right now you are at 1.5 watts per gallon, which is considered pretty low for that size tank. If you can find a 20 or 30 watt bulb, that would be better.

If you keep that lighting, I'd stick with anubias nana, cryptocorynes, java fern, and java moss. You may be able to grow wisteria. I'd also try the vallisneria.

You can make do with the 10g light, but the 55g will definitely need more light. I doubt that 18" bulb is strong enough. It is probably 30 or 40 watts, maybe lower. That puts you under 1 watt per gallon, which is really low. You could probably grow the anubias and crypts in this tank, but they are very slow growers. You'd have more options with more light.

Check out Hello Lights
Drs Foster and Smith
Big Al's for lighting options. I'd go with 2 55 or 65 watt compact fluorescent bulbs. That will give you around ~2 watts per gallon which will allow you to grow low and medium light plants.

My 55g has 2 65 watt compact fluorescent bulbs over it.

(sorry for the bad picture)

[flamingo]

Hopefully you don't have much trouble finding them. I've been raising them lately and have a few starting to take off. If you like them check the auctions every once in a while because I may have some starters up.

They're a great "filler" plant and the fish love to dart around in it if you have enough. Pretty much all you need to do is put it in the spot you and want with enough room, turn the lights on everyday, and wait for it to grow. Usually it starts filling out it's little space within 2-3 weeks. If it sends of shoots then you know it's doing good, I usually cut them off when the new plant is a few inche slong and has a good root system though, easier to raise them this way.