OK I know this is a loaded question, but I figured I would give it a shot. Here are the details...

I have a 55 gallon tank that has been running for five years now. It has gone through it's ups and downs but has been very stable. It's inhabitants right now consist of two plecos (one 10 inch and one 8 inch), eight dalmatian mollies (that I think are all female so we may add two males), and two angel fish. We will be adding some shrimp (maybe ghost) and a couple of smaller fish and call it a day.

The tank has a couple of hiding places via some fake wood with holes and fake rock with holes (I am sure you have seen them in stores). We have gravel on the bottom and we keep the tank at 78 degrees.

So I jump on this site and I see many pictures of beautiful tanks with plants and fish coexisting and having a good time (damn you beautiful pictures). It has me thinking about whether or not I should add some reality to my aquarium. Here are the questions....

1) Should I throw plants into this mix?
2) If so, what would be the best way to start given my environment?
3) Knowing that I would not want the tank overrun by plants but I do want a good mix, what plants should a beginner like me look for?
4) What other purchases besides plants and food am I looking at?

Thanks for going through this long post. I do tend to follow directions well (just do not ask my wife for a reference). After we get done I will add some pictures of my own to tempt the next poor fellow.

Ya need to provide adequate lighting.. 6700K.. 2 watts per gallon would be ideal.. Amazon Swords are easy,,, Cabomba.. vals.. sags.. crypts. If ya get overloaded with plants share them!.. Pretty much any substrate will provide sufficient root hosting.. Your local petshop will charge an arm and a leg but a local hobby'st might even be looking to donate!.. I just gave about 6 dozen vals to various members of my club. Bill

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12 Tanks, 900 gallons. Discus/Angels/Malawi/Lake Victorias. Just added a 135 & 2 - 29's..

Best beginner plants, and you dont need flash expensive lighting to have them!

Anubias
Java fern
Vals
Crypt wendtii
Java moss

Most of these are slowish growers and wont overrun your tank, especially the anubias

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1x350L Goldfish, 1x 286L Planted, 1x190L Cherry shrimp, 1x140L Feeders, 1x130L Planted, 1x119L Peppermint BN breeding colony

yes you should def. have plants no doubt about it. I also agree with the notion of finding people on the board who have plants, it will be a lot cheaper for you than if you get em at a pet store.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

So far some good suggestions. I appreciate all the advice. A few more questions...

1) What are vals?
2) 2 watts per gallon so I need 110 watts?
3) What did the 6700 number indicate?
4) What do I feed the plants and how do I plant them?

As you can tell I am a complete idiot when it comes to this but I am not afraid to ask dumb questions!!! Thanks in advance.

1) Vals are a very common family of plants, most common are jungle vals, contortion vals. They grow relatively fast, somewhat grasslike. They also spread too, and can get about 12-18" tall if they're happy. Supposed to be fairly easy to grow.

2) I think so, if you go with lower light plants, you don't need as much light. low light is >1 watt per gallon, medium light is 1-2 watts, and high light is 2+ watts per gallon...I believe.

3) The 6700K indicates the kelvin rating of the lights. This is a measure of the color temperature of the light. 6700K replicates natural daylight and should work just fine. This is a good thread explaining this: Aquarium lighting

4) Fertilizer, of course! :D I personally advocate root tabs (bury them under 1-2" of substrate) since they are usually good for 1-2 months. They are the best for root feeding plants, like sword plants. Liquid ferts are more for faster growing plants, but they benefit other plants as well, and fertilize the water column. CO2 is, again, more for higher light tanks, but it can benefit other tanks as well.

As for planting, it depends on the plant. Some, like duckweed is as easy as just dumping it in the tank. Swords and most plants you bury the roots, up to the point where the leaves meet the roots. Do not bury the leaves.
Anubias and java fern are different. Usually, you tie them to driftwood or rocks. You can plant them in the substrate, just DO NOT BURY THE RHIZOME. The rhizome is the horizontal part where the leaves and roots meet. Personally, I suggest tying them to flat rocks, then being able to move them where you want, even partially burying the rock, as long as you don't bury the rhizome.
Stem plants- these are fast growing plants that are great for sucking up nutrients and helping deal with algae. Just bury and inch or two in the substrate and hope they don't float, lol. They can grow great floating (anacharis and hornwort are well-known for this) but they look better planted.

Anyways, sorry for rambling, but hope this helps!

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

Great post Kehy. Thanks for all the information. As always I will have more questions and they are....

1) I keep reading about CO2. Do I have to go that route? Adding even more complexity (since I am a horrible DIY guy) is scary.

2) The top of my tank is divided in half down the middle with two hoods with one bulb in each. Will I be able to get the wattage needed? Right now it is only 30 watts (2x15).

Thanks again for all the help.

1) I wouldn't bother with CO2, to me, it's more of a pain than it's worth (note: I haven't tried it myself), and with lower light tanks, it's not necessary at all.

