# Plant Growth in Low Light - ADVICE PLEASE!



## Windmills (May 22, 2006)

I have a moderately planted tank with some java fern, anubias, wisteria, swords, a red arrowhead, and some other plants I'm not sure of. I have florabase for substrate.

I keep it on low light because of my plecos, and often times It just gets ambient sunlight. 

My pH is 6.4-6.6, and last time I tried adding CO2 (using the fizzy tablet things) I had a pH crash, so I'm wary of adding CO2 now, as my pH is already on the low side.

My question is, how do I get my plants to grow while keeping low light? Am I doomed to non-growing plants that very slowly look as if they're getting unhealthy? And is there any way to safely add CO2 without affecting the pH?

Any advice is welcome!


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Get more plants that have low light requirements. www.plantgeek.net for some ideas


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## Windmills (May 22, 2006)

Boxermom said:


> Get more plants that have low light requirements. www.plantgeek.net for some ideas


Thanks for the site, it's very helpful!  According to the site, all my plants are low light plants with the exception of the wisteria, but my wisteria is doing very well! Out of all of them it's the anubias that are not doing that great, and they're supposed to be low-light!

Any more advice?


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

I find wisteria to be a weed and damn near indistructable.  Anubias is a very slow grower as most of the low light plants seem to be IME. Is it not growing or is it dying or what? Are you using any ferts? I'd recommend Flourish and Flourish Excel. Excel is less likely to affect your pH IME.


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## Windmills (May 22, 2006)

Perhaps my anubias are just growing very slowly. They are not exactly "dying" but the upper leaves (which were bright green) turn brown and rot away after a while - I have trimmed all those, and now the leaves that grow from them are low-lying and red! The roots have grown across the entire tank and are very healthy, though.

I have not been using any ferts since my florabase said that the ferts are built in, and I didn't need to add any more .... ??


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Hmm, turning brown and rotting is more of a nutrient issue than a light issue IME. Ferts are built into some planted substrates but ferts are still necessary sometimes, depending on your water. I'd definitely give Flourish a try and see how it goes.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

All correct..............but incomplete 

Some plants are slow growers. No other way around it. They cannot uptake nutrients faster no matter what you do to them.
Low light plants are notoriously known for being slow growers. Their ability to adapt to various light comes at a cost, slow growth. In short, nothing will gorw fast in low light, though some will grow well and healthy.

Its not uncommon for plants to experience dieoff when first introduced into a tank. Its the plants way of adapting to the new environment. It shed its leaves to conserve energy and reproduces according to whats available. (Don't believe me? Take an emmersed grown plant and submerge it.) Many plants bought in the hobby are grown emmersed for obvious reasons (more room, easier to light, no extra co2 needed). Not all plants can be grown emmersed...............

Your red arrowhead is not an aquatic plant. It will die in a short time and some species of this plant are considered poisonous to aquatic life.


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## Windmills (May 22, 2006)

Damon said:


> All correct..............but incomplete
> 
> Some plants are slow growers. No other way around it. They cannot uptake nutrients faster no matter what you do to them.
> Low light plants are notoriously known for being slow growers. Their ability to adapt to various light comes at a cost, slow growth. In short, nothing will gorw fast in low light, though some will grow well and healthy.
> ...


Now that I looked it up, along with pictures that are definitely my plant - it seems you're reight about my arrowhead. This upsets me a little because I bought it from a LFS where it was completely submerged with all the other plants, and they sold it to me as an aquarium plant.

I have had it for about 3 months now in my tank and it doesn't seem dead or rotten, but it hasn't grown much either.

Since it hasn't died or rotted yet, do you think perhaps it might be ok in there, or should I take it out anyway?


...As far as the other plants and their slow growth, thanks for the advice. Do you think if I added some kind of CO2 or flourish, that this might have any effect at all, or perhaps I should add some plants that will be fast growing in low light, if any such as these exist?

Thanks for all the advice, please keep it comin'!


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

I would take it out anyway. Many lfs sell these types of plants (sometimes even unwittingly) as aquatic plants. But then again, how often do we see brackish fish in fw tanks or fish labeled as one type only to be another?

THe co2 suppliment wont increase growth rate directly but rather make sure the growth is strong and healthy along with keeping algae at bay. For your lighting, flourish excel would work as well and be easier.


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## Windmills (May 22, 2006)

Okay, I will take it out.

Will flourish excel be safe with the fish that I have? the fish I have are in my sig below:


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Wow. I didn't realize it was an 80 gallon tank (misread. My apologies). Flourish excel will cost you a pretty penny for a tank that size. DIY co2 will not help either. You can try the excel and 1/2 doseage. Will save you some money and still give some benefits.


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## Windmills (May 22, 2006)

Yes, it is 80 gallon ....

I have seen folks with planted tanks much bigger than mine and their plants thrive ...if flourish and CO2 will not work, they achieve such results with lighting alone?

Is a low-light planted tank in a tank as large as mine impossible, then?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Its possible, but some added form of carbon (excel or CO2) is always a bonus.


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

you should get plants that require low lighting, plants that require medium to high lighting in low lighting are hard to keep alive


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

80g tanks are at best low light tanks unless the person has spent a pretty penny on a very good lighting system, so yes it is very possible. The dieoff is the nature of the beast, plants will do the same thing even if just moved from one spot to another in the same tank. It is just magnified because they are slow growers. If you had Vals you would see them bounce back a heck of a lot quicker. Give it time and as recommended by Damon and Puffer, get yourself a carbon source, ie excel. It will drop your ph though so be mindful of dosages. I would even dose 1/4 the recomended, and then monitor your PH. If PH remains stable gradually up the dosage until you see a small drop in PH, then back off slightly and you found your safe zone.
Again agreed with Damon, 80g will cost a lot to buy Seachem all the time. I have a 90g and I couldn't imagine having to buy commercial ferts,$$$$$.
Unless your willing to fork out a lot of extra $$$, be happy with the growth you do have/get and try not to compare it to systems that have spent hundreds or thousands to get it that way. Compare apples to apples 

Cheers.

Zig.


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## Windmills (May 22, 2006)

Thanks, girth!

This is fabulous advice! I will take this advice and dose slowly, as I did have a pH crash before, and don't want that to happen again!

Thank you also, for your reassurance, my tank isn't all that bad, and I just keep pruning the die-off. new shoots are growing to replace them - that's a good sign!

Thanks so much!


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