New plants for 2yr old low tech

[Simmo]

Hi Folks,
My tank is two years old, a low tech Juwel Lido 200 with Helialux light system 8 hours a day and medium stocking level of larger tetras and a rogue angelfish.
The plants are looking a bit sad, the angel has eaten nearly all the amazon frogbit (I think), and natural attrition/poor husbandry means I need to add some easy low tech plants.
Ferts consist of the original 2 year old Tropica aquasoil plus 5ml of TNC complete daily.
I thought I’d add a good number of small crypts to try and give some ground cover and some red root floaters as the angel might not like these? Perhaps another clump of Amazon swords?
Suggestions on easy crypt varieties and other low/medium plants for cover appreciated. Crypts like fertile soil I read - is the old aquasoil plus TNC enough?
Happy New Year!
Cheers

 

[fredi]

My angels are partial to filamentous algae, and often have a nibble at various plants
Tropica aqua soil and tnc complete too 👍👍
Not properly qualified to give planting advice, however wendti have always done well for me

 

[Simmo]

Cheers Fredi thanks for the reply 👍

 

[G H Nelson]

Most Crypts will be suitable......you need to search which may grow too large for the foreground and are suitable for the background.
The soil will be okay for the plants add some root tablets/balls/sticks.
Here are a few that stay reasonably sized for the mid/foreground.
Cryptocoryne albida, beckettii, parva, undulata, walkeri,willisii, nurii, flamingo.

 

[Simmo]

Thanks GH I’ll look them up 👍
Cheers

 

[ElleDee]

I agree that most crypts will work, but some have been better than others for me. Of all the C. wendti cultivars I have, I think 'Green Gecko' has been the strongest grower. C. becketii has also been an MVP. I think C. Lucens is underrated as a foreground plant - it's not that much bigger than parva, but grows and spreads faster. C. affinis 'Red' is easy and a solid red for me if it gets enough light, despite the description promising a green midrib.

If there's something you want a lot of, TC cups really can give you a lot of bang for your buck and I've had great success with them. The only exception was a pot of parva that was obviously poorly grown. Sure, it takes them a while to get established, but that's true of potted crypts too.

 

[Simmo]

Thanks ElleDee for the detailed reply, I have a good shopping list now will post a pic up when it’s planted up. Cheers 👍😀