# Low light plants for startup. Advice needed.



## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

First of all my goal is for low PH, low hardness (black water ) tanks for apisto's. Plants are a means to an end but not the first priority. So I'm not looking for an attractive planted tank. I need plants that will do the job. Nitrification doesn't work well at low PH so I need plants that will grow fast and consume ammonia/ nitrite. I would like to be able to use 4' fluoresent shop lights. I can hang as many as I need over the tanks. Two 4' fixtures over a pair of 10 gal aquariums would be easy to do. Is there a plant or group of plants that will thrive is that enviroment? Maybe something like water sprite?


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## _Jay (Jul 3, 2009)

By black water do you mean Amazon Brackish water or just brackish water in general?


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

No not brackish. "Black water" is just a term for very low PH, low hardness water. It's just extremely pure water. Small tributaries of the Amazon.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

ron..there are many plants that will be fine in blackwater...but since you are limited to 10 gallon tanks i would sugest some of the following..
yes...waterspritewill work well...
crypts are great but do not grow really fast.same with anubias and java fern.
some of the pigmy chain swords could work if you do your lighting properly..
you may well also get some anacharis growing too....

hanging 2 shoplights will give you pretty good light.they are just about all i use in my fishroom..but instead of using the T12 40 watt bulbs try the T8 32 watt daylight bulbs...while lower wattage they produce more lumens than the higher wattage bulbs...that translates to more light for less money..

jay...blackwater is not brackish..it is highly acidic water that is the color of tea in many parts of south america.considered to be some of the purest water in the world.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Blackwater is a type of water characterized by high tannins and a very soft, acid water conditions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_river

An Amazon Blackwater biotope is a very common type of biotope tank. Nothing to do with brackish whatsoever. As for plants, for biotope tanks Amazon swords and other similar looking things are often used.

Here is a list of plants by region from Plantgeek:
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=6

My next two tanks are going to be an Amazon biotope and a South Asian biotope. Plantgeek is an *awesome* resource for plant info.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Thanks loha/COM. Loha, I'm not limited to 10's. That's just what I am cycling right now. I also have a 20long and a 30. That's all the tanks I have left from the 40 or so I had three years ago. I promised my wife I wouln't go "overboard" like I did before so it will probably take me a few months to get back up to 40. LOL. I'll have to go slow. The bulbs I have now are the T8, Coolwhite, 4100K, 2800 lumins.


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## _Jay (Jul 3, 2009)

Off the top of my head...Water lettuce, Hygrophila difformis, Java Fern, Anubius sp. Nana., Crypts, Ludwigia. 

Your nutrient hog will be the hydrophyla Difformis and the fastest grower followed by the Ludwigia. 

IMO You will need 1.75 - 2 watts per gallon. Eight hours per day.

IME, If you use Anubius and Crypts, I would strongly recommend Seachem Excel daily. Not so much for the carbon but as a deterrent to algae.

Jay


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

How do calculate that watts per gallion thing. If I have two shop light fixtures (four 38 watt tubes) that is 154 watts, right? Over two 10 gal tanks which is 20 gal. 152 divided by 20 is 7.6. So 7.6 watts per gallon??? That doesn't sound right.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

to be honest ; i really have no idea how the WPG thing is calculated..but i actually think that that particular system may be going by the wayside..right now i can buy for about 5 or 6 bucks a 23 watt bulb that will give off the equivilent lumens of light as 3 60 watt bulbs..one of these bulbs over a 10 gallon tank ought to put you in the super high light plant category...and i think the fixtures can be purchased for about $50 each...
technology marches on..more in less space..all kinds of stuff going on.


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Ron, for the 4' lights, better than cool white is either GE Sunshine bulbs 5000k or the GE Daylight bulbs 6700k. They are cheap at Lowe's etc, and are more in the correct color spectrum for plants. They also come in 24" and 18" sizes.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Ron- your WPG calculation is absolutely correct to my understanding of the measure. Watts per gallon: take the total watts divide by the total gallons. It is a fairly useless calculation as it ignores a key factor: tank height.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

So, how much light do I need???


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

just hang 1 shoplight...that should be plenty..but you may have an algae problem if you don't have enough plants..


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