Hi! Im new to keeping real plants in the tank. I have a 72 bow front and I want to just have a nice natural looking tank. I don't want to have crazy plants they don't need to be huge I just want them to survive. I was just wondering what everyone's opinion are on what kind of lighting i would need or any type of advice. I don't want to go crazy with a c02 tank or anything just basic fish planting hopefully someone understands what i mean haha! and then also types of plants that are good for beginners thanks!

How deep is the tank? Do you have a light on it now, what is it?

The standard lights that come with tanks usually aren't the greatest, but you can have a great looking planted tank without fancy lights and co2. I think the key is in picking the right plants. My favorite easy-to-grow plants are cryptocoryn wendtii, java moss and java fern. Alasse has an amazing looking planted tank that is low tech, so she can probably give you some other suggestions as well.

You may not need to change lights, so hang on, just need some more info. The standard light - Does it go end to end? What wattage is it? 1 tube or 2 T8 tubes?

Tank is nearly 2ft deep?....hmmmmmm this maybe an issue. That is a lot of depth to reach plants down the bottom.

Are you putting hardscape in the tank, like driftwood? If so you could put plants like anubias, and java fern possibly, depends on your answer to what length and wattage your current lighting is :

Remember the higher the light the more work the tank will be. Not my idea of fun tank honestly.