2) That somewhat depends on the type of light bulbs you have. There are energy saving bulbs that only use, say 7 watts, but put out about 15 watts (entirely hypothetical). Upgrading depends on how you like your tank. Do you like the kind of light your tank gets, or does it seem a bit dark?
If you're wondering about that, I believe with your setup you could try having a different bulb in one of the hoods and then be able to compare them side by side. If you like the difference, change out the other bulb as well. If not, you could still probably grow some of the low light plants like java fern, anubias, crypts (there's lots of them), and various mosses and still come out with a very nice looking tank.

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

CO2 can be added to any tank. It would only be necessary for a higher light tank. The higher power the light, the more the plants need to keep up with the growth rate the light is causing to occur. The great thing about adding CO2 to a lower light tank is that some of the growth rate that would normally occur in a low light tank, ie slow, would be considerably higher. Nothing complex about DIY CO2, as long as you can follow a recipe. You can get bulbs anywhere from about 6500l to 10000k. Anything outside that range may not be the best for plants.

Ok time for more stupid questions by billinga. A couple of weeks ago I bought two aqueon T8 bulbs. I thought they would be good because they mention plants on the box. Now I see they have a T5 bulb but it is not going to fit based on the specs of the bulb because mine take 18 inch bulbs. Is there a brand out there that makes these 6700 bulbs that would fit in a 18 inch hood?

Second dumb question? Where should I go buy these plants from? I read do not get the ones in the tubes that say no snails which is what they sell at petsmart. Any recommendations for a guy who lives in Cobb County Georgia?

Thanks again. You all have been a big help.

I would be interested to know what plants will grow in as little wattage as you will have with just 18" bulbs - not asking, just stating. I guess most Crypts would do okay and most moss will. If you don't get 48" bulbs over your tank, or at least comparable wattage you may not have a very good time keeping plants alive. Plants can live under low wattage conditions, but then other parts of the plants needs to be met well in order for it to happen (ie good substrate, adequate fertilization, CO2, etc).

Well, if you can find other people in the area that have plants, buying from them would be a good choice, though snails might be an issue if you're worried about them. I personally don't mind them if they leave my plants alone. An alternative could be buying online, but you'd have to make sure that the plants don't freeze on the way.
Otherwise, if you're going to buy plants from a store, make sure you know what you want and that the plants you're getting are healthy. For example, Anubias should be a bright green, often with older leaves being a darker color. Rinse plants off or do a mild bleach dip to get rid of hitchhiking snails. Also, unless you're burying the entire pot, remove the rock wool plants often come in.

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

I would junk the two small 18" hood lights and go with an open top tank and some shop lights from Lowe's or Home Depot. They're really cheap, 6700K already, and are decent at growing plants.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

What is the wattage on the T8 bulbs you have? How deep is the tank?

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1x350L Goldfish, 1x 286L Planted, 1x190L Cherry shrimp, 1x140L Feeders, 1x130L Planted, 1x119L Peppermint BN breeding colony

I knew that there were going to be issues with these light. The tank is 18 inches deep. The wattage on the bulbs I have are 15 watt bulbs. I have two of them.

If I get rid of the two hoods what do I do for the top of the tank? Is there another hood that would fit this tank that would enable me to have plants? It is a 55 gallon tank.

Thanks again. Hopefully I can get this sorted out as I would love to have plants.

55 gal tank...is it 4ft long? (sorry i'm Aussie and your tank sizes can be different to ours)

You could do 40W T8(single 4ft light) for the plants i listed above. (shop variety like Gizmo suggested above will be cheapest option)

Obviously higher Wattage will allow you to have some more plant varieties than those listed

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1x350L Goldfish, 1x 286L Planted, 1x190L Cherry shrimp, 1x140L Feeders, 1x130L Planted, 1x119L Peppermint BN breeding colony

Yes it is a 4 foot long tank. I have two hoods though. I can look for a replacement hood I guess. Otherwise I am not sure how I would handle the lights.

I dont have a hood on my 4ft, it has glass lids and i have 1x 4ft light sitting onto of the glass and the other is on legs (holds it off the glass)

Can be see in this pic


Or you could do what i did to the hood of another tank that i wanted to replace the lights. I removed the old lights, and bought Hagan Glo

Hagan Glo Retrofit

These are brilliant lights and not badly priced

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1x350L Goldfish, 1x 286L Planted, 1x190L Cherry shrimp, 1x140L Feeders, 1x130L Planted, 1x119L Peppermint BN breeding colony

Aqueon makes a 48 inch fluorescent hood. Would that work?

I am unfamiliar with Aqueon sorry. An fellow American maybe able to help there

A single 40W tube (or 2 if you want to go a bit higher) would suit your tank and allow you to grow what i have listed

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1x350L Goldfish, 1x 286L Planted, 1x190L Cherry shrimp, 1x140L Feeders, 1x130L Planted, 1x119L Peppermint BN breeding colony