Confused about adding live plants

[Artistwolf]

So my dad said that he's not opposed to adding live plants to our fish tank. But he added that when he tried to add live plants in the past, they all died.
I've been reading through posts here, but I'm still completely lost.
What does a tank need in order to successfully grow live plants?
I have a 12 gallon Eclipse bow-front tank with a sort of built-in filter. I'm planning on getting a stock of 8 neon tetras, 1 betta fish, two nerite snails, and 5 cherry shrimp. All pending approval though.
The substrate in the tank is white sand.
I'm considering forgetting about the whole live plant thing, because I'm just lost.

 

[Blueiz]

Through a quick google search I see that your tank has a compact fluorescent light in the hood, is that right?

I would think that you could grow some low light plants such as crypts and moss. I have some bronze crypts, crypt wendtii, and crypt lutea growing slowly but surely under a factory LED hood on a 20 g long.

I do not do anything special to the tank, such as fertilizer or co2.

 

[SnakeIce]

Yes for that tank only some plants will grow, but if you chose the right plants they will do well. Cryptocoryns, java fern, aquatic mosses are sure things, and there are some stem plants that could work.

Just a caution, I would wait on the shrimp, because they are much more sensitive to the poor water quality of the cycling process than fish are in general. The tank needs to have no ammonia or nitrite readings before they are added. I've seen it cautioned that the tank needs to be months along for shrimp to thrive.

 

[Caspan]

Also I know it is really exciting to get a lot of fish at one time. Remember in such a small tank you are adding a lot of fish, this can cause your tank ammonia and nitrite levels to spike. It is because adding that many fish at once causes more waste and takes a bit for your tank to build the bacteria to break that amount down and balance out again. Just be careful adding a lot of fish at once in such a small tank.

With the plants go slow. find a very hearty plant first to start with I always love the anubias. I will get a piece or rose wood and drill holes in it and just stick the root in there and it will take hold and no substrate required. I have never killed a anubias plant yet (i say yet) Below is a picture of my 18G setup with a piece of rose wood and about 7 anubias plants, very inexpensive way to make the tank pop, but remember if you have low light start off with one or two to see how they do

 

[Tifftastic]

Anubias is a great plant for low light systems. But you will want to attach it to a piece of driftwood, rock or other decor. It doesn't need a lot of light and grows slow enough that it won't take over your tank. Its one of my favorite plants as it requires so little care and the fish leave it alone. I had one in my 10 gallon tank that just had a simple flourescent bulb and it went from 1 leaf to 10 in a year. I've also had friends that grew them with just stock LED lights and never had an issue. Java fern is similar in this aspect. Crypts are also good, and mine always did well with sand. IMO in a small tank, live plants are always a good option to help keep the water quality up.

 

[Brian Feeder of Fish]

I'm getting some decent growth on a philodendron/pothos plant that I just stuck in my 10 gallon, no ferts, CO2, fancy lights, after hearing they could grow in fish tanks. (MFK) Not an aquatic plant, but relatively cheap, and I've heard (no real confirmation) that they reduce nitrates. (Also MFK)
Brian

 

[Artistwolf]

Thank you so much for the quick answers! I think I was largely overthinking this.
This tank has actually been up and running for at least 10 years now; just recently we haven't stocked up on fish for a while so it only has three neon tetras (and a glofish that I'm admittedly just kind of waiting for to die).
Yup, that light is correct, although it actually went out a while ago so my dad still needs to fix it sometime before we get any plants XD
Okay, I like the sound of the Anubias; it's very pretty, too. I also like the idea of aquatic mosses; how do those work?

 

[CinnamonPearl]

For aquatic mosses, you can either tie them to rocks or driftwood and have them grow on those or form a carpet along the bottom. To make a carpet, just get some small, flat rocks, tie pieces of the moss to them with cotton string, and lay them on the bottom of your tank. They'll grow into a carpet eventually. Java moss is a great, easy to grow low light moss. I even had some growing emersed in a frog tank with few problems. Just note that mosses do like somewhat cooler temperatures than most plants.

 

[Artistwolf]

Thank you! Would tying them onto smooth glass rocks work? Or would they need a bit more of a foothold than that?
Would around 80 degrees be too warm? That's what the water tends to stay at in my aquarium.

 

[CinnamonPearl]

No, the moss would need a better foothold than glass rocks can provide. 80 degrees is fine, but you might not get as good of growth as you would at lower temperatures. However, for a Berta, I'd keep it at 80.