Low light plants?

[clownbaby]

I’ve done some “renovating” on my aquarium so one corner is quite dark and shaded. This is because there now a place where I am growing houseplants / terrestrials above, so they create a lot of shade below.

other than Anubias, are there any good low light plants? It does get about 2 hours of light sunlight a day, so it’s not complete darkness. 

My pH and gH/kH are “neutral”. My tank isn’t a biotope so origin doesn’t matter much to me. There is a slight flow at that location as I have my sponge filter and fountain pump in that corner, but it’s not that big of a flow at all. 
my fish and snails don’t eat plants so they don’t need to be tough

no co2, but I do fertilize once a week, + weekly water changes. Fertilized substrate, dirted tank. 

Illegal plants in my state: cabomba, african elodea, water hyacinth, hydrilla, parrots feather, amazon frogbit 

[Tlindsey]

On 6/29/2024 at 9:50 PM, clownbaby said:

I’ve done some “renovating” on my aquarium so one corner is quite dark and shaded. This is because there now a place where I am growing houseplants / terrestrials above, so they create a lot of shade below.

other than Anubias, are there any good low light plants? It does get about 2 hours of light sunlight a day, so it’s not complete darkness. 

My pH and gH/kH are “neutral”. My tank isn’t a biotope so origin doesn’t matter much to me. There is a slight flow at that location as I have my sponge filter and fountain pump in that corner, but it’s not that big of a flow at all. 
my fish and snails don’t eat plants so they don’t need to be tough

no co2, but I do fertilize once a week, + weekly water changes. Fertilized substrate, dirted tank. 

Illegal plants in my state: cabomba, african elodea, water hyacinth, hydrilla, parrots feather, amazon frogbit 

I suggest trying Java Fern.  @clownbaby

Edited June 30 by Tlindsey

[lefty o]

On 6/29/2024 at 9:06 PM, Tlindsey said:

I suggest trying Java Fern.  @clownbaby

that would be my suggestion also.

[clownbaby]

On 6/29/2024 at 7:19 PM, lefty o said:

that would be my suggestion also.

I haven’t had much luck with Java fern. It always seems to turn brown, spots, melt… bought several times and I just don’t think it’s my plant 😂 ! Any secrets?

used fertilizers, and didn’t bury rhizome. I’ve bought java fern like 7 times

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 6/30/2024 at 12:18 AM, clownbaby said:

I haven’t had much luck with Java fern. It always seems to turn brown, spots, melt… bought several times and I just don’t think it’s my plant 😂 ! Any secrets?

used fertilizers, and didn’t bury rhizome. I’ve bought java fern like 7 times

Anytime someone says they have problems with Java fern, I assume it's a potassium deficiency. That's not always it, but it's a good first place to look. Java fern is a real K hog.

I also think of crypts as generally low light plants, so they might work there, especially the greener ones. And bucephalandras, too.

[EricksonAquatics]

I suggest crypts as well! Mine have defied all odds in my super shaded areas of the tank. Wendtii and Lucens have done really well for me, but Lucens stays pretty small in my experience.

[clownbaby]

On 6/29/2024 at 9:27 PM, Rube_Goldfish said:

Anytime someone says they have problems with Java fern, I assume it's a potassium deficiency. That's not always it, but it's a good first place to look. Java fern is a real K hog.

I also think of crypts as generally low light plants, so they might work there, especially the greener ones. And bucephalandras, too.

Well I would love for the Java ferns I have in a grow out tank to take off (little plantlets from a stem). How much K is a good number, and the source? I’m using the aqueon plant fertilizer at the moment, as it was the only fertilizer my pet store had in stock. It says 1% k2o (soluble potassium) for every 10ml. I dose 5ml 3 times a week. Should I add more? Get a different fertilizer?

Is there a natural way to add potassium to my aquarium? For my houseplants and greenhouse if my plants r lacking K I just use 3-day old banana peel water, but I don’t think that’s a good idea for my aquarium haha 😂 thank you so much for your help!

I know little about buce. I’ve heard it is a lot like anubias, slow growing; is that correct?

thank you soooooo much!!!!!

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 7/1/2024 at 12:47 PM, clownbaby said:

Well I would love for the Java ferns I have in a grow out tank to take off (little plantlets from a stem). How much K is a good number, and the source? I’m using the aqueon plant fertilizer at the moment, as it was the only fertilizer my pet store had in stock. It says 1% k2o (soluble potassium) for every 10ml. I dose 5ml 3 times a week. Should I add more? Get a different fertilizer?

Is there a natural way to add potassium to my aquarium? For my houseplants and greenhouse if my plants r lacking K I just use 3-day old banana peel water, but I don’t think that’s a good idea for my aquarium haha 😂 thank you so much for your help!

To be blunt, I don't know. I use Easy Green, which which has 9.21% K, following the "medium light aquariums" instructions, and also dose API Leaf Zone, which is 3.00%. Quite unscientific but it seems to be helping. And of course the amount you'd need would change as the plant biomass does, via growth and trimming, as all plants use potassium as one of the three micronutrients.

If you want precision and science, @Mmiller2001 and @Seattle_Aquarist are the people to talk to. There's probably a way to add it naturally, but I just stick with the bottles. Dry fertilizers -- powdered, lab and/or food grade salts -- are much cheaper, and someday I'll get into them, but for now I'm just using Easy Green and Leaf Zone.

On 7/1/2024 at 12:47 PM, clownbaby said:

I know little about buce. I’ve heard it is a lot like anubias, slow growing; is that correct?

I have had only a little luck with buce, mostly because I haven't tried much, because it's so relatively expensive. But yes, it functions and grows very similarly to anubias.