What plants should I consider in my tank (thank you)

[BillyCox97@Yahoo.com]

Hi Jake,

It depends what you're after tbh. Generally speaking, you get plants in the following three categories.

1.) Floating plants - as the name suggests they float and don't have they're rooting in a substrate. Examples being Duckweed and Hornwort.

2.) Ferns and Mosses - these guys are very popular especially among breeders as they provide ample cover for fry (baby fish)

3.) Rosette plants - Examples include Anubias and Amazon sword - they're famous for their shorted stems and leafy structure.

I prefer to go for a mix of the three, especially after all the hard work setting up and visually the combination looks great!

I don't know if you have looked into how best to set up a planted aquarium, It's not too complicated, came across this post which outlines how to do it.

https://needyfish.com/how-to-set-up-a-planted-aquarium/

Anyway, shout if you have any questions.

[plankton]

Welcome to the forum.
I only use sand and plant easy plants like cryptocoyne wendtii and Amazon sword, without CO2, ferts or growing substrate.
I have Java fern, Java moss and anubias on the wood.

As a note - you don't want to keep bettas with gourami, one or several will die as they will fight. You also only want one male in a 54l tank.
Which gourami are you hoping to keep?
The question about soft or hard water will be very important for compatible fish.

[Gingerlove05]

Hello and welcome

[Jake Turn]

Welcome to the forum.
Like with fish, so with plants: what is your water like? ph and hardness might help deciding which plants, and later on fish, would do well for you. Just have a look at your water supplier's website where you can find water quality for your post code.

Are you currently cycling the tank? Or do you have access to mature media?

I haven't checked that yet and I am on the case now, the cycling has started, however, i am still at stage 1: Amonia. Will report back, once i have some progress.

Thank you for your help

[Jake Turn]

Welcome to the forum.
I only use sand and plant easy plants like cryptocoyne wendtii and Amazon sword, without CO2, ferts or growing substrate.
I have Java fern, Java moss and anubias on the wood.

As a note - you don't want to keep bettas with gourami, one or several will die as they will fight. You also only want one male in a 54l tank.
Which gourami are you hoping to keep?
The question about soft or hard water will be very important for compatible fish.

Really useful, thank you for the note. Good to know about the Betta's I will definitely not introduce them into the tank!! The Gourami and blue, with a orange/white tail a really beautiful fish.

[Jake Turn]

Hi Jake,

It depends what you're after tbh. Generally speaking, you get plants in the following three categories.

1.) Floating plants - as the name suggests they float and don't have they're rooting in a substrate. Examples being Duckweed and Hornwort.

2.) Ferns and Mosses - these guys are very popular especially among breeders as they provide ample cover for fry (baby fish)

3.) Rosette plants - Examples include Anubias and Amazon sword - they're famous for their shorted stems and leafy structure.

I prefer to go for a mix of the three, especially after all the hard work setting up and visually the combination looks great!

I don't know if you have looked into how best to set up a planted aquarium, It's not too complicated, came across this post which outlines how to do it.

https://needyfish.com/how-to-set-up-a-planted-aquarium/

Anyway, shout if you have any questions.

Thanks Jake for your help on this, super useful. I went onto the needyfish site and there is some really good content there, thank you for sharing. I am currently in the process of cycling the tank and their article on this was very helpful: https://needyfish.com/how-to-cycle-a-fish-tank/

[Jake Turn]

keep it simple start with easy plants but first you need to have an idea of what you want your tank to look like... After that you can work out what plants you want to get your idea into the tank...
Do you have a vision of what you want the tank to look like?

Thank you for getting back to me. I love the picture btw, I have a rough idea and want to go for a jungle theme, but we will see how far I can get with that.

[Jake Turn]

Hi and welcome

Totally agree with Andy... nice size tank and you can't go wrong with the plants from pets at home, the main advantage for me is that they are pest free (be careful with the ones from their tanks) and you can go and have a look and see which ones you like. I'm very careful were I get my plants from as a pest snail infestation is a nightmare to get rid off!

Regarding fish... things like waterhardness should be a consideration. How are you cycling your tank?

Thanks Andy for the tip on infestation, good to know. In terms of how I am cycling the tank, do you mean with fish or no fish? I am currently doing it without fish in the tank.

[Drifty]

keep it simple start with easy plants but first you need to have an idea of what you want your tank to look like... After that you can work out what plants you want to get your idea into the tank...
Do you have a vision of what you want the tank to look like?

Thank you for getting back to me. I love the picture btw, I have a rough idea and want to go for a jungle theme, but we will see how far I can get with that.

So jungle theme I would recommend you would want to go with tall plants, long branches and floating plants to give you that jungle feel... Look forward to seeing pictures when it done