My boyfriend bought me a 7.5 gallon betta tank for Christmas and I've decided I am going to attempt to keep live plants because I get so jealous looking at all the pictures of tanks with plants.

I want to keep it low maintenance and really don't want to go into Co2 and stuff.

I don't know the wattage of the light that comes with the tank (It's still at his house at the moment) but I am assuming it won't be high so I've been looking at plants that grow in low light.

Also, do I need special substrate below the gravel? I've been reading conflicting information.
If so, does this sound ok..
"TetraPlant Complete Substrate. Ideal for providing the right substrate for plants, being rich in the humic acids required for long term fertilisation and health."

The other ones I saw were really expensive.

And (I know this sounds silly) but how do I plant them? Do I just such the roots under the gravel into the substrate? Do I need plant weight?

This are the plants I am considering:

Cryptocoryne Cordata (C. Blassii)
Echinodorus Amazonicus (E.Brevipedicellatus)
Microsorium Pteropus Java Fern
Vallisneria Spiralis
Anubias Lanceolata

sound OK?

Just found out that the C. Blassii is quite demanding and has slow growth so forget that one. Replace that with Cryptocoryne beckettii

Hi lak, I'm very new to live plants too. I only use them in my Betta and and in WCMM tank. I'm not familiar with all the names of the plants you mentioned, but I have Java Fern and Java Moss both on bogwood, so no planting involved really. You can either buy them already planted on bogwood or do it yourself by using some fishing wire or something to attach it until it takes (do a keyword search on this forum for more info). These plants are considered "easy", although as I'm a bit of a live plant-phobic I managed to kill them off the first time around anyway Here is what I do for my WCMM tank and it has worked well for me so far.

10 US gallons
Small internal filter and airstone
Room temp 18-20C
A few riverstones scattered around
Two pieces of bogwood planted with Java Fern and two small pieces of bogwood with Java Moss on it (this suits me because I can just lift the plants out in order to clean the tank and I don't need to plant into a substrate at all. You can also use safe rocks or stones or other items to attach plants to)
Watch Ph with bogwood
15 watt flourescent light on for 10 hours per day in divided times plus in a room with some natural daylight
Once weekly maintenance dose of Nutrafin Plant-Grow
Weekly check for parameters as usual, especially Ph. The nitrAtes are usually under 5 in this tank and it works well.
Some green algae growth on stones/tank walls after about a week as these plants are slow growing. I've tried reducing the lighting/leaving out the fertlilizer but they didn't do so well then.

Hopefully, a planty person will be able to give you some more advice. Good luck with your new set -up, live plants can look nice in small tanks, I'm just coming around to it now

Stick with the Anubias species and java fern.

You can give the crypt a chance but dont be surprised to see it "melt". Without CO2 and proper llight it may never recover. The echinodorous and vallisneria will grow way to large for your 7.5 gallon tank.

I would use the substrate sparingly. Too much and you risk saturating the water column with nutrients and the algae will get out of control. That being said the proper way to "plant" the two types I mentioned above is to attach it to a piece of driftwood(bogwood) thus negating the use of the substrate. Perhaps buying some wood in place of the substrate is an option.

Keep us updated

Thanks for the feedback. I didn't really consider java moss before, I think I thought it was something quite different- something more like moss I guess, but its actually very pretty. So at the moment I am planning java moss, java fern and anubias. I am starting in my 7.5 gallon betta tank but I've heard that java moss grows quite proflificly, if that happens I will gradually move some over to my 20 gallon.

Question about bogwood/driftwood... If I buy it from the fish store labelled as aquarium safe do I have to soak or boil it or anything first or can I just add it straight in?
Also, is it OK to saw it in half (all the driftwood I have seen on sale is massive and would not fit). If I did saw it would I have to do anything to the wood before adding it? (I'm concerned about the newly exposed wood leeching something).

If you cut it, just soak it in a bucket for about a week and see if the water changes color. If it does it is leeching. I would then follow some boiling instructions you have probably already found on the net.

Good luck!

I found some nice small pieces of driftwood labelled as aquairum safe. Should I still soak them? It seems that I might as well since I'm not getting the plants yet and have to cycle the tank.

