prefy

Hey, I’m new to aquatic plants but I have had goldfish for about ten years. I am finally tired of plastic and want to experiment. Keeping in mind that I am going to have goldfish in the tank I was wondering about some things.

I have a 10 gallon tank with a hood that has places for two bulbs, the max wattage is 25. I was thinking that I should go with a low light set up from some of the research that I’ve done just because plants that are goldfish “suitable” are low light. I also have a aquarium gravel substrate. The water in that tank is drawn from a well; but I don’t know the exact specs. For filtration I have a Penguin Bio Wheel power filter which hangs off the side of my tank.

These are plants that I have found
Java ferns (Microsorum pteropus)
African Water fern (Bolbitis heudelotii)
Hornworts (Ceratophyllym demersum)

I was wondering if the above are suitable plants and are relatively easy to grow for a beginner or alternatives, what type of lighting, or any additional equipment needed

yildirim

Below are some of the plants which I have once searched and found out that they are not eaten by herbivorous fishes.

Anubias species,
Crinium species,
Echinodorus species (especialy osiris and many others if large enough),
Hemigraphis species,
Microsorum pteropus 'Windeløv',
Ophiopogon japonicus 'Kyoto Dwarf',
Spathiphyllum wallisii,
Vallisneria Americana (gigantea),

All of these plants may work with your lighting just like the plants you have mentioned but I'm not so sure if your goldies will critter them or not.

Aquaspot

Anubias and Java ferns are good plant choices for goldfish.
The bolbitis will do poorly though with them.
You can have as much light as you want in a tank, but you need to keep up with CO2 and fertilization.

prefy

should fertaization and co2 supplimation be done from day one?

trenac

Starting C02 and ferts from day one is recommended by most people. If your going for a low light tank then using Seachem Excel will work just fine, however injected C02 is always best.

The main thing to look for in choosing plants for a Goldfish tank is growth rate and sturdiness. So in other words fast growing plants (Anacharis) and thick plants (Anubias) will work best.

Here are some sites that will help with your selection...

http://www.well.com/~debunix/fish/goldfishPlants.html

http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/Plants.html