# Easy Starter Plant?



## TylerFlom89 (Mar 28, 2005)

Whats the easiest plant for someone whos never had plants before? I'm planing on puttiing some small fish in a 10 gallon, and figure I might as well start trying to learn how to manage plants, as i would like to put some in my 55 gallon someday. So whats the easiest plant to start with? Are there any kits or guides to how to do it?


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## icp (Jan 18, 2005)

maybe try Anacharis an Cabomba they are available at most lfs and in my experience they are ez the keep alive :mrgreen: 



Cabomba - http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=796

Anacharis- http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=780


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## DavidDoyle (Jan 18, 2005)

java moss, java ferns and anubias all do fine in low light and dont even need gravel- they attach to rock and wood. In stems would try water sprite and hygro polysperma which can also be floated. none of them need any special care beyond light and naormally present food from fish waste and water changes. You can do these plants easily with about 10-15 watts of light.


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## TylerFlom89 (Mar 28, 2005)

WHat equipment do I need?


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## DavidDoyle (Jan 18, 2005)

For the plants I and most others listed you need almost nothing special at all. Both the stem plants as well as the ferns and moss are mainly leaf feeders and therefore do fine w/o any gravel at all. The stems can be floated and the rest tied to rocks, wood or other decor to which they will attch over time.

With low light levels the nutrients produced by the fish and uneaten food and from regular water changes will usually be sufficient for the plants especially if you keep them pruned to optimal size/quantity for the tank.


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## Magdelaine (Apr 9, 2005)

Hi, I just came across this thread. I have a 10 gallon tank that I just started and I really want to have plants...

So, to reiterate, if I use the plant species mentioned with 2" of gravel and my regular florescent hood light I will be able to grow these? I don't want to get into fancy substrates or (God forbid) CO2 supplementation, I just want some nice green in my tank (and not the algae kind).

Thanks!


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Those plants listed above will be fine, with the exception of camboba. Asian Ambulia is a good substitute for it though. One thing to remember, with most easy growing plants, they will not grow fast.


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## lizardbill86 (Apr 12, 2005)

My only plant experience is with my java fern, which has been moved once since I brought it home, and seems to be growing nicely. I stuck in a fertalizer pellet that should last it 4 months or so, and it seems very strong and healthy. I'd recommend a java fern for someones first live aquarium plant. I wanted to try java moss, but my pet store didn't have it.


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

I would also veto Cabomba as a starter plant. It looked fine in my tank for a few weeks, and then fell apart. Evidently, this is what they usually do, unless you provide them with alot of light & ferts & CO2, or else you just happen to get lucky!

I would like to add cryptocornes to the list of easy plants. I have three different kinds of them in 2 low-tech tanks and they are doing fine. (Although I don't have plain gravel as a substrate, I have Flourite in pots in one tank and soil + gravel in another. I'm not sure how well crypts would grow in plain gravel.)

It helps to know whether you have soft or hard water. There are some plants that will grow very well in hard water that won't grow as well in soft water. I have hard water and have very good luck with hornwort and vallis. I have heard that anacharis is also a very good hardwater plant, but I haven't tried that one yet. Anacharis would be good if you have just plain gravel, as it doesn't have much in the way of roots; it takes almost all its nutrients in through its leaves.

Water sprite is supposed to be an easy plant to grow, but it's not doing all that well in my tank. Probably because it's a soft water plant. Or maybe I don't have enough light (I have 1.5WPG in that tank, and I'm trying to grow it submerged). 

I haven't tried ambulia yet. If the water sprite doesn't pick up soon, I might replace it with dwarf ambulia (technical name limnophila sessiflora).


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## Magdelaine (Apr 9, 2005)

I have hard water, although I haven't tested it to know exactly how hard.

I would be willing to use a small pot of soil and gravel for a crypt if I could find one. It looks like a great corner plant...


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, I am a big fan of crypts, and I agree that they would make great corner plants, but which corner they would work best in depends on the crypt you get! I have some cypt wendii which are quite small and do great in the foreground (they are in the front left corner of my 20 gallon tank), and I have some crypt crispulata var balansae which is very tall and make a great background plant (they are in the back right corner). 

Here's an article about using pots with soil and gravel in the tank:
http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.9607/msg00272.html
This guy fills his pots almost to the top with soil, leaving only 1/4" for the gravel. I don't think this is enough gravel on top to keep the soil in place and would leave 1" space for the gravel. Note that I haven't actually tried soil + gravel in pots, but I do have one tank with a soil + gravel substrate, and the 3/4" to 1" of gravel I have is definitely necessary there to keep everything in place.

Other people use plain clay pots (new ones, so you don't have any germs or nasty chemicals stored in the clay) soaked for a couple of days before use. 

The main disadvantage of my soil + gravel substrate is that the humic substances in the soil have turned the water yellow, but if you only put a few pots in your tank, I don't think that would generate enough humic substances to change your water color noticably.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Common crypt (meaning the ones you will find at your lfs) will do fine. And the Asian Ambulia you're thinking about getting, Myra, will also. Stay away from Ambulia though (LIMNOPHILA indica) as it is much harder to grow. Watersprite grows well in hard water even at low lighting but can be difficult if it isn't under the light strip.


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## lain sorcer (Apr 10, 2005)

If you're looking for a interesting foreground plant you could try the Japanese Marmio. I just ordered mine today so I haven't had any experience with them, but from what i've read they sound very easy. http://www.thezengardens.com/main.php?id=plants/mossplants/mossballs is one site that sells them.


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## Magdelaine (Apr 9, 2005)

Thanks for the info on potting, Myra. That was going to be my next question. :wink: 

BTW, I picked up some aponogeton bulbs at Walmart. I threw them in the tank but everything they send out the goldfish helping cycle the tank snaps up pretty quickly. Any thoughts on these?


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## teitoku (Sep 19, 2005)

Magdelaine said:


> BTW, I picked up some aponogeton bulbs at Walmart. Any thoughts on these?


I bought a little pack that had a few of those rhizomes along with an onion bulb. The onion has always done great. The aponogetons started off with a huge growth spurt, then died (and I do mean died...had to trim leaves) back. They're doing fine now, I guess they just overestimated how well they would do at the beginning. They've sent out baby plants on runners already and those are quite large. I'm going to put the babies in my new tank as soon as I get a stand for it and begin filling it.


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