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Excellent List of Low Light Plants

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#1 · (Edited)
Please Note: I am not the author of this list. The author of this list, James From Cali, is also a member on this site and he has been kind enough to continually update, revise, and update this list. For James' most updated list, please see further threads from James in this post.

This is an excellent list of low light plants for anyone looking for plants to start a low light tank. It was posted by James From Cali at: http://www.myfishtank.net/

"Plants Ideal For Low Light/Low Tech Aquaria
Some people may be wondering what plants do well in a Low Light setup. I used to be the same way(and still am sometimes) and now I am wanting to make a list of what is appropriate for this kind of tank. Any one wanting to add to the list please go ahead. List Common and Scientific name please.

Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus
Windelov Java Fern, Windelov Fern - Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
Narrow Leaf Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus v. 'narrow leaf'
Java Moss - Vesicularia dubyana
Green Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma
*Sunset Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig'
Ceylon Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma 'Ceylon'
Rotala Rotundifolia - Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala Rotundifolia sp. Green - Rotala rotundifolia sp. 'Green'
Rotala Indica - Rotala indica
Hornwort - Ceratophylum demersum
Parrots Feather - Myriophyllum aquaticum
Moneywort, Water Hyssop - Bocapa monnieri
Brazilian Pennywort, Pennywort - Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Crypt Wendtii - Cryptocoryne wendtii
Crypt Balansae - Cryptocoryne Balansae
Pygmy Crypt - Cryptocoryne pygmaea
Guppy Grass - Najas guadalupensis
Anubias barteri - Anubias barteri v. barteri
Anubias barteri 'marble' - Anubias barteri 'marble'
Anubias barteri v. 'glabra' - Anubias barteri v. 'glabra'
Anubias nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana'
Coffee leaf anubias - Anubias barteri v. 'coffeefolia'
Crypt retrospiralis - Cryptocoryne retrospiralis
Crypt spiralis - Cryptocoryne spiralis
Golden nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana golden'
Narrow leaf nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana narrow leaf'
Petite nana - Anubias barteri v. nana 'petite'
Philippine Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus 'Philippine'
Red Java fern - Microsorum pteropus "red"
Crypt Becketii - Cryptcoryne becketii
Pelia - Monosolenium tenerum
Waterwheel Plant - Aldrovanda vesiculosa
Bacopa - Bacopa caroliniana
African Water Fern - Bolbitis heudelotii
Hornwort - Ceratophyllum submersum
Crypt Aponogetifolia - Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia
Micro Crypt - Cryptocoryne petchii
Tropica Sword - Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica'
Downoi - Pogostemon helferi

*Do not ned high light to attain pink color. Dosing Iron can bring out this color. I have learned this from experience.

Thank you,
James"
 
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#225 ·
Homer_Simpson said:
Please Note: I am not the author of this list. The author of this list, James From Cali, is also a member on this site and he has been kind enough to continually update, revise, and update this list. For James' most updated list, please see further threads from James in this post.

This is an excellent list of low light plants for anyone looking for plants to start a low light tank. It was posted by James From Cali at: http://www.myfishtank.net/

"Plants Ideal For Low Light/Low Tech Aquaria
Some people may be wondering what plants do well in a Low Light setup. I used to be the same way(and still am sometimes) and now I am wanting to make a list of what is appropriate for this kind of tank. Any one wanting to add to the list please go ahead. List Common and Scientific name please.

Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus
Windelov Java Fern, Windelov Fern - Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
Narrow Leaf Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus v. 'narrow leaf'
Java Moss - Vesicularia dubyana
Green Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma
*Sunset Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig'
Ceylon Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma 'Ceylon'
Rotala Rotundifolia - Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala Rotundifolia sp. Green - Rotala rotundifolia sp. 'Green'
Rotala Indica - Rotala indica
Hornwort - Ceratophylum demersum
Parrots Feather - Myriophyllum aquaticum
Moneywort, Water Hyssop - Bocapa monnieri
Brazilian Pennywort, Pennywort - Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Crypt Wendtii - Cryptocoryne wendtii
Crypt Balansae - Cryptocoryne Balansae
Pygmy Crypt - Cryptocoryne pygmaea
Guppy Grass - Najas guadalupensis
Anubias barteri - Anubias barteri v. barteri
Anubias barteri 'marble' - Anubias barteri 'marble'
Anubias barteri v. 'glabra' - Anubias barteri v. 'glabra'
Anubias nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana'
Coffee leaf anubias - Anubias barteri v. 'coffeefolia'
Crypt retrospiralis - Cryptocoryne retrospiralis
Crypt spiralis - Cryptocoryne spiralis
Golden nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana golden'
Narrow leaf nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana narrow leaf'
Petite nana - Anubias barteri v. nana 'petite'
Philippine Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus 'Philippine'
Red Java fern - Microsorum pteropus "red"
Crypt Becketii - Cryptcoryne becketii
Pelia - Monosolenium tenerum
Waterwheel Plant - Aldrovanda vesiculosa
Bacopa - Bacopa caroliniana
African Water Fern - Bolbitis heudelotii
Hornwort - Ceratophyllum submersum
Crypt Aponogetifolia - Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia
Micro Crypt - Cryptocoryne petchii
Tropica Sword - Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica'
Downoi - Pogostemon helferi

*Do not ned high light to attain pink color. Dosing Iron can bring out this color. I have learned this from experience.

Thank you,
James"



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#229 ·
All should if they're low light plants, LLPs don't require much light for photosynthesis so there for CO2 not required. Plants that are high light plants or even if you have a high light set up on your tank you are forcing the plants to go through photosynthesis much faster so they need more nutrients eg. CO2 being one of them. The plants in this list should grow with just LLS, ferts, and if u wanna add CO2 u can or u can use some type of liquid CO2 like flourish excell. Hope this helps!
 
#245 ·
Floating plants don't know where "up" is, so they tend to grow in a gnarled form, twisting, looping around, etc. Then when you finally plant them in the substrate it takes quite awhile for them to begin to grow up instead of in random directions.

You normally plant stem plants with no roots on them. They are just cuttings. You should poke them down into the substrate as deep as you can, preferably at an angle, so they can't float back out. This is easy with long tweezers.
 
#247 ·
No, I'm not saying that. Most stem plants are cuttings from other plants, so they are rootless when you get them. Most of us tend to prune our stem plants and plant the cut off parts to get a denser growth of that plant, or to get rid of the bad looking base of the plant. There really isn't any reason to plant rooted stem plants, since they quickly send out new roots if there are few or no roots already there. In natural settings many, if not most stem plants reproduce in part by shedding the top part which floats away and eventually roots itself back into shallow water. Just think, the stem plant cutting you get may be a piece of a 100 year old plant!!:icon_smil
 
#259 ·
The list should be seen as an opinion, which is not necessarily correct. For example, HC- Hemianthus callitrichoides will not grow well at all without CO2 and with low light. And, many of the stem plants listed will grow, but will be a big disappointment, with low light and no CO2 or Excel.

When this list was started, and added to, people were judging light intensity solely by watts per gallon, without even a universal agreement on what watts per gallon meant low light. We have progressed considerably since then.
 
#272 ·
The list should be seen as an opinion, which is not necessarily correct. For example, HC- Hemianthus callitrichoides will not grow well at all without CO2 and with low light. And, many of the stem plants listed will grow, but will be a big disappointment, with low light and no CO2 or Excel.
I was looking through this thread for some stem plant recommendations. Like you mention, I have tried a couple of stem plants, most recently Rotala indica, which just hasn't grown well, or much at all. I have a 20 long with a Stingray Finnex, no co2, following Barr's fertilization guide. Any suggestions for a stem plant that wouldn't be a disappointment? :) Thanks!
 
#261 ·
It would be difficult to develop that list. For one thing, CO2 lowers the light needs of most plants - high CO2 allows the plants to grow with less light than it takes with little CO2. To make a usable list we would have to agree on what "low light" means, what amount of CO2 the list is based on, and what we consider as "good" growth for a plant. And, there are hundreds of different plants to consider.
 
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