Are these plants acceptable for a 10 Gallon Tank?

[m.grimmx]

Hello, everyone. I am currently trying to set up a 10G tank, and I decided on a few plants that I thought would work. Would these all work at once, or should I only pick a few at a time? If I need to pick a few, what ones would work the best together?

 

LIVE PLANTS

Duckweed

Anubias nana micro

Susawassertang

Bacopa Caroliniana

Dwarf Sagittaria

[JettsPapa]

I'm familiar with all of them except the sagittaria.  I wouldn't wish duckweed on my worst enemy, but some people like it.  Otherwise I don't see any issues.

[Root]

I don’t have any experience with susawassertang, but I think all of the others would work well together. They can all do well under low light so it looks like you are putting some good research in. 😊

You might just have to do a good bit of weekly trimming with the Bacopa Caroliniana. Plus with its height the duckweed may get entangled in it, but that’s duckweed with any plants that I have had lol.

 

If you go this route please share pictures!  

[JettsPapa]

On 12/21/2022 at 12:44 PM, Paul R said:

. . . . Plus with its height the duckweed may get entangled in it, but that’s duckweed with any plants that I have had lol.

. . . and in your net, and on your arm, and . . .

Speaking of susswassertang, if you get it from a source with different parameters than yours it may die back pretty severely, but don't give up on it.  I got a beautiful ball from a member on another forum.  It gradually faded away until I thought it was all dead.  Months later, when I had almost forgotten about it, I noticed a few bits and pieces, and now it's done well enough that I've started selling some.

[Root]

On 12/21/2022 at 12:53 PM, JettsPapa said:

. . . and in your net, and on your arm, and . . .

Speaking of susswassertang, if you get it from a source with different parameters than yours it may die back pretty severely, but don't give up on it.  I got a beautiful ball from a member on another forum.  It gradually faded away until I thought it was all dead.  Months later, when I had almost forgotten about it, I noticed a few bits and pieces, and now it's done well enough that I've started selling some.

It’s funny because it took me a long time to get all of the duckweed out of my aquarium. I was going through some of my supplies yesterday to setup my old breeder box and even though it’s been stored up for several months, I noticed duckweed in the airline and piping. It still had a hint of green to it and I just knew all it would take was a drop of water and then….lol. 

[JoeQ]

I personally would add a lot of Easy, fast growing stems or you will face algae issues, and also plant heavy! Most people make the mistake of buying 1 or 2 plants as to not break the bank figuring them 2 plants will easily populate the tank. Then they wonder why they quickly become overun with algae .

[Patrick_G]

I agree with @JoeQ, adding lots of fast growers to a new tank looks great and really makes algae control easier. Water Wisteria, Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, Ludwigia are all nice, fast growing stem plants that’ll help fill an empty new tank. 
 

I’d avoid the duckweed and get Dwarf Water Lettuce. It’s a nice floating plant with long, trailing roots. 
 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Patrick_G

[JoeQ]

On 12/21/2022 at 2:22 PM, Patrick_G said:

I agree with @JoeQ, adding lots if fast growers to a new tank looks great and really makes algae control easier. Water Wisteria, Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, Ludwigia are all nice, fast growing stem plants that’ll help fill an empty new tank. 
 

I’d avoid the duckweed and get Dwarf Water Lettuce. It’s a nice floating plant with long, trailing roots. 
 

Broad Leaf Ludwigia is a great choice  it has nice big leaves which hardly get any algae and will provide coverage for your slow grow, low light plants. Some plants mentioned above have finer leaves that accumulate algae easily. 

[A3M0N]

I have bacopa in my 10 gallon, it's growing well. But ludwigia repens is growing very fast for me, faster than the bacopa. 

[Rube_Goldfish]

Bacopa caroliniana has been my most successful stem plant in low tech set-ups. I would definitely heed the warnings above about duckweed. I second @Patrick_Gs suggestion about water lettuce and would also suggest Salvinia minima, if it's available where you live, if you prefer smaller leaves and shorter roots. Either way, floating plants are great for new tanks because they can really soak up excess nutrients, having unlimited access to atmospheric CO2, and can also shade a tank, if that's what you want. And if it's not, just grab a bunch and toss or compost them. I will caution that floaters can tolerate surface flow to varying degrees, but there are ways around that, too.

If your dwarf sagittaria ends up anything like mine, it'll sit there, seemingly doing nothing at all for months, then one day just decide to take off like a shot and send out runner after runner, so don't get discouraged if it seems like it's stagnant for a while.

Lastly, the greater the plant biomass you can get, the better off you'll be in terms of water quality and algae. Other than your wallet, you basically can't have too many plants.

[jwcarlson]

On 12/21/2022 at 12:08 PM, m.grimmx said:

Duckweed

In my opinion duckweed is not acceptable in any aquarium.

[PineSong]

On 12/21/2022 at 2:22 PM, Patrick_G said:

I agree with @JoeQ, adding lots of fast growers to a new tank looks great and really makes algae control easier. Water Wisteria, Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, Ludwigia are all nice, fast growing stem plants that’ll help fill an empty new tank. 
 

I’d avoid the duckweed and get Dwarf Water Lettuce. It’s a nice floating plant with long, trailing roots. 
 

Since I just spent six or eight weeks removing duckweed from my tanks, I will chime in here to agree with Patrick. Another great floater with nice root structure that hangs down is frogbit. I have it in my 29, 20 long and shrimp tank to provide that pond look I love and some light-blocking that the duckweed was providing before.

[Jennifer V]

I agree that dwarf sag can be a latent grower. I've had mine for maybe a year and it's just now deciding to start producing new leaves. I was about to pull it out before I noticed the new growth. 

Susswassertang is a beautiful plant but can also be temperamental at first. I had a bunch die right of the bat but another bunch is doing so well I moved some to another tank. 

The biggest secret to plant keeping that I've learned, other than pack your tank full of as many plants as you can and try a bunch of different kinds to see what will work for you specifically, is to be patient. Lots of plants will go through and ugly stage and then end up just fine. 

Send pics when you get the tank planted! 🌱