Tropical plants for 60L tank
I have a 60L (13 gal) fish tank that I want to transform into a plant tank. Unfortunately my room is south facing so I get no direct sunlight at any point =( so I will need artificial lighting.
I plan to line the bottom with sanitized rocks, pebbles, moss and potting mix then filling up the remaining space as much as possible.
Unfortunetly my budget and knowledge of plants is sadly lacking. I do want orchids to feature promenently however due to cost these will be rather limited. I was thinking a few orchids scattered around with tropical bromelliads such as Neoregelia, Guzmania etc to flesh out the rest of the space.
The tank is 90cm long, 45cm wide and 30 cm high. I will need about 5 cm for the pebbles and potting mix/moss so the total height for plants is around 23cm. Humidity won't be too precise but the tank will have a lid so should be kept above 80%. I have a variety of computer fans to provide air circulation and a small heater and cooler depending on the plants chosen. The ambient temperature of the room is around 18 degrees Celsius (64F) occasionally rising to 19 or 20 but very rarely.
I will need some supplementary lighting, I have found some 21w T5 flourescent lamps in a variety of colors, will this be suitable? I am pretty much starting from scratch so sufficient lighting for cheap plants such as phals is what I am after. Ideally I only want one lamp due to cost. the 21w is the biggest I can fit in my tank though I will look for others.
If you can think of any relatively common plants that would be suitable, tropical or not, please suggest them.
Sorry I am still fairly new, I have very little knowledge of plants in general so assume no prior knowledge. I realize that this is probably not going to be recommended but I really want plants in my room
Thanks.
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