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I've got a 35 gl hex (24"tall) currently it has only silk plants and I'd like to try some live plants. My LFS had suggested that I cut some of my small ivy house plant and drop it in the tank and I did and the fish seem to love it so I'd like to do this correctly.. I'd like to try something that floats for the fish at the top of the tank and maybe something else. I've done some research and think maybe some java moss for the cory's? I'm currently knocking the bottoms out of two little clay pots and sanding the edges to make a tunnel for the fish, thought about attaching something to the exterior of that. Also have a 15W fluorescent bulb - I've looked at several different bulbs and can't figure out what type/kind would be best.....suggestions? Thanks

you'll want to go with low light plants, especially at first. most of the time you are limited by your local availability so you can see if you have any of these in town and then do some research on them. good starter plants are:

java moss and java fern (slow growing)
anubias (slow growing)
anacharis (stem plant, fast growing)
any cryptocoryne species (bushy, if you want something other than green go with a crypt)
hygrophilia (stem plant, fast growing)
hornwort (stem plant, fast growing, can float, but can be messy)

if you want something that floats maybe go with duckweed or water sprite.

i'm sure there are plenty of others, just be sure to stay away from high light plants and you'll be set. once you go to live plants, you'll never go back

Thanks. I'll take the list to the LFS - they have tanks full of different plants. Do I plant them in the gravel or in little pots filled with gravel? If it's straight in the gravel, how do you gravel vac around them without uprooting them - I tend to make a mess of the silk plants when I gravel vac

Even with low light plants you may have a problem. Currently you have less then 0.5 wpg and a very tall tank which means the light is going to have a real hard time getting to the bottom.

If you can try to up the lighting, with a hex tank your best option would be power compact bulbs. Also you could try a higher temperature bulb about 10,000K as this will help the light get to the bottom.

Don't worry about gravel vac around the plants not really neccessary, the plants will use the gunk as fertilizer. But do continue to gravel vac any open areas of gravel.

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