BryceM

I think the light levels listed for those species included in the Plant Finder are pretty accurate, but it would be interesting to see if people agree or disagree.

Homer_Simpson

You make some excellent points and I don't necessarily disagree with a lot of things that you have stated. I apologize if my post came across the wrong way or offended you in any way. Keep in mind that sufficient beautiful low light plants exist to create a beautifully scaped tank(Lol, not by me as my aquascaping skills totally suck). I have seen some excellent low tech beautifully aquascaped tanks with nothing more than a collection of low light plants, many of which are identified in James list. What I would love to see is for John(APC Admin) to give some thought to creating seperate planted tank competition categories involving low light and natural planted tanks. It would be interested to compare winners from all categories: High Tech, Low Light Low Tech, and Low Tech Natural Planted tank.

These are leaves from my apongenton bulb. I have to prune the leaves weekly as they would otherwise totally choke out my tank. This bulb was not appropriate for the tank but I had no idea what the bulb would do until I threw it into the tank. The leaves are from a bulb in a 5 gallon low tech tank with only 10 watts(as low light as you are going to get for a 5 gallon) coralife colarmax 6500K compact fluorescent in the canopy. If someone could identify what type of apongenton that these leaves are from, I would definitely say that the apongenton bulb would make a good addition to the low light plant list.

James From Cali

To me it looks like Aponogeton Ulvaceous if it comes from the plant pack. If so then it deffinitely is.

Homer_Simpson

Thanks James That plant is definitely for a 55 gallon + tank if you don't want to prune as much and enjoy the beauty that the leaves would add to the tank if allowed to grow out. Not for anything smaller.

Interesting info on Apongenton Ulvaceous - it can grow into a show plant in 25 days.
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Plant,%2...0ulvaceous.htm

James From Cali

Yes I had a 10g with 2 in there and they threw up flower stalks frequently. Didnt grow so large though.

James From Cali

Well they would be under 2wpg in my list. I think thats where debates will start.

gf225

Not me.

1wpg T8, 30ppm CO2 mist. NPK + trace daily.

No algae.

James From Cali

Amazing looking tank gf225. How many gallons and what plants?

I asked someone from another site about HC in lowlight. Here is the responce I got:

"Yes..well I think it's low light. It's a 13 wt single T-5 6500K desk lamp, over a 10" X10" X 10" cube, so 4.3 gal. Substrate is generic peat and compost potting soil, topped with fine gravel & white sand. I use Seachem ferts, according to their chart...scaled down for my tank. Minus the trace. Recently I have been adding mostly just excel. The tank has 1 dwarf puffer & two orange shrimp. It gets a little sunshine in the a.m., but not for long.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...er1/112501.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...er1/112504.jpg
older pic
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ler1/011-1.jpg

I think it looks great! I don't want plants to grow too fast obviously, since my tanks are so small. I started out with one little pot, and it has spread all over. I cannot keep it in my second tank, because I tried it and my spixi snail ate it..three times.

I did just change my lighting today. But only because I don't like the PC's over the tank on the right...plus it looked pretty ghetto. Today I received a Nova Extreme T-5 fw fixture. I am putting both tanks up on the desk, and running it across them. We'll see how things change, or what."

That is just a bit over 2 wpg. Me I am going to try HC in 1.5 wpg and with DIY CO2, High Fish Load, and supplemental flourish.

BryceM

George has shared a fabulous example of something that many people don't appreciate. If you can only do one thing for your tank, go with supplemental CO2. A low light setup with CO2 addition can be remarkably stable and produce some gorgeous plant growth. Algae issues are minimal. You won't be able to toss in a few stems of P. stellatus, but honestly there are plenty of others to choose from. One of the best tanks I've ever seen was done with nothing but various crypt species. What impressed me most was the patience it took to realize the final result.

AQUAMX

Absolutely a fabulous example there George. Are there Crinums in that tank?

All good and valid points from everyone. I certainly took no offence in any of it.

Cheers