# Easy, Beginner Low Light Plants



## SeleneTheSeawolf (Mar 2, 2015)

So I want to get some ideas for some easy live aquarium plants. I just received my Petco card for a late Christmas present. I know a lot of people are iffy on Petco/Petsmart bought plants. I am at least gonna look. If I not, I know there is a member on here you sells plants on Aquabid.

I at least want a couple of ideas to look into. The area where I have my tank gets some natural sunlight, mostly during the evening.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Hello! Petco actually can have some really nice plants. The trick is knowing which ones to buy. They label even all plants aquatic, even though some plants are not fully aquatic. Some great starter plants would be anubias, marimo moss balls, java moss, water sprite, java fern, and java fern Windelov. I highly recommend anubias. Just don't bury their rhizome or else they will rot.


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## SeleneTheSeawolf (Mar 2, 2015)

kitkat67 said:


> Hello! Petco actually can have some really nice plants. The trick is knowing which ones to buy. They label even all plants aquatic, even though some plants are not fully aquatic. Some great starter plants would be anubias, marimo moss balls, java moss, water sprite, java fern, and java fern Windelov. I highly recommend anubias. Just don't bury their rhizome or else they will rot.


Their rhizome?


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Yup, the area in blue rectangle where stem meets root. You can bury their roots, or tie it to an object, or let them float. I have mine tied to mopani wood. You treat java fern, anubias, and other "rhizome plants" this way. There are other categories of ways plants should be kept such as swords, you bury their "crown", but not above. I will look for one of those posts where they go into great detail....give me a few minutes.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Rhizome Plants:
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/aquarium-plants/45894-plants-rhizomes.html

Stem Plants, Rhizome Plants, Potted Plants, Mosses, etc.:
http://aquariuminfo.org/planting.html


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## SeleneTheSeawolf (Mar 2, 2015)

kitkat67 said:


> Yup, the area in blue rectangle where stem meets root. You can bury their roots, or tie it to an object, or let them float. I have mine tied to mopani wood. You treat java fern, anubias, and other "rhizome plants" this way. There are other categories of ways plants should be kept such as swords, you bury their "crown", but not above. I will look for one of those posts where they go into great detail....give me a few minutes.


The ferns I got from petco had some thread wrapped around them holding a few leaves together. Should I keep the thread around them or unwrap them and retie them? One set is floating still wrapped another is tied to a silk plant. Roots aren't buried though. There is hardly any roots


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

You can unwrap the thread to separate the plants. (Note: if any of the leaves pop off or get ripped off, you can float it for a couple weeks and the leaf will have oodles of baby plantlets growing off of it!) Since there aren't any roots to bury I would recommend tying it to something or weighting it down or even floating it. By fern do you mean java fern or some other type? Petco is notorious for not clearly labeling their plants as fully/partially aquatic. I had two types of ferns die on me because they were not supposed to be submerged.


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## SeleneTheSeawolf (Mar 2, 2015)

kitkat67 said:


> You can unwrap the thread to separate the plants. (Note: if any of the leaves pop off or get ripped off, you can float it for a couple weeks and the leaf will have oodles of baby plantlets growing off of it!) Since there aren't any roots to bury I would recommend tying it to something or weighting it down or even floating it. By fern do you mean java fern or some other type? Petco is notorious for not clearly labeling their plants as fully/partially aquatic. I had two types of ferns die on me because they were not supposed to be submerged.


It was labeled as Java Fern (narrow leaf) Both sets look to be browning slightly.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

If they are browning then that means they are on their way to dying. Soon, if not already, you will see tiny plants growing off the mother leaf. Java fern is fully aquatic. What I did was float the all plants I had and saved up the babies and tied them all to a piece of mopani wood where they are currently growing and will hopefully be attached by the time they get bigger.


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## AndreDecasa (Apr 9, 2014)

I'll go with Anacharis you can just float them and fishes like to sleep on them.


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## Janegael (Nov 8, 2015)

Unless you want snails, mix 1/2 cup of aquarium salt with a half gallon of water and swish your Petco plants in it, being careful to keep the roots out of the salt water. Petco keeps snails in their plant tanks. I didn't know this and have about a hundred little brown bladder snails in my 30g right now. 

If you want to buy more plants that are snail-free, I highly recommend EBay seller wetgreenthing. I got gorgeous plants from her and there is usually a buy 2 get 1 special on her plants.


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