Low-light plants

[Andyroo]

Hello Folks.
Curious about low-light plant options for the in-office tanks. Some tanks are having some success with emergents incl. vines to hang out the window, but most just aren't getting enough light for the "usual suspect" aquatic plants. These tanks aren't dark per se, but in either indirect window or room's artificial light for most of the day. I'm wondering if there might be better options at the LFS, where there are plenty to chose from, but prohibitively costly considering. I see nobody's asked about this since 2018, so I figured I'd rekindle afresh.

Adding actual lights would be a low-hanging fruit in the conversation, yes, thanks

There's plenty of bamboo/wood decor, so I find myself particularly curious about (terrestrial?) mosses - links?
I also see on-line that dwarf baby-tears should be local, but I've not seen/found as yet. My yard is rammed with regular baby-tears, but it's not actually related nor not submersible, it seems, though it'll grow in a cupboard.

Silver-dollar-resistant/distasteful would be helpful, but not essential. Also roughhousing pleco, RTS/RBS, clown loach & wood cats, suggesting good anchoring/rooting.

 

[Fat Homer]

Popular low light plants would mainly be different types of Anubias which come in a wide variety of size from small to quite large...

As you mentioned, there are also a lot of mosses that would work in low light conditions if given time to attach to some hardscape in the tank...

My personal favourite low light plant however is the different types of Bucephalandra... they come in a wide range of colors and sizes but tend to be extremely slow growers and to get them to show their full color potential can take a bit of effort but well worth the reward...

Now onto dwarf baby tears, this is a plant that will actually require more of a high light / high tech tank setup, as they can be very finicky to get growing initially but once you get conditions right they can grow pretty well...Although again, not a plant many have much luck with without some experimenting...

 

[Fishnerd360]

I’ve found java fern and java moss to like low light.

 

[Andyroo]

Fat Homer & Fishnerd360 , thanks, I'll look these up & check the breeder/suppliers.

Re. Fat Homer 's little white beastie on your 60Gal thread: http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/crustac/copepo/cope0100.htm#cyclopslink

Also related to your threads, I'm looking for imagery of planted tanks with paint effects and/or colour-fade backgrounds as we've got an in-wall build that will be getting an epoxy coat, but I'm debating a basic clear (mottled rendered concrete) -vs- a fade of either white~grey (tint over render) or white~green (green into a white base). I need imagery as I need to show it to the "filters" IE wife/interior designer and will show her what you've posted to give the basic idea. I've got a thread going... will look & link

 

[Fat Homer]

Fat Homer & Fishnerd360 , thanks, I'll look these up & check the breeder/suppliers.

Re. Fat Homer 's little white beastie on your 60Gal thread: http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/crustac/copepo/cope0100.htm#cyclopslink

Also related to your threads, I'm looking for imagery of planted tanks with paint effects and/or colour-fade backgrounds as we've got an in-wall build that will be getting an epoxy coat, but I'm debating a basic clear (mottled rendered concrete) -vs- a fade of either white~grey (tint over render) or white~green (green into a white base). I need imagery as I need to show it to the "filters" IE wife/interior designer and will show her what you've posted to give the basic idea. I've got a thread going... will look & link

Yeah i had a lot of little critters in both my planted tanks when they were still running...

As for the background, you dont necessarily need to paint your whole wall (unless you wanted to)...

A bit of colored vinyl as a background works or if you really want that tinted / faded effect you could either:

A) paint the back of your tank, which is probably easiest...

OR

B) Use an opaque vinyl sheet to cover the back of your tank, then create a light box behind your tank with light aiming from the bottom up to create a faded effect...

Im sure there are videos on youtube you could find if you wanted to DIY one...

There is technically option C) as well, which is pretty much the same thing as option B) except its already made ready for use by ADA called the “ADA Light Screen”, but last time i looked they were far from cheap for what they are, so i passed and went with a solid white vinyl background when my 50G planted tank was still setup...

 

[duanes]

Agree Anubius and java fern work well under low light.
My Anubius even flowered under low light.


Java fern

I also had luck with Cryptocornae under low light

and at the moment Vallisneria, it only gets about 2 hours of indirect sun in the morning, and two more hours, in the late afternoon.
Although I don't know how it would stand up to silver dollars.

You can see in the shot above how the sun slowly creeps across the tank, the left side is how dark it is most of the day, but grows like crazy even under low light.