Prettiest low light plants?

[DivaSkyChick]

Since my hood is a fully contained Eclipse 3, I am slowing beginning to come to terms with the fact that there will be no DIY or otherwise retrofitting for more wattage. Hence, I'm interested to hear what plants you've had success with and find lovely of the low light variety.

I have found several low light packages listed on plant stores online, but a little research shows that many of the plants listed are not really low light varieties or just barely survive under such conditions.

Also interested in hearing what the very best bulbs are for what I'm working with -2 T8 bulbs no more than 20 watts each.

Thanks!

 

[clutterydrawer]

my favouite lowlight plants are

anubias nana
cryptocoryne wendtii
cryptocoryne willisii

they thrive and look pretty


what watts/ gallons do you have/.?

 

[DivaSkyChick]

37 gallons Tall, 40 watts in an Eclipse 3 hood so I can't put in a retrofit. so basically one watt per gallon...

I do have a diy Co2 set up - Kh is 9 ppm - around Co2 19 ppm

I would love ground cover - dwarf sage or something? and I want a heavily planted tank... what are my chances if I keep to specific plants?

 

[Yenko]

A lot of plants will grow in 1 WPG - I've grown Vallis, Saggitarius, 2 varieties of Cryptocoryne, Java Fern, Java moss and I'm currently trying to grow Hygrophilia. Anubais will be happy with that little light, but I haven't grown it yet. Contrary to what the people who run high-tech tanks say, 1 WPG isn't particularly limiting.

 

[3fsh]

Java moss is nice, if you don't let it take over the tank... (ie- Tie it to a piece of rock or wood and trim it back when it starts growing off the sides.) Cryptocoryne wendtii is absolutely gorgeous. Anarchis is beautiful and grows great in low light, but you have to prune it back every once in a while so that it doesn't overshadow your other plants. Anubias nana are cute and stay small... never had any experience with them but I've heard that they are very hardy plants. Good luck!

 

[Jen]

I have about the same lighting... 1 watt/gallon or less. I have an Amazon Sword Plant doing pretty good. Its slowly getting bigger... very slowly. And my Hygrophila polysperma is doing great. Grows fast with lots of leaves, just shoots up for the light. About every two weeks i pinch of a 6 inch stem and replant it. I started 3 months ago with 4 stems and nowhave about 10

 

[tear-scar]

Some of the rare singapore mosses not widely available in America are really nice-- mini, xmas, erect, taiwan and singapore mosses to name a few. I've ordered some samples of all that I should get in about a week.

Hopefully they grow well, so I can share around.

 

[DivaSkyChick]

Thanks! Great info!