jennesque

Here's what it looked like up until yesterday:



Here's a description of the setup before I ask my questions:

28 gal bowfront
Lights: three 13watt 6500k CFLs
Substrate: Pool Filter Sand
Ferts: Weekly dose of Flourish about 2-3 days after partial water change with Prime
Filter: Sponge (and it's not the small one in the right corner, that has been moved to my nano)
Temp: 78 degrees
PH / Hardness: pH is around 6.6, tap water hardness is somewhere around 3GH / 1.6dKH - actual tank water is unknown but likely a bit lower

Current plants: java moss growing on the rocks in front, anubias attached to driftwood, pennywort floating
The driftwood are cypress knees
Fish: 1 dwarf gourami, 5 false julii corys, 7 harlequin rasboras, and 11 rummynose tetras. I also have MTS in the tank.


Hopefully, that fully explains my set up. I'm looking for a replacement for the background of my tank. As you can see, I had initially planted vals in the background, not knowing how poorly they would do in my tank. I had originally had only the stock lighting for them, but bumped up the lighting and was using root tabs. They've done so poorly still, and ultimately I've come to the conclusion that they will never survive in my tank with the water being so soft and acidic. They were removed yesterday and so now I am looking for an easy plant to replace the vals.

I've been doing plenty of reading up on the different plants out there. I'm looking for something that's low light, no CO2, and probably gets most nutrients either from the water column or is fine in PFS (can add root tabs). I am also not looking to spend a lot of money on the plant unless it's very very pretty. What I am thinking would be a good option at this point would be moneywort, but I'm having problems finding a lot of information about the plant. I do know that it will sprout roots throughout the length of the stem though so I feel like it'd be fine in PFS.

I'm also curious if I could do something like have moneywort and perhaps red ludwigia mixed together as a background. I'm not set on red ludwigia, but I do know I can find that locally and I think it would do ok in my lighting. I've had it a long time ago in less lighting and I know in the month or two I had it, it doubled in lenth. I gave it to someone else though because I wanted to go with a different look for the tank. Would this be possible, or are there any other plants with color that anyone can suggest that may look good either on it's own as a background plant. or mixed with moneywort or something similar? I'm completely open to ideas. There are so many plants out there I don't really know where to even begin looking.

asukawashere

You could try one of the Hygrophila species - H. corymbosa 'Angustifolia' is a popular plant for backgrounds. Or there's wisteria, Hygrophila difformis, which has a lovely lacy texture. Both are very undemanding species and common in pet stores. H. corymbosa 'Stricta' or 'Siamensis' might be too large for your scape, depending on what you're going for, but neither is difficult to grow.

Not entirely sure which species you mean by "moneywort" but I'm assuming Bacopa monnieri. If so, I wouldn't recommend it for a low-light tank. It's an easy plant to grow, but its chief demand is ample lighting, which it wouldn't be likely to get in the back of a low-light tank.

If you want a low-light Ludwigia, try L. repens x arcuata. L. repens would also be fine, but IME the hybrid version is even less demanding than its parents.

You might also try some of the less demanding Rotala spp., such as R. rotundifolia or R. sp. 'Green'

BTW I'm loving the cypress knees. Very cool.

jennesque

Thank you for your suggestions! I actually already ordered some L. repens x arcuata so I'm glad to see that on your list. I was trying to wait on some suggestions but my fish don't seem very happy now that the vals are gone. They usually sleep amongst the vals.. I'm hoping the L. repens x arcuata works out well for my tank. I picked that in hopes of getting something other than green in the tank (even though I don't have high expectations for it being very bright, esp with my lighting. I also got a couple stems of some of the Ludwigia hybrid that's Red in the same shipment. Not sure it'll do well either but I figured I'd give it a try since it's in the same shipment.

If they don't work, I will absolutely look into your suggestions. Those were some of the options I had come up with myself, I just have no experience with them so I was hesitant to try them. I'd had L.repens once upon a time with much less lighting and saw marked growth so I thought I'd try a similar plant. Glad I unintentionally picked the easier plant! That's great to hear!