starting a new planted tank

[bicboihulk]

right now i'm cycling my 40 breeder tank that i am planning on using as a planted tank. this will be my first attempt with a planted tank. i'm only interested in low light plants. i was looking at java fern, anubias nana, java moss and amazon swords. maybe some floating plants too. i want it to be bare bottom. is it possible to just float the jave fern and amazon swords?

 

[KabobSoldier]

Float them permanently or temporarily?

 

[bicboihulk]

permanently?

 

[KabobSoldier]

I don't think it'd look aesthetic if you floated them permanently. They'd do better tied or super glued to rock or driftwood. If you want easy floaters try something like frogbit.

 

[fisheatfish]

I have java fern floating around a spare tank with indirect sunlight and does fine. Moss will sink to the botton of the tank and grow fine. You can attach anubias onto suction cup and stick them onto the glass. Swords are heavily rooted...they can be contained in a jar with substrate & root tabs.

No need to cycle tank for plants...they'll actually speed up the cycling for livestock.

 

[bicboihulk]

i'm cycling tank for fish. don't know what to put in yet though. i was thinking about breeding something simple yet nice looking. i don't want guppies though haha. so far i only have a koi betta in there

 

[Experiment397]

i wouldnt recommend swords for low tech or low light. large leaved plants will require higher lighting to photosynthesize properly. narrow leaved java fern is perfect for low light however, i dont root any of mine, it will float around until it finds something it likes to anchor to. just know that you may be clearing your filter intake of it regularly.