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I have never gone with live plants and have recently decided to go that route. My problem is that I have hard well water 35.8 ppm KH, 286.4 ppm GH. While my fish are acclimated to this I need to get plants that will make it. I can provide 1 watt per gallon of light. My tank is a 29 gal. bowfront.
The plants I am thinking about are.

Foreground:
Anubias Nana
Micro Sword

Midground:
?

Background:
Anacharis
Melon Sword

Any suggestions on good starter plants other than what I have here or for the midground? I basically need some good beginner plants that will not dissapoint, are low maintenance and will make it with low light and hard water.

Thanks!

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

The usual suspects for low lighting include anubias species, java fern, java moss, anacharis, and crypts. Those will adapt ok to hard water, mine's pretty hard too.

1wpg is pretty low lighting, especially for a bow front, those tanks are taller than standard. The microsword won't make it, and you shouldn't have any sword plant other than E. tenellus(which needs 2wpg) in a tank that size, unless you just want a sword plant in your tank they are all monsters.

You can also look at tropica and do the advanced search for low light plants.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Congrats on wanting to make the jump to planted tanks !

Micro and melon swords need more light.
(I have a 'red special' sword doing very well in 1.5 wpg, maybe that would be worth a shot in 1wpg)

My first plant tank was a 29g with 1wpg, and the limiting factor was the tank height. 18 inch which meant leggy growth on stem plants. A homemade reflector for your lights will help a bit more of your light get down to the substrate. 3 methods are foil, flat white paint, and the best is Mylar (look inside large chip bags and anti-static packaging for computer parts). Hydroponics stores have more expensive reflectors, and may also have mylar sheeting.

Easy & low maintenance plants - Java ferns, mosses, anubias, crypts, najas grass, asian ambulia, vals.
I'd recommend hornwort but it tends to shed needle-like leaves. There are many different species of crypts to choose from, and a few varieties of mosses and java ferns.

Anacharis (kind of a group nickname for the many elodia and egeria species) should also do ok but it will be alot thinner growth after awhile then what you see in their profiles online. It would still be worth using as an initial stem plant as it's a fast grower that absorbs excess nutrients and is also a good oxegenator. The most common are Elodia Densa and Egeria najas. Either one would be ok, and you can float it to create more branches quickly, which can then be planted as separate plants.

Hope that helped



The Amazon Nut...

Thank you for the quick reply Guys! Damossman, by home made reflector, do you mean a reflective background or a reflector up behind the light tubes? Sorry, that may sound like a dumb question. Thank you!

Matt, the link to Tropica did not work, but I will search for it and do some research at that site as well, Thanks!

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

Ok, I think I fixed the link. Try it out again

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks Matt that worked. Another question for you and Damossman, What kind of substrate should I use? I have very small natural creek bed gravel about 2" deep at this time. Should I place some Eco-complete underneath that? Will this effect my Ph or my fish?

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

With low light plants you might get a little benefit from a planted tank substrate, and it won't alter the water chemistry. Personally, unless I had the stuff already, I'd just make sure I had 3" of pea sized gravel. No real need to spend more money on the good stuff until you get some more light and plants that will benefit from it IMO.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi,
My only comments are that with a planted tank, you would
want the substrate, whatever it is, to be about 3-4 inches
deep. You could have it level across the tank at 3 or you
could have the back raised to 4 inches and sloped down to
two. The plants with the larger root system would go in
the back and forground plants with lesser root systems in
the front.
As to gravel size, the individual grain size should ideally
be a #2 or #3 size. That is roughly the size of a "petite"
sweet pea sold in grocery stores. The regular "pea" size
is much larger and can cause problems with accumulation of
detritus between grains.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I was kinda hoping you guys would say to skip the eco-complete. That will be easier on my pocketbook. I have a hard time convincing the wife my tanks need stuff sometimes. Frank, my current substrate is about that small but it has some large pea size pebbles in it too. I think it will work though. I will have to get some more anyways and I will buy smaller. I was already planning on doing a slope from front to back. Thank you for telling me how deep though, as that was another question I had. I allready have a white plastic backing on my lights, is that what DaMossman was talking about?

These are the plants I have decided to try first.

Foreground: Anubias Nana
Mid-ground: Cryptocorne
Background: Anacharis

I figure to buy 2 of each to start and That way if both die of one species I can assume they will not work in my tank. What do you think?


"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

Hi,
Generally, the idea is to redirect the light down into
the tank. To do that we do things like painting the
inside of the hood with glossy white paint, or lining the
inside of the hood with aluminum foil with the shiny side
facing the water, or by installing a highly polished
aluminum reflector between the bulb and the plastic hood.
All are designed to redirect as much light as possible
down into the tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

That is what I thought. The reason I asked is because I have seen people place a reflective background on the rear of their tank. I think it looks horrible myself, but thought maybe that is a method of getting more light into the tank. Thanks for answering my seemingly stupid question.

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

Hi,
As the old cliché goes, There is no such thing as a
stupid question.

As far as placing a reflective surface on the back or
sides of a tank, it is not a good idea. Fish need to
"feel" secure and if they see their reflection or
glaring light from the sides as well as the top (where
nature put the sun) then they tend to be more nervous
and spend more time hiding.
Sometimes folks will put a mirror on a part of the tank
to encourage their male Betta to flare and pose for
pictures, but rarely do experianced aquarists do something
like that full time.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks Frank, I allways wondered why someone would use that background. They still sell it at my LFS. They sell alot of Bettas there so maybe that is why. Thank you for your help and answering my stupid questions. I am just a worn out Army Grunt. We need you Navy guys to school us every now and then! lol

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

Ya ask away that's how we learn

I went to answer the questions you asked me, but realized Frank and Matty have you covered quite well. (so I can go make dinner now !)




The Amazon Nut...

Mossman, thanks anyways! Enjoy your dinner. In fact thank you everyone! I will purchase my plants and give it a shot. Believe me you will know if I have any problems.

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"