I have a 77 hex setup for my livebearers, and I want to start to introduce some live plants to my tank. I've seen those moss walls and think they would be super cool on the back three walls, but that's a lot of moss! I'm thinking Christmas moss for that, but I'm not sure where to find it. Also, what other plants would you suggest? I need something that floats, but is not too uncontrollable. I've had duckweed in there before, and it was just a huge mess. Any advice would be super appreciated.

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~Oddi~

Good morning pbr...

Nice sized tank, good choice for your Livebearers. They need lots of room to grow and multiply.

I keep large tanks of Livebearers and they like a lot of floating plants. I like Water sprite. Water wisteria is another good one, but you'll need to attach it to a piece of floating driftwood if you want it really thrive. The closer to the light you can get these, the better they grow.

Since you'll have a lot of growth at the tank surface, you'll need to stay with low or filtered light plants. Any of the Crytocoryne varieties will work, Java fern, Anubias and Pennywort are good ones. Some of the taller Amazon swords are nice too.

Just giving you some examples of what I have growing in my tanks.

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

I second everything that BBradbury said. the wisteria grows nice and bushy at the top of my live bearer tank and gives a nice spot for the small fry to hide and access food. I need to upgrade my lighting. I think it would get really bushy all over with better lights. the Cryptos thrive in any light as well.!

that Hex tank sounds really fun to plant! cheers!

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^m00p^
30 gallon - Natural planted Live Bearer / Cory tank
20 gallon - Tanganyika Shell Bed. (Neolamprologus multifaciatus)

Thanks for the suggestions; I'll definitely look into them. Another concern: I have a stable PH of 8.3, and many plants I've researched require a much lower PH. What are your suggestions for this? Should I try to bring the PH down? What methods would you propose?

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~Oddi~

That moss idea sounds cool, would love to see it if you deside to do that.
In my livebearer tanks I have wysteria on 3/4 and the an amazon sword with some mini swords in front. The wysteria grows big and fast (good for fry and transplants) and I have found that you can take a bushy top snip it and let it float in the tank an it will live like that and the fry like to hide it it. Sometimes I even see adults lounging in it lol.

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Tank: 29g:guppies, balloon mollies, swordtail, 2 mollies
Hex: opaline gourami
10g 1F. betta

I just grabbed some anacharis for my 29 gal with mollies. It grows fast, so that may be an issue for you, but my little guys love playing in it. It can root or float as well.

I have a platy tank, and my pH was at 8.4 on a good day. I just planted it, and by starting a CO2 system it has brought the pH down to 7.0 and the plants so far are doing well, but it is early into this underwater gardening adventure for me.

Chessie

I have very hard water with a high ph and there hasnt been much that hasnt grown in my tanks. Wisteria, ludwigia, chain sword, java moss, christmas moss, java fern, amazon sword....just to name a few.

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

Another concern of mine is the dirty water. Is there a filter I can put on the line so that many tanks can have clean water at once? Would the 4396710 work? For some reason, there's a lot of sulfur in the water supply in our area. I read somewhere that sulfur is bad to ingest in large quantities. Thanks!