Hi everyone,
I'm looking to put more plants in my Roma 125, to give my angelfish some hiding places if they need them. I don't want to go down the CO2 route as I've read it can be risky and expensive, and I did consider DIY CO2 but I'd rather keep it as low tech as possible

The tank is lit by two brand new 20W T8 bulbs, one Hagen Flora-Glo and one Power-Glo. I don't add any fertilisers currently but I wouldn't mind buying some if need be, and there are plenty of nitrates to fuel the plants.

Currently I have 1 normal Amazon sword, (echinodorus bleherii) about a foot tall, seems to be growing well, two echinodorus "rose" which stay alive but don't get any bigger, lots of normal Java ferns, and a couple of Windelov Java ferns. I also have two cryptocoryne wendtii, a moss ball, and did have some christmas moss but I had to bin it after it was taken over by BBA. Fortunately the BBA seems to be almost gone, and I also have one Nymphaea Stellata, which has never grown upwards and has only red leaves, and two pothos (devil's ivy) vines growing up out of the water.

My pH is 7.2, Ammonia and Nitrite 0 and Nitrates 25-40ppm before a water change.

I am looking to grow these, which I have just ordered from Plants Alive:
Vallisneria Gigantea x 5
Ceratopteris Siliquosa x 5
Ceratophyllum Demersum x 5
Eichhornia Azurea x 5
Limnobium Spongia x 5
Aponogeton Crispus x 1
Aponogeton Undulatus x 1
Bacopa Monnerii x 5
Elodea Densa x 5

I tried to pick easy plants that are good at reducing nitrates. I just wanted to know if you guys have any advice for growing these particular plants, or if you know of any good plants for reducing nitrates. I considered duckweed but chose frogbit instead on the basis that it's more easily removed.

Any advice is much appreciated

How big is the tank? Vallisneria gigantea, as the name suggests, is big- the leaves are broad, and grow to over a metre long. The smaller Vallisneria spiralis would be a better choice.

Elodea, Ceratophyllum and Bacopa are all plants I've had good luck with. Bacopa is a mid-foreground plant as its much shorter, and will have a tendency to get a bit leggy. Keep cutting it back and replanting it to get a nice dense patch.

I'm not so familiar with the other plants, personally I prefer tanks with only a few species, as with fish, small numbers of many plants don't look as good as a large stand of a couple of species (focal plants like lillies or Amazon Swords excepted). For instance, my 60L only has Bacopa, Elodea, Willow Moss, Frogbit, and Vallis "nana".

Thanks Dave,
The tank is 125 litres, and according to Seapets it measures 80x35x45cm (I haven't measured it so these are all I have). I was going to let the giant vallis grow across the surface of the water when it grew tall enough, to provide some shade.

I'm glad to hear of your luck with the bacopa, elodea and ceratophyllum - hopefully I'll be able to keep them alive. Thanks for your tip on cutting back the bacopa too, I'll be sure to do that.

I agree with you on liking large bunches of the same species and would normally try to do that, but as I'm fairly new to keeping aquatic plants I'm currently trying out lots of different species just to see which grow well in my water and which don't.

Again, thanks for the advice

Vallis looks very nice when grown like that. I still think the gigantea will be too big, but see what happens. Even the ordinary vallis can give you leaves that sort of length, but they're only about a centimetre wide, rather than an inch or so.

Definitely agree with the "buy a lot of different species, plonk 'em in and see what grows" technique when you're just starting out. One you know what you can grow successfully then you can look at buying more of the same. While I like a good aquascape they're far too much effort for me, and I'd rather something that looked like a natural habitat, decaying leaves, algae, and all, than the immaculate lawns that don't look much like anything in nature.