Is the tank glass or acrylic? Sometimes scratches in acrylic can be buffed out if not too deep.
There are many possibilities on plant type. Do a google search on aquatic plant online retailers to see what all is available. I've linked to one of my favorites below.
As I'm sure you'll discover, moving an established tank can be quite a task. Especially if its glass I recommend removing everything, otherwise you risk causing weaknesses in the tank structure that could leak or give way at a later point (bad news). What kind of fish does this tank have in it? You didn't mention whether this was a salt or freshwater tank, so I assumed it was fresh.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aquatic Plant Depot

Yes it is freshwater. I belive it is glass and the scratches are quite deep I think. I was planning on bring the fish home 1st and placing them in a 10 gal tank for just a day to get the tank set up.Then going back for the tank. I hope it goes well.........colleen

My favorite is banana plants. The practically grow befor your eyes and when they reach the surface of the water, they spread out a beautiful lilly pad.

Have fun!
-PF

What type of plants you can grow is largely dependent on your lighting. You need to find out what type of bulbs you have and how many you have, and consider where they are placed over the tank. The majority of tanks are low light tanks, but that's ok, you can still have gorgeous aquatic plants so long as you don't pick ones that need more light. The plants that need the most light should be directly under the bulbs, but plants which need lower light towards the back and sides where there is less light.

In my low light tanks, the best performers have been various Anubias species, java fern, and Cryptocorne species. Using just those types you can create a beautiful scene with a lot varied textures, requiring very little care beyond the weekly partial water change you should be doing for your fish anyway. If you have a bit more light, moving into the medium range, i've had great success with red melon sword (which somehow keeps it's deep red color for me even in lower than optimal light), pygmy chain sword (this requires frequent thinning once it establishes, it will take over the entire substrate if you let it, making a grassy effect but choking out other plants), and the previously mentioned banana plant which tends to look kinda scraggly in low light, but grows well in medium.

Consider replacing your substrate with flourite, or a flourite/gravel mixture for good plant growth. Rinse the fluorite well before use, and if you mix it with gravel, choose gravel of a similar grain type to prevent it settling into 2 layers over time.

Be prepared to be patient with the fish eating the plants. Seems like everytime I get a plant to the point I want it some fish decides it's in his way and cuts it down. Gotta love nature. I'm about to give up and go back to plastic.

Sunny, what kind of fish do you have that are eating your live plants? Also, what size is your tank?

-PF

I have a 90 gal and 45 gal filled with tropicals and tetra of all shapes and kinds. I'm sure in the mixture there are plenty of vegitarian fish munching on my plants. I have a small 5 gal with a few neons and a baby molly in it and the plants seem to do ok in there. In the 90 I gave up and went to plastic. There are few still hanging on in the 45.

Maybe you can turn the tank around if its only scratched on one side. Make sure filters fit over the edge OK. Theres a big diff. between a 50 and 100 gal. Check the demensions. Check the stand and make sure its sturdy. Remove everything from tank before moving. If you have good light large sword plants look good towards the back.

Hi there, I hope I can give you only food for thought. I will mention what should not be done and what could be done. When I had a 70 gallon tropical tank 8 years ago and cleaned all the calcium and algae, I used a rough sponge. As you know, never used a blade for scraping because of scratching glass. To prevent future algae, you might want to look into UV lights for tanks. Fresh plants are great but be careful bringing into your tank. They may bring dieases that will effect your fish. I would use the plastic plants and slowly bring in the live plants to replace the fake ones. Also bright growth light is a major need for plant growth unless you use plants that need only min. light such as Java Moss. Enjoy your new hobby. Your tank will have plenty of room to have any type of fish you may want. Now that I have said that, I wish my new 12 gallon aquarium was larger. But by Spring I will be outdoor ponding.
Theresa

I get to bring it home this weekend. It is 55 gal. It is not a rectangle so turning it around it not an option. Plus there are scratches on the back side as well. I can live with the scratches with no problem. It won't bother me a bit. I have already moved some of the slower easier to catch fish to a small 10 gal at my home and I will get the rest tomorrow. Then drain the tank and bring it home. I bought some plants tonight and have rinsed them and placed them in my 10 gal for right now. The fish will be so happy to get to my home. The heater in the tank at work is broken and in the year to year and a half that I have been there the poor tropical fish have had no heat. I am slowly warming up my 10 gal. I have bought a new heater for the 55 gal tank. The filter for this tank is attatched to the bottom of the tank. I'm probably looking at a big flooding issue at some point. If I was talking about ponds I'd say this tank has a filter attatched to a bottom drain. So how would I plant plants in this type of set up? Would I be able to plant them in gravel or does it need to be some sort of planting dirt or sand which might plug up the filer/bottom drain? Should I just plan on planting in pots? I'll try to post pictures once I get it set up.

My sons have a 20 long in their room and it's near a window so the algae is insane! It seems like we're cleaning the glass about every other week. However, on the rocks and a plastic dinosaur they have in there, this plant growth on it is beautiful...like 1 inch grass waving in the wind. I've never had anything like it. We have an algae eater who seems to be taking care of the glass, but doesn't seem to bother with the long stuff. In the past, I've had Plecos that do an excellent job cleaning the glass. Also, I've used razor blades to clean glass and never scratched...but I'm going to get a new 75 gallon tank, and won't take any chances scratching it.

-PF

Here's a good link if your serious about real plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Planted Tank