[bigblueallday]

Hello all, another annoying newb here ☺. So not only am I new to fresh water aquatic plants but I'm very new to the overall hobby of keeping an aquarium itself. I started a few weeks ago with a small 5 gallon, sparsely (anubias barteri) planted tank. 3 plants in all. Of course this wasn't enough for me so I went out and bought a 60 gallon corner tank. Logical progression right? Yea not so much. I've got the tank filled with gravel and the cycling process beginning so I've been doing a ton of reseaarh on what plants I might want to include. I've got a pretty good beginners understanding of the basics of planting a tropical aquarium but there's one thing I'm yet to see spoken about in any blog, forum or article I've read. Simply how many plants should I begin with for a tank my size? Some websites that sell plants have assortments that recommend 100 plus plants for a 60 gallon tank. This seems absurd to me but of course I am a complete novice and that could be totally accurate, I have no idea. Any and all help would be gretly , greatly appreciated! Also if anyone has any recommendations for sies thst sell well priced, good quality aquatic plants , that would be appreciated as well. Thanks everyone.

 

[OVT]

Welcome to TPT!

Corner tanks look great but are a pain in multiple respects. I have a 36g myself.

Plant wise, get as many different cheap, fast growing plants as you can fit into the tank. There are several reasons for that approach: get your tank stable asap; figure what plants do well and which don't in your environment; forces you to learn more about plants. Once you figure out what end is up and what plants you like, then you can be more selective what you spend your $$ on.

WTS section of this forum is a good place to get plants cheap. Do check seller's tanks and feedback first. Aquariumplants com is a decent place to buy plants and I heard good reviews on bamaplants com.

Best of luck and enjoy the hobby.

Btw, the search function on this forum us a great tool. Reading other people's journals is another good way to get ideas without having to pay for them



v3

 

[bigblueallday]

Thanks for the advice! Bama plants does seem yo have some great prices and a pretty good selection too. Much better than Petco that's for sure lol.

 

[Aplomado]

+1 on starting with a lot of plants. Not all plants will do equally well, and the more you have in there the less likely you are to have an algae problem.

I've had good luck with bamaplants.

 

[bigblueallday]

Thanks. Would you guys also suggest starting with low loight , hearty plants to begin with?

 

[Octantis]

I think which plants to start with is based upon how much effort you want to put into the hobby. The higher light plants require CO2 supplementation and with that additional cost of CO2, regulator, and all the other assorted sundries.

Low light plants grow slower, require less upkeep, and reduce costs.

In either setup there will be learning controlling algae, ph control, and fertilizer regimens just to name a few. And there are setbacks such as gassing your fish, algae outbreaks, and equipment malfunction.

If you like all the pictures and videos of professional aquascapes a hi tech tank is in your future. If you just want something simple to watch grow then low tech might be better choice.

Personally, I went with low light and low tech plants such as Anubias. I love their leaf structure. I've branched out into other plants but none I like as much as them.

 

[anastasisariel]

You should be able to find wisteria or water sprite pretty easily and they are both confidence boosters for someone new to the hobby and might not have the best lighting.

 

[bigblueallday]

Thanks all. I just ordered some Amazon sword and Jungle Val to start with. Ordered from bamaplants.com. Pretty reasonably priced. Aquariumplants.com has some great assortments for beginners but their shipping is outrageous. anyway, thanks again.

 

[AGUILAR3]

I've often read that 75% of your floor should be planted if you are going to use the Diana Walstad method.

A pot of crypts can have as much as 10 individual plantlets. I know my single pot did. Some places actually consider a single stem an individual plant. If that's the case, 100 plants seems about right.

My 1.75g vase has 10 crypt and 2 Jungle Val plants plus 2 anacharis and 2 Hornwort stems plus 15 dwarf water lettuce floaters for a total of 31 plants in a 1.75g vase. (if you cant floaters)

 

[bigblueallday]

So in addition to ordering 5 Amazon Sword and 5 Jungle Val , I aaso ordered this assortment from Liveaquaria.com

PL - Micro Sword (Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae) - Potted (1)

PL - Anubias Nana - Bare Root (1)

PL - Chainsword Narrow Leaf (Echinodorus tenellus) - Potted (1)

PL - Balansae Plant (Cryptocoryne crispatula) - Bare Root (1)

PL - Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus) - Bare Root (1)

PL - Undulata Cryptocoryne (Cryptocoryne wendtii) - Potted (1)

PL - Ludwigia Broad Leaf (Ludwigia repens) - Bunch Plant (1)

PL - Rotala Indica - Bunch Plant (1)

PL - Ozelot Sword (Echinodorus ozelot) - Bare root (1)

PL - Chilensis 5 Pc (Sagittaria platyphylla) - Bare Root (1)

PL - Wisteria Potted - Bare Root (1)

PL - Amazon Sword Plant - Bare Root (1)

PL - Myrio Green (Myriophyllum pinnatum) - Bunch Plant (1)

PL - Moneywort (Bacopa monnieri) - Potted (1)

 

[bigblueallday]

Having said that I have another newb question. What's the difference between bare root and potted?

 

[jrman83]

Bare root will mean just that, they pulled it out of an aquarium most likely. So they wil be the plants that look like they were just pulled up and shipped. I would cut all but about 1" of the roots off and plant. For potted plants I usually clean out all material in the roots and do as I mentioned previously. This becomes extremely imporatant if any of the pots have something other than soil. Some sellers use rock wool and getting that stuff in your tank can be dangerous to your fish. You will know it when you see it. You can also leave the plants in their pots, but most don't do that.

I also notice in your list at least 2 Amazon Swords and 1 Ozelot Sword. These plants get rather large and eventually you may need to remove at least one Amazon. I have had their leaves get as long as 24", but under high light and CO2. Plant them somewhere along the back.

 

[bigblueallday]

Will do. Thanks for the advice jr

 

[bigblueallday]

First layout of my tank planted. I'm not the most creative person so "aquascaping" doesn't come natural to me. Guess i'll have to just play around with it. i have 5 more Amazon Sword and Jungle Val coming wednesday so I can finish planting the back. I'm also going to add some driftwood and rocks as well.

 

[ctaylor3737]

Great, get that tank going! Your swords will get massive just so you,know. Plant what your getting,and let them take hold. Try to let them grow a but after you plant. I have a 92g corner bowfront and love it! Take your time and do research. Someone on here has had the same problems your going to. Mistakes are the fun part sometimes. Just don't rush the cycle and add fish. Let it go for awhile and its much easier to scape empty.

-Chris

 

[bigblueallday]

moved some plants around and added the rest of my amazon sword and jungle val. Waiting on my order of manzanita wood to come in. Still not thrilled with my scape but whatever it's my first shot at it.