What are some colorful aquarium plants for hard water?

Question

I have a small tank with one beta fish in it. I'm looking to add one colorful plant to it and a moss ball. I have 15w/gal of good color plant light. My water is kinda hard. All I have is small size gravel in the bottom and i don't want to add anything else to it. I was thinking of adding a snail if algae gets to be a problem. Also I don't want to add fertilizer. If anyone knows of a colorful plant that will do well in hard water can they please let me know.

Answer 1

Cryptocoryne wendtii comes in many colors, one of the most popular being a wine red, but without iron supplementation, it tends to fade.  There are sevearl species of lilies that are a lovely red or orange-yellow which can be found in most pet stores either as bulbs or pre-sprouted plants.  Even going to garden stores and buying pond lilies works very nicely.  Also, the "watts per gallon" concept is very flawed, especially in small tanks, so it would be very helpful to know what kind of bulb specifically as well as the tank size.

EDIT: 50/50 saltwater 10,000K + actinic lights are, just as the packaging suggests, for SALTWATER.  Plants have a combination of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, both of which require blue and red emissions.  The lights you have supply almost no red, leading to tall, lanky plants, rather than the bushy, healthier plants you should have.  Instead, try a combination of low Kelvin rated bulbs (generally emitting more red) and 10,000K+ (generally very blue), as this will be more balanced, meaning better growth.  Also, you may want to consider dosing Flourish and Flourish Excel to at least give you some chance of balance.

Answer 2

that light might work but don't be surprised if it doesn't.

the blue is Actinic and won't grow anything outside marine life and the white is probably 10000k which is barely passible for growing plants.

just get something with the word java in it and you'll be fine.

you don't want lots of light anyways on something that small.

super light means tons of co2 needed and ferts and substrate,

if there not in balance you lose big time.

good luck!!!!

Answer 3

Try some Java Fern, it's really easy to maintain.