low light, hardy fresh water plants

[tony_caliente]

To control high nitrates in 55 gal fresh water aquarium. any ideas? Thank you. Where can i buy them (mail order?)

 

[rasbora]

Sent you a pm

 

[hn1]

Most quick growing stem plants will work, whether planted or left to float. What type of lighting do you have over it? Floaters also work to a lessor degree. I work in Alpharetta and can give you a couple starter portions of a couple different plants. PM me if interested.

 

[tony_caliente]

This is for a good friend of mine in Suwanee. That is very nice of you. She bought some non-floating and had trouble anchoring them. I anchored them this morning for her by piling more gravel around them. She just has stock 55 gallon combo lighting.

 

[stefani]

With a single fluorescent bulb over a 55 g., you're not going to grow much very fast, and therefore not make much of dent in nitrate levels. (FWIW, water changes are really what are needed.)

In my experience, good low-light plants are java fern, java moss, marimo balls, and sometimes elodea (aka anacharis, which is an excellent nitrate eater, but really needs higher light to take off). Stem plants (mentioned earlier) are good but tend to get really "leggy" in low light conditions, and aren't very attractive. Wisteria sucks up a lot of nitrates, but I've never been successful with it at low light.

You can get all of the above at the big box pet stores, LFS's, or online.

If your friend is really interested in plants, they may want to add another light strip (at least), reduce the nitrates (so you don't just grow algae) and buy a couple of different varieties and see what works. Depending on the pH and hardness, some do better than others.

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[gradybaby16]

Micro Sword or Dwarf Hairgrass, Anubias Nana or Anubias Barteri Round Leaf, Java Fern, Red Cryptocoryne or Green Cryptocoryne, Water Sprite, Anacharis or Hornwort, and Cabomba

Ive got an Anubias that has been transfered from tank to tank, pulled out of water for hours and been chewed up, and pulled from the ground, that plant has been through hell but refuses to die and has grown pretty good ha, all my other plants either died, where eaten, or they are to hard to hold in one place

 

[tony_caliente]

thank you!

 

[izoid]

I have a tank that I am converting to FOWLR. I have a few Amazon Swords, Banana plants, Anubias and a few others that I don't know the name of. Theay all do well in low light and are varying heights. Let me know if you are interested and we can work something out.

 

[tony_caliente]

Thank you. They were for a friend with a FW tank. He no longer needs them. Thank you though.