Plant Options for a 10 gallon?

[Essidi]

Water Parameters:
Hardness: 106 - 127 ppm [5.9 - 7.1 dKH]
pH: 7-8.6 [Apparently it fluctuates]
Temperature: 24
Light: 20 watts on a standard 10 gallon [Daylight Bulbs]
Substrate: Fluval Stratum
Fauna: A paradise fish or some guppies

I plan to get a bottle of Flourish Excel co2, and I have Flourish Comprehensive Supplement

This is the list of compatible plants I've compiled:

Ludwigia
Oriental Sword
Moneywort
Green Cabomba
Water Wisteria
Anubias
Java moss? [Would it do ok as a moss carpet in the shadow of the other plants after they've been established?]
[I would also include Vals but I've heard that they don't do well with Flourish products.]

If you guys could help me add or filter out plants from my possible selection, that would be very much appreciated. (I'd like to find some nice foreground plants.)
This will be my first planted aquarium, so any other miscellanious tips would be great too. :)

[biotsrama]

I don't know exactly what lighting conditions you have. 20W of "daylight bulbs" is sort of vague. Assuming it's full-spectrum compact fluorescent lighting and plant compatible, it would put you at 2 watts per gallon (WPG). That's normally considered between low and medium light. However, for smaller tanks (10G and less), the calculated WPG may be inflated and you actually need a higher number. (See http://www.rexgrigg.com/mlt.html) For the purpose of this response, I will assume your lighting is considered low-light.

The sword is a bit iffy. Your lighting might be a little low for it. It may live but just grow really slowly. Then again, that might be good since swords can get quite big otherwise. It would also appreciate a root tab.

A java moss carpet, as you mentioned, could work in the foreground. You could also try some of the small, low-light cryptocorynes. A third option would be dwarf sagittaria, but your lighting may be a bit too low for that.

Finally, you could add java fern to your list.

Oh, and your large pH swings are troubling. Over how much time does it change by 1.6 degrees? Remember pH is a logarithmic scale, so a change in 1.6 actually corresponds to a difference of nearly a factor of 40 (yikes). You may need to increase the buffering capacity of your tank.

[Essidi]

The lights are compact flourescents, yes.

Also, I'm not sure if a root tab would be necessary if I've got a Fluval substrate, since it's supposed to be full of minerals for plants. Fluval also is supposed to keep the pH steady at a neutral - slightly acidic level. I also usually do small, frequent water changes (about a half gallon every couple of days) so I don't think it should be that much of a concern.

It'd be fine if the sword grew slowly, but I just don't want it to die lol. Not sure what you mean by it "may" live. Do you think it's worth attempting, and will the other plants be alright? When I did my research a lot of them said medium light. Will they die at lower light or will it just stunt growth?

Also, I don't know about the java fern. There was java fern in the tank before I cleared it, and it's now happily growing in a completely unlighted tank that I'm temporarily keeping them in. When I got the batch, I put half of it in my 29 gallon, which has the same water parameters but is lit up a little bit, (though it is very low light), and that half completely melted. Either I'm missing something or my java fern just really hates lights...

[homemadepopcorn]

Most of the plants you listed would appreciate higher light with the amount of nutrients you are providing. IMO, a 10g is a little hard to dose with a carbon supplement like excel... a misjudgement might lead to some very unhappy fish and melted plants.

Vals would grow too tall for your tank. You'd have to be constantly cutting the tops.

Java moss will grow in the shadow of other plants but only if you have some impressive lighting and the moss is the one that's been established, not the other way around.

[Essidi]

Most of the plants you listed would appreciate higher light with the amount of nutrients you are providing.

I don't think I can increase light at this point. There is some sunlight hitting one side of the tank though, so I suppose I could take advantage of that. (Before I cleaned it, there was a mop of algae on that side, and that side only.) Could you be more specific as to which of the plant types would require more light? I'd be ok with only growing 2 or 3 plant types, and the point of the list is to be edited.

IMO, a 10g is a little hard to dose with a carbon supplement like excel... a misjudgement might lead to some very unhappy fish and melted plants.

Well, I guess I'll have to be careful then?
I really don't want to depend on a DIY system. I get a feeling I'll forget to change the 'fuel'. Could I also just feed the fish very liberally and let the decomposition generate co2?

Vals would grow too tall for your tank. You'd have to be constantly cutting the tops.

I believe some types of Vals are smaller. Either way, I'm pretty sure they're not good with supplements, so I'll hold off on those.

Java moss will grow in the shadow of other plants but only if you have some impressive lighting and the moss is the one that's been established, not the other way around.

Oh, I thought java moss was a low light plant. Just did a bit of research and found out otherwise. Oops.
In my defense it is somehow growing very nicely in my extremely low light tank. xD

[Essidi]

Most of the plants you listed would appreciate higher light with the amount of nutrients you are providing.

I don't think I can increase light at this point. There is some sunlight hitting one side of the tank though, so I suppose I could take advantage of that. (Before I cleaned it, there was a mop of algae on that side, and that side only.) Could you be more specific as to which of the plant types would require more light? I'd be ok with only growing 2 or 3 plant types, and the point of the list is to be edited.

IMO, a 10g is a little hard to dose with a carbon supplement like excel... a misjudgement might lead to some very unhappy fish and melted plants.

Well, I guess I'll have to be careful then?
I really don't want to depend on a DIY system. I get a feeling I'll forget to change the 'fuel'. Could I also just feed the fish very liberally and let the decomposition generate co2?

Vals would grow too tall for your tank. You'd have to be constantly cutting the tops.

I believe some types of Vals are smaller. Either way, I'm pretty sure they're not good with supplements, so I'll hold off on those.

Java moss will grow in the shadow of other plants but only if you have some impressive lighting and the moss is the one that's been established, not the other way around.

Oh, I thought java moss was a low light plant. Just did a bit of research and found out otherwise. Oops.
In my defense it is somehow growing very nicely in my extremely low light tank. xD

[Lady Hobbs]

That's one heck of a lot of plants for a 10 gallon. Vals will grow too tall for the tank and no type of sword will work in a tank that small. Sunlight hitting it will give you algae, too.

Excel is not CO2 but works similar to CO2. It also will kill several types of plants and even some fish unless you are very careful with it. I only use it in an emergency for algae but it has also cost me fish in the past. With low light, you don't need CO2.

Are you using plant substrate? Frankly, I'd get some driftwood, attach anubias to it, maybe a bit of java moss and call it done. It will take almost no plants to fill your tank up.

[Trillianne]

You may want to look at some of the Cryptocoryne varieties. There are several that in a smaller tank would look rather nice.

They do tend to melt off when you first get them, but once they have adjusted to your water they will fill in nicely.

[Essidi]

Trimmed List:

Anubias
Java moss
Java Fern
Crypts

Thank you all for the input. Of course, any updates are always appreciated. :)

That's one heck of a lot of plants for a 10 gallon.

I was only looking for options. I wasn't planning on cramming all of them in there lol.

Are you using plant substrate? Frankly, I'd get some driftwood, attach anubias to it, maybe a bit of java moss and call it done. It will take almost no plants to fill your tank up.

Yes I am. I actually want to try to get a jungle-like look in the tank. A piece of driftwood with a few plants on it still leaves most of the tank empty.