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Question 1
I'm wanting to put live plants in my 29 gallon, it's just started to cycle so I have time for suggestions on plant type. It will have fish in it, probably a half dozen Blue or Gold Gouramis and a SAE.

Question 2
I've checked all of my local LFS and their plants are all INFESTED with snails. Are there any good places to buy from online?

Looking forward to all your suggestions.

As far as what plants you can put in a 29gal tank people need to know what you WPG (watts per gal) of light you have. There a lot of low light plants out there and you should look at plant web-site to see if you like any of them and if you have the right requirements for them, just like selecting the fish for your tank.

Snail in plants are just part of the deal, if you want live plants than you are going to have snails in there. You can remove them by smashing them on the glass of the tank, or you can use a product call Had-a-Snail which uses copper to kill them. I don't recommend using it but you don't have fish in the tank yet. The other is to get a fish that like to eating snails and they will maintain the snail population. I know some Gouramis like to eat snails, I have a Pearl Gouramis that came with a tank that was given to me and he eat snails. So research your fish.

Just a little suggestion you should think about using some fish for tank maintenance. If your going to have a planted tank I would get 4 or 5 otto cats at least to help control algae. There are other fish out there that are your friends when it comes to tank maintenance.

My first suggestion it to do research on the web about the fish and plants you want to keep. If you are cycling your tank without fish remember to add a pinch of food to it daily or add pure ammonia to it. You have at least 21 days before the first fish should be introduced to the tank. If you add live plants this will speed up the process because there root systems have the bio-bacteria in them and this will sort of jump start the process.

Some easy plants are water sprite, java moss, java fern, Hogwarts

I hope that some where in here you found a peace of info that will help you.

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

Thanks for the help djrichie. As far as my WPG I have two 20 watt Life-Glo bulbs that I am running right now. I know that is considered fairly low light, but I'm still working out my options for the lighting.

And thanks for the tip on your snail eating Gouramis, I'm definitely getting them now. I may still chemically nuke the snails a few days before the fish go in.

I have been doing some plant research and found a few that I think will look nice, mainly Java Fern, Anubis Nana, & Creeping Jenny. Any other imput on plant types that you all have grown with success will be much appreciated.

Yes, your light is fairly low but you will be able to grow stuff with it. Even one more bulb would give you more options. For now, Java fern and anubias nana are good choices. They are both good looking, very hardy, and slow but steady growers. Keep in mind that neither of these two plants should be planted in the substrate. They need to be anchored to driftwood or some other decoration that they can hold onto with their roots. Amazon swords are good choices. They grow better with hight light but can do well with lower light too. Crypts are another low light option. Some others you might research are bacopa, hygro, sagittaria, vallisneria. The apons that grow from those little "grow your own" bulbs you can find at chain stores have done well in very low light. Keep in mind that you will need some fast growing plants to help start the tank right, otherwise you can end up with lots of algae.

I have creeping jenny too. It is more a pond plant than anything. It grows fast but it puts out water roots everywhere which I find rather unsightly. In low light its leaves grow much smaller and more compact. It really prefers high light.

A good place to research plants is Tropica

I would reccomend you get your plants locally if you can. Shipping is expensive and very stressful to plants. They will be healthier if you can get them nearby. Just do the best you can to pick off any snails before placing the plants in the tank, then take out any snails you see cruising around later on. It shouldn't be hard to control them, especially if you aren't feeding any fish yet.

If you must order online some fairly good places are:

aquariumplants.com
floridadriftwood.com
azgardens.com
aquabid.com

Make sure you order 2 day air or faster and pick a company that is close to your state, to minimize traveling for the plants.


Gouramis are wonderful fish! Keep in mind that they are fairly territorial amoungst themselves. Provide plenty of hiding places/dense plants and don't crowd them.

Otos are also wonderful and will help you a lot with algae control, especially the brown diatoms that are common in a new tank.

Thank you for all of the info & links lioness.

I do have a nice piece of driftwood on order that should be here tommorrow, it should anchor my Java Fern & Anubis Nana quite well. And I did find a LFS about 35 minutes away that grow their own plants, and guess what, NO SNAILS . I spoke with the owner and they are setting me up with a proper lighting fixture & bulbs for my new venture into live plant aquariums. They have a limited supply of plant species that they grow (about 14) but this should be sufficient for my tank.

Also I have two SAE ready to be placed in the tank to control any algae problems once I get the plants in. From what I've researched they are some of the most aggressive algae eaters available but will not harm the plants.

Thank you again to all that add any info or suggestions.

By the way, the place where I got my driftwood is second to none. You don't buy a piece based on size (sm. med. lg.) You actually get 4+ pictures of the driftwood that you have chosen, from their many available pictures.

here's the link
http://stores.ebay.com/SWAMPS-of-LOUISIANA

Click on Aquarium Sinker Driftwood from the left hand column and choose the piece that best fits your aquarium. Their prices are quite reasonable but of course shipping is still a bit high.

Lil Fishee,

That link you provided does have a lot of nice options. Thanks!