Easy Aquarium Plant???

[buzz]

I'm not a gardener, but I would like some live plants in my tanks, that require little care, but provide good cover for my fish. Where do I start looking for ideas that a novice can deal with? I'm particularly interested in grasses. Any reading suggestions? Any order houses that are good? I would like to get something going in my 40 gal., which houses yellow labs, a pair of rubber nose plecos, 4 kribs and a keyhole. The light bar is a single flourescent 20w tube, 36'', centred, a fair current from the cannester filter. Can anyone point me in the right direction. Remember, a gardener i'm not. Thanks

[Laura]

Hi there,
You have very low light, so this will limit what will grow in your tank.  I would try tying java fern, anubias and african fern to some rocks or wood and see how it goes. Tie them on with cotton thread, and put them in the brightest parts of the tank.
You can pick them all up for very reasonable prices at the auctions.   
Other than sticking them in the tank, you don't need to do anything fancy.

[zima]

You can also try some Java moss, which can grow in minimal light. Attach it to a driftwood, coconut shell (looks really cool), or stones/other ornaments. It'll be close to impossible to grow grass since it requires a fair bit of lighting and in many cases some kind of CO2 injection. You can also try to float plants, but this will create shade in your tank. If you decide to go for it, generic duckweed or Amazon frogbits are nice (let me know if you want them, I've got tonns).

[BigDaddy]

Unfortunately, there are no grasses that will grow under the lighting you currently have.  A 20 watt fluorescent tube will only support the low light plants already listed.  You could try some crypts grown closely together to create a carpet effect, but again with that lighting it will take a long time for you to get the kind of growth you'd want for something to carpet the tank.