Name some SUPER low light plants

[Progen]

You know how root and forest scapes have been in the top rankings for the past few years so I thought why not do an INSIDE the roots or forest kind of scape where there's not much light but there are still some plants below as in near or at substrate level.

I have some crypt affinis planted to the side now. That'll get some light so it's fine. Then there's a tiger lotus in the corner so that's fine too since its leaves will be reaching for the surface.

I'll have a bit of light shining through the gaps in the wood and so it'll be cool to have plants growing at the lighted spots but I also don't want it to be too unnatural and have people waiting for Mr Bean to fall onto the lighted spots so the light will be pretty muted.

Tank's a 2' cube by the way so there's quite a bit of space to play with.

 

[Mick.Dk]

The Taxiphyllum mosses ( f.ex. barbierei and 'spiky') can adapt to very low light.
Most of Anubias species - especially the barteri varieties - prefere low light ( they're named aftet Anubis, who was the god of egyptian under-world).
Most of the Bucephalandra types prefere or can adapt to low light
Helanthium 'quadricostatus' can adapt to surprisingly low light.
Many of the Cryptocorynes - especially the wendtii types -will grow nicely in very low light.
Most varieties of Microsorum pteropus will accept low light. The 'windeløv' variety needing more light than others, to thrive.
- just to mention, what comes to mind .............

 

[zozo]

Bolbitis heudelotii, lomiaropsis cf linaeta, Sagittaria subulata, Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo', Eleocharis Acicularis, Bacopa Caroliniana.. But don't expect super growth speed..

See the tropica.com database easy section.. I bet there are more, the above i know from experience..

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The Taxiphyllum mosses ( f.ex. barbierei and 'spiky') can adapt to very low light.

lomiaropsis cf linaeta

My suspicion would be that it is a <"moss that will grow in the lowest light">, or possibly a Fern <"prothallus">, but I don't know which one, Mick is the person I would ask, so Taxiphyllum looks a good bet.

Bolbitis heudelotii

That is the one that grows in some of the gloomiest places in my tanks, it (and Anubias) are very dark green, which is an indicator that they contain lots of chlorophyll and are adapted to dark places.

Because chlorophyll is <"protein rich">, plants with a lot of it (dark green ones) are usually unpalatable ("and/or poisonous"), like Bolbitis and Anubias.

cheers Darrel

 

[Tim Harrison]

I think to get good growth all round you should aim for relatively high light conditions so the "understory" plants get a good dose of photons as well as the "emergent canopy" species; you can light it however you like to get the desired effect when it comes to the competition photo.
I guess the plants listed above can survive and even grow at low light levels because they have a low light compensation point, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are exclusively low light plants.
B, heudelotii, for instance, is a complete thug given optimum conditions of good light, CO2, and fertz and grows very quickly. I've also had Anubias and moss spp. that have grown a riot given the right conditions.

 

[Progen]

Thanks folks. Many of the suggestions are familiar enough to me, ie. cheaply available locally. Now the problem is I'll need to find the right light because I tried with a LED strip the other night and still had lots of light filtering through.

 

[zozo]

Try a cheap PWM dimmer on a 12 volt or 24 volt SMD led strip.. I actualy mean a pwm motor controller.. In the end it's the same as a pwm led controller it's pwm.. Pwm motor controllers are available via ebay etc for a few bucks and can dim regular 12/24 volt smd ledstrips. So there doesn't need to be a search for the right tlight,, Create it..


https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...motor.TRS0&_nkw=pwm+motor+controller&_sacat=0