Before I spend my whole paycheck on plants ...

[Jennifer V]

From what I've gathered from you lovely beings is that A LOT of this is trial and error so I want to just test out a few different plants to see what works and what doesn't for my 10g. I have three different swords I got a month ago and they're doing really well. Got some crypts and moneywort the next go round and the melting is real but I'm hoping they'll come back fine.

My tank is stable at ph 7.4, 0 Ammonia, 0 nitrite, ~5 nitrate -- which I'm going to work on increasing to ~20 ppm when my Easy Green gets here. I have Easy root tabs for the swords and crypts.

My plan is to get a few java ferns and a few different kinds of anubias -- Nana "petite," barteri and coffeefolia -- to put in there to see what happens.

Am I just throwing money away or being incredibly brave by experimenting? Will the Easy Green be sufficient for the java fern and anubias? Or do I need Carbon and Iron as well?

I'm just planning on using super glue to attach them to hardscape. 

[lefty o]

java ferns and anubias are easy plants. pretty much keep 'em wet and some light on them, and they will live. if your swords are doing good, your crypts will more than likely come back, and the java fern and anubias will thrive. super glue gel works really well for attaching the to hard scape.

[StephenP2003]

19 minutes ago, Jennifer V said:

Am I just throwing money away or being incredibly brave by experimenting?

Yes and yes 😁

I completely lost several stem plant bundles before figuring things out.  Anubias, unless you get the dreaded rhizome rot, won't be a total loss if you don't have your nutrients/light dialed in yet. I had ruined a nanapetite to the point that all I had left of it was a quarter-inch piece of rhizome. I left it alone attached to a rock for about 6 months, and it developed several new leaves.

Crypts like iron at the roots, but otherwise easy green is definitely fine for those plants. 

Maybe your water will like Moneywort better than mine, but I got tiny leaves and algae until I started using CO2. I might've bunched them too close together.

[Will Billy]

Java fern and anubias are both excellent choices. You will do fine with them they are rather hard to kill. Easy green should be all you need. Anubias is one plant in particular that dosent seem to care if you run CO2 injections or not. I believe Easy Green has the right amount of iron in it for them. Just careful not to overdose on ferts as both are slow growing plants and wont utilize as much fertilizer as you would think. Over fertilizing could result in an unwanted algae bloom. 

[Jennifer V]

1 hour ago, lefty o said:

java ferns and anubias are easy plants. pretty much keep 'em wet and some light on them, and they will live. 

Good! Because that's the skill level I'm at right now 😆

[Jennifer V]

1 hour ago, StephenP2003 said:

Yes and yes 😁

Maybe your water will like Moneywort better than mine, but I got tiny leaves and algae until I started using CO2. I might've bunched them too close together.

I may have too. The moneywort doesn't look amazing right now, that's for sure. And I don't want to go through the complexity of injecting CO2. My brain will literally explode! So is liquid Carbon an OK alternative? 

[Jennifer V]

1 hour ago, Will Billy said:

Java fern and anubias are both excellent choices. You will do fine with them they are rather hard to kill. Easy green should be all you need. Anubias is one plant in particular that dosent seem to care if you run CO2 injections or not. I believe Easy Green has the right amount of iron in it for them. Just careful not to overdose on ferts as both are slow growing plants and wont utilize as much fertilizer as you would think. Over fertilizing could result in an unwanted algae bloom. 

Yes! And I'm obsessive so I'm prone to overdoing things, hence the post. So I guess I just start with the recommended amount of Easy Green and see how things go? 

[StephenP2003]

19 minutes ago, Jennifer V said:

So is liquid Carbon an OK alternative? 

It's not really an alternative; it serves a different purpose which is to keep algae at bay. But you don't need to inject CO2 (especially not just for the sake of moneywort). I'm just a tinkerer, and the CO2 is really serving as a substitute for patience.

[Brandy]

I have had good luck with MANY plants and moneywort was not a win for me either.

I tinkered with CO2 and Excel (different brand similar to Easy Carbon) and have decided at the end of the day the real win is to balance lights with fertilizers, because then things just become so much more effortless. Like @StephenP2003 I think CO2/Easy Carbon are mostly not so much required to have a beautiful tank as they are a substitute for patience most of the time. There are very few plants I wish I could grow that actually require CO2, and most of them have easier alternates--like skipping the dwarf baby tears in favor of monte carlo, which most people have trouble telling apart anyway.

[Bjelke]

The good thing about the plants you have choosen is that they are really sturdy, if they dont thrive you will usually have plenty of time to figure out things. Other plants might just «die», but these willl show stress signs way before they go. My experiences with Java Ferns is that they really love potassium and iron. They were just in stress mode when I only used Tropica Premium Nutrition fertilizer, it was when I started using Seachem Iron / Potassium in addition that they finally began thriving.