I just recently got a few plants for my tanks; I now have two Tropica Ferns in my with three fancies, and a gold ribbon in my 1.5 gallon betta tank (yes... just one male). I bought them without researching very much and have no idea how they'll do. They were all marketed as aquarium plants, packaged with the roots packed in plant gel and fertilizer, not in water. I've had the Gold Ribbon in water for a few days and it seems to be doing alright, seems pretty hardy. I also have a small Borneo Sword that I'm considering planting in my larger tank.

My question is, does anyone know how these will grow in a basic aquarium set up? I have no special lighting (very little infact for the betta tank) and haven't been giving any fertilizer... any opinions?

I hate to be the one to tell you this,but neither one of those plants are true aquatic plants. They normally look good in the tank for a few months and eventually rot,polluting your tank as they die.
I'm sorry,I know..... These people that sell house plants as aquatic plants really tick me off. I can't even begin to tell you how much money I wasted as a Newbie.Your best bet is to look at our Goldie Friendly plant list and stick to finding some of those.
(Shall I warn you ahead of time that most Goldies adore fresh Salads?)
I basically have given up on trying to make the tank look nice,but every once in a while,I'll buy some of the Cabomba,or Elodea,and let them eat those plants for a month.

I like Elodea Densa - grows like hell and the goldies love to nibble it.

I also like Hygro polysperma, another fast grower but I'm not sure if it's a meal on it's own

My favourite without a doubt is Java Fern. Properly mounted on a piece of bogwood it looks amazing!

There are lots of beautiful plants out there to try so don't be disheartened.

Another good plant is Water Wisteria, that's an extremely hardy plant which is easy to keep

Cheers,
Pete and Ellie

My plants lasted a little less then a week....Java fern not only looks amazing as already pointed out but apparently is a verrrryyy tasty goldie snack....

I was left with little stumps and a whole lot of ammonia...

No more real plants for me anytime soon

I used to have to manage my forest of Anacharis (Elodea densa) because it grew too much. Then my goldies grew large enough to start eating it. Now they just eat it up faster than it grows. Same goes for the dwarf lilies I have - just little stumps now.

It's like they think I'm managing a salad bar or something.

They see you coming and wonder,"What's on the Salad Menu today"

Sorry guys... I meant to respond to Devs so long ago but I had midterms! AK! I still have the tropica fern in there and it seems to be doing okay and it has been about two weeks, I'll watch it close and see how it goes. If it looks like it's gettling questionable I'll be sure to pull it. The other day I bought some wisteria for Chubsy's tank so I could get rid of the faux driftwood and plants out of there... except she didnt like it. The real driftwood I got wouldnt sink so I didnt want to leave it in there and I guess there was too much open space with out it... she wedged herself under the bubble wall I got her and bottom sat for three hours while I ate dinner, so I gave up and pulled the wisteria and put it in the other tank. I ended up just putting the old decor back in Chubsy's Tank.

It is really frustrating that none of the plants that I bought the first time were true aqua plants, especially since it wasnt just in a tank it was packed with plant gel and all that junk. Like a company (outside of petco) was actually marketing it as such... GRRRR! I just love wasting money. I'll try to post some pics sooner or later.

I know how frustrating that can be,believe me,I've done it before.
May I ask if the Driftwood was sold as actual Aquarium Driftwood,and did you treat it anyway before adding it?They tell you to soak it/boil it ,so that the tannins will leech out of it.That also helps with sinking it.
Driftwoods funny,there are so many different types that it pays to research before hand.My malasian sinks immediately,but I've had others that have taken forever.

I'm surprised that Chubsy didn't like the Wisteria.Plants like that never last through the day in my tanks.

It's not that she didnt like IT persay but rather that she was use to more being in the tank. I only had two bunches of about seven stems apeice at each back corner of the tank and she's used to the big faux decoration being in there to do laps around. The way I had it set up with the live plants there was just open space in the middle. I dont think she felt secure.... or maybe she was just sulking cuz I was messing around with her tank. Who knows. For now I'm just leave it the way it is (as long as she's happy) unless I can get that driftwood to sink (its soaking in a bucket in the tub right now).

The driftwood was in the terrarium section but the tag said it was okay for aquariums as well (I think... or maybe that was the other one I bought for the big tank Oh lord). It says that it's grapewood and no i didnt treat it... I didnt know I was suppose to. Oi vay... more newbie mistakes. How exactly would I go about treating it?