List of Low Light plants (2 watts/gal) - New to Planted Aquariums

thinkgreen · 04-06-2004, 03:58 PM

hey all,

im still deciding to either upgrade my lighting.. or stick with 2 watts/gal.
whats are my options? + and - .

just in case i stick with 2 watts/gal, can you list some that you think might do well in those conditions, that would look good too. and some with red plants too if you know any.

most of the lfs sell bright lighted plants. so, ill probably order online.

HeyPK · 04-06-2004, 07:39 PM

The old fashoned 'Amazon' swords do well---E. amazonicus, E. bleheri, E. martii, and E. parviflorus. Probably a number of the other green swords that are well adapted to being submersed.

Water sprite, Bacopa carolina, the frequently available crypts, of course, Java fern, Anubias,

Hydrocotyle verticillata grows well at 2 watts per gallon, but it gets huge, with leaf petioles over 10 inches long. It does not look nice in a tank with its big leaves all either at the surface or plastered against the cover glass.

Daemonfly · 04-06-2004, 07:59 PM

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=1

This should also give a good listing.

dennis · 04-06-2004, 08:31 PM

2 wpg over what size tank? Over a 10 gal that is very low but over a 75 that is not to bad. Also, what type of lighting is it?

thinkgreen · 04-07-2004, 05:08 AM

60 watts no flours, 29 gal, diy co2, 1 inch flourite and 2 inch reg. gravel.

whats a good foreground plant thats fast growing and will carpet the most of the foreground?

gpodio · 04-07-2004, 06:22 AM

Dwarf sag will grow nicely for you as a foreground plant.

At 2wpg you can grow many plants, infact if I were considering an upgrade, I would probably add a CO2 tank, that would probably give you better results than the lights alone. If you were to upgrade your lights, you should also get a CO2 tank.

Here's what I'm growing in a 90 gallon with just over 1wpg, heavy fish load and no additional CO2:

Limnophila aromatica
Frog bit
Java Fern
Cryptocoryne
Aponogeton
Ozelot Sword
Various Anubias
Java Moss
Limnophila Aquatica (Ambulia)
Ludwigia mullertii
Ludwigia repens
Nymphaea Lotus zenkeri (Red Tiger Lotus)
Hygrophila siamensis (Giant Hygro)
Hygrophila difformis (Wisteria)
Hygrophila polysperma (Sunset Hygro)
Lobelia cardinalis "small form"
Ceratopteris thalictroides (Watersprite)
Nymphoides aquatica (Banana Plant)
Ceratophyllum demersum (Hornwart)
Lemna minor (Duck Weed)
Sagittaria subulata (Dwarf Sag)

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

rusticitas · 04-08-2004, 06:19 AM

Now I am confused. I thought the "rule of thumb" was 2+W/g for tanks. But lately I see references that for the smaller the tank, that should be higher. Is there a sliding scale?

On my All-Glass 10g I have an AH Supply 1x36 Bright Kit, which (easily enough to compute :-) is 3.6W/g. On my little All-Glass 5.5g I have the All-Glass 14W light which gives 2.5W/g.

I realize this is not an exact science here, but is there a mathematical formula to figure this out, or a chart and scale that would make it easier to hone in a bit on what defines low, medium, high and very high wattages per gallon for different sizes of aquaria to make it a little easier to determine types of plants for amounts of light?

gpodio · 04-08-2004, 07:45 AM

There is no set rule unfortunately. If you consider we are using watts, which is the amount of energy consumed rather than light output, this alone tells you that it's a flimsy rule. For example 2wpg of CF is more than 2wpg of NO. Then we use volume of our tanks which doesn't really correlate with the surface area the lights need to cover, and also doesn't take into consideration the depth of a tank. I'm sure finding a more accurate measurement is easy enough, lumens per square inch of surface might be more accurate, but it becomes something you need to calculate each time and WPG is just too easy to calculate off the top of your head.

Now about this "rule of thumb 2+wpg". That's just untrue, there is no rule of thumb because it all depends on what you want to grow. 1WPG in a large tank for example will grow many plants. 2WPG in a large tank with CO2 will grow just about anything. Smaller tanks need more light to compare evenly, a ten gallon for example would probably require 3wpg to be similar to a larger tank with 2wpg. With medium to large tanks, going over 2WPG usually requires the addition of CO2, this is perhaps the rule of thumb you are referring to. It is also commonly said that over 2WPG is considered moderate to high light and below is considered low light, but both will grow plants, just different ones.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

hubbahubbahehe · 04-08-2004, 10:04 AM

Yes, the lighting rule that we have is a good starting point but it's got so many flaws.. It's like when someone goes I've got 2 wpg....but then you gotta ask...well, 2 wpg in what size tank? in 10 gallon, it's horrible...but in a 100 gallon, it's better....

Another thing that I'm learning is that light spread is extremely important... Light has got to be spread out evenly.

Also, if you have the low side of light...for example, I've got 2x65watt coralife hood over a 40 gallon long...supposedly that's a good amount of light, but it's not...my rotala is green, not red...and from time to time it rots at the stems when it gets slightly shaded.. now people have also said that this is a micronutrient deficiency...but i've got a friend with a 40 gallon tall with 2 x 96 watt hood and he doesn't dose at all and all his plants don't rot from nutrient deficiency.
which leads me to believe that lighting is the problem.

rusticitas · 04-08-2004, 11:01 AM

If we could work our way to some determination, say by using lumens or photons per square inch per second (ha ha, IANAP*), and take into consideration surface area, maybe glass, height above surface and depth of tank... If we could determine that I would write a CGI script for it and make it available...

* I Am Not A Physicist

-Jason