Here because I'm not so good with plants...

[Val]

My name, obviously, is Val.  I've been keeping fish for 30 years now.  At one point I had over 170 gallons of tanks, but discovered that after a year, the maintenance was too much and I seriously scaled down.  I primarily keep goldfish, just started a new 55 gallon tank after my son decided he wanted my old 62g tank with goldies for his new place.  I thought that just the one tank was going to be sufficient, but I saw a guppy strain called red endlers, and OMG, they are the most gorgeous fish I've seen.  At the same time, my wife saw the Fluval Flex and thought it looked cool, and she wants me to start another tank (now that my son has moved on, we have a new den we're setting up.)  

So, I am pondering doing a planted tank.  (My goldie tanks are all plastic/silk and I've been happy with that.)  I've tried planted tanks twice and failed utterly.  All with what I was told were easy plants:  crypts, swords and java fern.  Really depressing...  But hope springs eternal.

[ScandiDefense]

Hi there. Same here. I am a newbie and all that i can manage for now is bare bottom. 😂

[smm333]

I think plants that survive depend a lot on water. I got lots of "easy" plants and quickly saw the deaths of pogostemon stella, java moss, and water sprite. I tried java moss in several tanks. It always died. I tried it one more time in my shrimp only tank that has remineralize RO water and so far it's staying alive! I have very soft well water that seems to do well for anubius, java fern, some crypts, guppy grass, frogbit and susswassertang. I'd recommend try getting small amounts of various plants and see what works. Then you wont be too invested in something that won't do well for you.

[jwcarlson]

I've killed plenty of plants and some grow really well for me.  I gravitate towards those and let the ones that seem finnicky perish.  I think a lot of it depends on water, tank temp, etc.  Which is going to be different for everyone.  Anubias does well for me in my 85 degree discus tank where nitrates basically never go above 5 (if that).  Other plants are doing better in my community and apisto tanks because I have some fluval stratum and am focusing on root tabs this year.  The ones in just gravel struggle more even with tons of fish waste down in it.  Lots of it is a balancing act.  But if you cast a wide net you'll find at least some that work well.  Guppy grass is awesome for me and the only reason I have it is because a member here, @JettsPapa sent him when we did some trading and he used a small piece in his bag of shrimp.  Now the little guppy grass forest that I have been cultivating pearls away like seven hours a day.  It's awesome.  And now I'm trimming and growing the forest and expanding to other tanks.  

As a general rule, I find plants that do not need to be rooted seem to be easier (at least for me).  But I would suggest asking around locally what works well for people (who will maybe give you trimmings/starts) and focus on trying those.

[Schuyler]

Welcome! 

I bet you'll be able to get some help figuring out plants. If you're getting a new tank and you're already experienced with keeping fish and water parameters you could go for a planted substrate.

Depending on where you are you may be able to find a local group where people would be willing to give you some cuttings. Then it's a lower risk and you'll get plants that have grown in similar water to yours.

[knee]

Hello! I know how frustrating it might be for plants to die on you and there's so many conflicting information out there. But don't give up on it! Plants are super fun and provide so many benefits for an aquarium. I've grown plants in straight tap (really hard water in socal about 250-300ppm), pure RO and 50/50 RO/tap.

The plants you mentioned are indeed easy to keep, but there are other plants that are even easier. I always suggest some floating plants to begin with like salvinia, amazon frogbit, dwarf water lettuce and duckweed (this plant will take over your tank QUICK but it might work for you since you keep goldfish and they love duckweed). Anacharis, guppy grass, water wisteria, water sprite, and pearlweed are all column feeders that grow super quick if given sufficient nutrients and lighting. No need for any fancy lights or substrate, they will even grow without being planted in the substrate. 

 

[Theplatymaster]

i have had good success with Anubias and Java fern, i also really like Dwarf Aquarium Lilies, once you get nutrients to them, they take off like crazy!

[JJenna]

One plant that really filled up my bare spots while I was waiting for other plants to grow is hornwort. It's a fast grower and doesn't need to be planted! I kept it down in my tank by putting a plant weight on it.