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Help plants suggestions please

Note there is a wide range of inert substrates you could use and many have different properties and therefore not all plants do as good on all of them.
I have 2 low light low tech tanks now one 25 litre and 110 litre. The 25 litre has akadama and the 110 mainly fuji sand and hsaqua gravel mixed with clay tabs. Still most plants i grow do better on the akadama without any additions than on the fuji sand.. :) And this are only 2 inert substrate options there are many more of course.

Tropica.com has a very nice plant list and flag them from easy to advanced, look at the easy ones there you'll find a lot.. :)

For i beta tank my personal choice would be, stay in asia and use narrow and longer leaved plants, like java fern, vallisinerias and crypts. A nice stemplant for a setup like this, tho flaged as medium is pogostemon erectus.. It does very good in my case in low tech and low light. Because its flaged medium i buoght ti already submersed grown, it could wel be not surviveing the transition if planted in emersed form in a low light low tech setup.
 
+1 for crypts and java fern, I had them in my 30l betta tank with hairgrass (soil capped with sand though). Zozo's right about the akadama, even though its inert it has a high CEC so absorbs nutrients from the water column. I also used red root floater and amazon frogbit to give the little guy some cover and something to play under :)
 
It's difficult given the lack of information to suggest much ...
If low light & no CO2 & no fertilizer & no enriched substrate, not many plants will grow let alone thrive, especially if your water column is equally bare of nutrients ... ie if you have hard water, some plants will fare better than if you try the same in very soft water

Without some sort of cover or distraction, I can't imagine many Bettas ignoring shrimp long term


Note that some of the plants in the Easy category may still have medium CO2 requirements, so be sure to click on individual plant profile pages & check
S repens
Nymphoides hydrophylla 'Taiwan'
Don't try to grow tissue culture plants under these conditions

BUT if you can add in a substrate such as Tropica Aquarium Soil & Growth Substrate (note that Tropica suggests that one may use just the soil - I'm just in the habit of both as my tap water is very limited in nutrients, even GH & KH can test as zero)
I set up a 30cm cube in an East window (with blinds), placed a few stones, & added the following 1-2-Grow leftover bits
Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo'
Marsilea hirsute
Rotala macrandra
Pogostemon erectus
Hygrophila 'Siamensis 53B'

Half filled with water ... intending to return & set up a small filter & possibly CO2 & fertilizers ...
Instead the little water garden has sat in limbo ... EXCEPT for the plants which have been happily growing :wideyed: (it's been 3-4 weeks)
Monte Carlo has almost carpeted
M hirsute has done the same
R macrandra has small leafs but growing steadily
H Siamensis has grown slowly, again small leafs (but the shoots were rather tiny coming out of the cup)
P erectus again looks a miniature version but nice new growth
When I look midmorning the tank is pearling.
Did have some lovely green water with surface film that I mopped off last week, then it's been a cloudy week so water looks almost clear again

This week I'll finally do a water change & consider adding the originally intended filter & shrimp & (test) Betta

Anyway that's my experiment, so you might think along similar lines & also be inspired by Marcel & experiment :D

Or say more about your goals/expectations for this tank & perhaps generate more specific suggestions :)
(I know I read this when you first posted & just felt there wasn't enough information on what you intended/wanted ... what sort of light? why not some nutrient rich substrate? what sort of water???)
 
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