Trying to prepare myself fully before I buy the plants so I know what I am doing and won't mess anything up.
I have read the sticky about sterilising plants. My question is, will java moss be able to handle bleach sterlisation? Because it's really thin little strandy stuff so I'm worried it will just kill the stuff.
I'm assuming Java Fern and Anuabias will be OK with 1:20 bleach?

I am setting up the plants in an empty tank so I take it I don't have to QT them in a seperate tank first? I just leave them in the new empty tank for 2-3 weeks before adding fish right?

By the way, I stuck the wood in a bucket of water last night and the water was brown this morning... really brown, glad I didn't stick it straight in the tank. Will a week of soaking and then rinsing be OK? Or longer? Or should I boil it?

Sorry for all the questions, but would like to know what I am doing before I buy plants so I don't mess it up and waste all my money

Hi lak, sorry I can't be too much help to you, I'm a plant newbie too. Here are a couple of my threads asking about sterilising plants, they may be helpful to you.

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...topic=50445&hl=

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...topic=50699&hl=

I've used a sterazin solution to disinfect my plants (Java Fern and Jave Moss) the last few times and had no problems at all. The sterazin acts as a parasiticide and bacteristat and is quite gentle on plants. Otherwise, I believe Bleach and PP are the best things to use

Thanks for that. I know the lfs near my boyfriend's sells waterlife products so sterazin may be an option. My only concern is whether it would effectively kill any bacteria? I read on the website that it will reduce numbers but not kill them all completely. Carrying out another sterlisation with Myaxizin would be getting quite pricey.
Do you think the sterazin alone would be enough?

Hi lak

As for the Sterazin, my understanding is that by far the most likely risk associated with live plants is the introduction of parasites rather than bacteria, although they can carry some in - so from this perspective a Sterazin solution (a parisiticide) is aimed at reducing that risk. The bacteristat element is a secondary thing that the Sterazin contains. I don't thing you need to use Myaxzin as well for the disinfection of plants, I haven't anyway. I think the website notes are talking about following up with Myaxzin for disease treatment. The Sterazin dip alone is what they suggets for plants.

Sterazin itself is an aquarium treatement for paraisites and like most medications it claims not to be harmful to nitrifying bacteria. The plants themselves are only in contact with the solution for a short while and then rinsed before introduction to an aquarium at all so it shoudn't affect your filter media in that way, but of course monitor it.

I got a 60ml bottle of sterazin for about £3.50 and I worked out that even double dosing (as Waterlife recommend for sterilising plants) I only needed 1ml in a bucket of about 7 litres to clean my plants. I've done this with Java Fern and Java moss both already attached to bogwood with no problems at all.

When you get you plants, throughly wash them in tap water, tryng to remove snail eggs if any present, I then let mine rest in a bucket of clean water (I dechlor tap water from now on) to let them rest for a while. Then I place them in the Sterazin dip for 30 mins, rinse in another bucket of clean water and then let them soak again for a while before putting them in the tank.

I've only recently started using this, after finding out about it and contacting the manufacturer, so this of course is only really my take on it. I think maybe it's more gentle on plants than PP or bleach, although I can't claim it's more effective, as I have no evidence - I'm following the manufacturers advice that as a parisiticide aquarium medication, that it can also be used to disinfect nets and plants. PP and Bleach are stronger solutions and will probably have a wider coverage of what they kill - basically anything! They can also be harsh on some plants I gather.

If you're not sure, then stick to the traditional opitions of salt, PP and bleach. PP and Bleach thought to be the most effective. If you do decide to use PP and can't find it locally, I can send you a little container if you like - let me know and I'd be happy to.

Now, I can't remember which one it is, by I know that Java moss fairs better with either PP or Bleach I'm not sure which one it is. Hopefully somebody can help you on that front

Thank you so much for that detailed desrciption.
I think I am going to try the sterazin method as I am concerned about bleach being too harsh and the plants are costing me a few quid to order so I really don't want kill them straight away. The other thing with PP is I just know I will get it everywhere and stain everything (I managed to get a lot of bleach solution on me, my clothes and my carpet when steralising my tank.. lucikly it was weak enough not to do much damage.)