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Low light plant

4K views 10 replies 3 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Whats a good low light plant that would go good in a 5.5 gallon with java moss and java fern that isint anubias?

Phil :)
 
#4 ·
That is going to be a pretty tank, all male endlers? or are you going to have females too, if so the naja grass or guppy grass would be nice for the fry to graze and hide in as well as the shrimp you can root it or let it float......you plan java moss and that is great for the shrimp, I know that is the place that my shrimplets like to stay in..lol.....
I have never grown the water sprite, but the water wisteria is a pretty plant and really easy to propagate, it can get tall, but I cut it off and replant the stem and every leaf will root too so I let them float until they get roots and then plant.
Rotala and ludwigia are also nice plants that tolerate lower light, the red one will sometimes not be as red without higher light but I can keep mine pretty red colored at 2wpg, both are a stem plant and easy to propagate.
 
#5 ·
Also crypts in addition to previous suggestions. The advantage of crypts is that being a substrate rooted plant it stays much as you plant it; stem plants need that constant pruning or they will take over the tank as Oldfishlady rightly said. Crypts are dark leaf plants (olive green, reddish, brownish depending upon species) so some variety in colour and texture. Another contrast is pygmy chain sword, light green.
 
#7 ·
The internet says pygmy chain sword need lots of light and ferts...
I do not accept this, especially the light. Admittedly, it depends upon what one means by "low", "moderate" or "high" light, terms which as I have previously written I do not like using because they are subjective and very inconsistent.

Many believe I have low light, with less than one watt of full spectrum per gallon in my 115g tank. Yet this plant absolutely runs rampant, I am pulling up runners regularly; same in my 90g [check my Aquariums photos to see this]. Some sites will say it can't be grown with less than 2-3 watts per gallon. Obviously not accurate.

Swords need nutrients, so do all plants if they are to grow healthy and lush. Larger swords benefit from substrate tabs/sticks, but not the pygmy chain swords.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
That has been my experience too with the chain swords, I have low to mod lights on all my tanks and my chain swords grow fine, however, I do have rich substrate....I was told I could not grow baby tears too, but I can....granted the growth habit is different in my tank-vs-high light CO2 tank...but it grows none the less...lol....
 
#11 ·
That has been my experience too with the chain swords, I have low to mod lights on all my tanks and my chain swords grow fine, however, I do have rich substrate....I was told I could not grow baby tears too, but I can....granted the growth habit is different in my tank-vs-high light CO2 tank...but it grows none the less...lol....
Quite correct. These plants "grow" in our natural setups; some say they grow "faster" with all the periphanalia, but maybe we don't want faster growth. I'm content to watch the plants thrive and the fish appreciate the benefits to the water quality, even if it may be "slow" growth--which is again relative anyway.

I was in a discussion with Tom Barr the other day, and we agree that minimal light is the starting point. The more light, the more nutrients--CO2, macro- and micro-nutrients--one needs, and the balance we want to achieve is more and more impacted. And algae of course. But it will be a slow process to change thinking. In the last issue of TFH I think it was, the answer to a question on growing Echinodorus bleherae was 2-3 watts of light minimum; nonsense, it grows like a weed in my tanks.
 
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