[Verena1]

Hi Everyone,
I am a classroom teacher and my class has just started a new 10 gallon freswater fish tank. The tank is cycling right now and I have a couple of plants in it and two goldfish..I just realized that some of the plants are not really "aquatic" (they were sold at Petco as "assorted aquatic") after I looked the names on the internet, I found out thew were not really aquatic...beginner's mistake...I bought an anubia but it did not make because i planted the rhizome..(another mistake)..I also have some pigmy grass (not quite sure of name). I am not sure if the lighting in the tank is low or moderate...The tank came with a hood and fluorescent light on top...As you can see, I need all the help I can get.. I was just reading about substrate for planted aquariums and I don't know if I need one or if I can added with the tank already cycling? The substrate in the tank right now is natural gravel, the regular one sold at pet stores..it has 15lbs of gravel. Please help...any suggestions are welcome!

 

[davemonkey]

The gravel you have will be fine. The lighting that came with the tank won't be enough to grow most plants, but would be fine for those that can tolerate low light conditions (Anubias, Java Fern, Moss, Crytocoryne...). You may not see much/any growth, but they should at least live. Anubias, Ferns and mosses do great tied to a piece of driftwood or a rock.

-Dave

 

[Verena1]

thank you for your answer...I will buy the plants you mentioned..

 

[cs_gardener]

In case you haven't found it yet the Plantfinder at the upper left of the page in the gold bar is very helpful. You can sort for "easy" or "low light" to find plants that you'll have a good chance of growing.

 

[Verena1]

I hadn't noticed it..Thank you so much...This is really a great website!

 

[trenac]

I would also replace the bulb that came with the setup with plant bulb. Look for a 6500k or 6700K bulb.

Another easy low light plant is Hornwort, which you leave floating on the water surface.

 

[Plant4life]

With weak standard lights i go for plants that need barely any light. Being that its a small tank its best to have an airstone in the tank to create co2. If you need more Co2 depend on how much plants you have you can make a sciennce project creating co2. DIY its not hard and its simple with simple instructions found on youtube or here in the beging page go to DIY forum. GO go with hardy plants that dont need much of anything and with low lights so that light would make the plant even more richer....

 

[xavierj123]

I am surprised no one suggested Vallisneria. The plant will grow quickly and will produce many daughter plants from runners. Very interesting and very easy to grow, however, it does not like soft water.