# Favorite Low-Light beginner plants?



## RidesWithTheWind (Nov 30, 2015)

Hi everyone,

Just started doing planted tanks about two and a half months ago and so far so good! I have a 2.6 betta tank with factory LED lighting and a 10 gallon with GLO lighting . 

My question is what is your favorite easy plant? So far my is the annubias it's done amazingly in my 2.6 gallon tank and I want to find ones similar to it!! 

Thanks 😇


----------



## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

My favorite is cryptocoryne. I really like anubias, too.


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

I love anubias (planted mine out of water, roots in water-leaves out and it exploded in growth!) and cabomba. I love fast growing feathery plants. I love my duckweed and salvinia as floaters but boy, I can't put anything in or take out of the tank because it sticks to everything!


----------



## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Moss balls aren't plants, but Anubias has already been mentioned and so has cryptocoryne. So here it is: moss balls  they tolerate a very broad range of temperature and pH level plus they're cute, round, fuzzy, and squishy! What more could you ask for?


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Anubias! So many varieties and various sizes. They are low light slow growing and undemanding. The only thing to be careful of is to NOT bury the rhizome (rhizome is the horizontal part that both leaves and roots grow from)








Burying the rhizome will kill the plant-the rhizome needs to be fully exposed to the water column. 
Its best to either tie the anubias to decor/rock/wood, or tie it to an anchor and place that in the substrate (I use glass beads and fishing line), OR if the roots are very long you can plant the roots, just do not bury the rhizome.

Btw GLO lighting won't support live plants-you'll need a better light. Plants do best with "daylight spectrum" bulbs or LEDS, ideally 6000k (k stands for kelvin and is the measurement of the hue of light) through 10000k, many people say 6500k is the sweet spot.


----------



## RidesWithTheWind (Nov 30, 2015)

Sadist - I believe I have a small cryptocoryne in my tank but I'm still too new to tell! 

Laki - Wow, I didnt know that the annubias would do so good with the leaves out of the water. Have you tried doing bambo out of a filter before? Also duck weed looks beautiful but also a huge pain in the butt, is it worth it? 

Seren27 - I would love to have a moss ball, ive heard of bettas attempting to move or roll small ones. Sounds adorable. 

Aqua Aurora - Thank you so much for the info on the rhizome, I would of never of known. Maybe it will grow even better now! Also thank you for the info on the light I thought I had boughten one that said it was good for planted aquariums I will have to double check! 

Does anyone use flourish or CO2 tabs for low-lighting plants? Am I silly to think that low-lighting means lower maintence as well, I use Fluval substrate at the moment is that enough to support my plants? 

Thanks for all the advice you guys!


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Marimo moss IS a plant!! It's a type of algae. 

Yep, look up terrestrial anubias and you'll see them, they grow much faster and nicer out of water. 

I have not tried bamboo out of the filter because I use internal filters and those "lucky bamboo" plants are actually a type of lily and can kill cats (of which I have 2) so I don't bother. Duckweed is SO irritating to deal with once it takes the surface of the tank because it can leech nutrients from other plants (not a problem for me) and it really sucks putting anything into or out of the water (think a net or hands). I have a pleco so I have to remove uneaten food every morning and duckweed everywhere. I love the way it looks though and it gives my tank appropriate cover for my gourami.


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Marimo is not "marimo moss" that's calling an algae a moss, which its not.


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

You're right, but it's still a plant of sorts.


----------



## NightStars (Apr 2, 2013)

Water sprite, cryptocoryne, and water wisteria. I also like amazon swords but not as much as the others. For floaters I like water lettuce and duckweed.


----------



## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

RidesWithTheWind said:


> Does anyone use flourish or CO2 tabs for low-lighting plants? Am I silly to think that low-lighting means lower maintence as well, I use Fluval substrate at the moment is that enough to support my plants?
> 
> Thanks for all the advice you guys!


First of all, lighting needs has nothing to do with a plant's "difficulty level". Google your species and make sure you know their... well, specs. Some super picky diva plants need this and that, and most importantly may not suit a Betta tank (which is often very warm and has little current). I use Flourish, and is waiting for my root tabs to arrive. I have no idea what "Fluval substrate" is (is it sand? gravel? plant-specific?) but a little Flourish never hurts.

EDIT: I bought my moss balls at Petco, $10 for three balls. I love them so much I say "excuse me" when I move them around LOL


----------



## Lazer (Dec 11, 2015)

> EDIT: I bought my moss balls at Petco, $10 for three balls. I love them so much I say "excuse me" when I move them around LOL


Are the moss balls in pet shops Java moss or the little japanese algae balls everyone calls moss? I'm curious about the difference, but how big were the ones you got at Petco? When I saw them at my pet store they looked big and like there was only one per container...


----------



## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Anubias and Amazon Swords


----------



## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Lazer said:


> Are the moss balls in pet shops Java moss or the little japanese algae balls everyone calls moss? I'm curious about the difference, but how big were the ones you got at Petco? When I saw them at my pet store they looked big and like there was only one per container...


Java moss doesn't look like a ball so that's a huge difference there  when people say "moss BALLS" they definitely mean Marimo  

Mine were pretty tiny, actually. Like, half the size of an adult's palm. If your pet store only sells the big ones then they're probably gonna sell it one by one for profit's sake.


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Laki said:


> You're right, but it's still a plant of sorts.


Not arguing if its a plant or not being an algae, I just have a peeve about calling marimo a "moss" when it's not (same for calling non aquatic plants aquatic).



As for buying marimo if you want a lot you can get it cheap from aquaticarts.com (amazon.com seller invertobssesion). I bought 25 marimo for $49+$10.50 shipping that's about $2.40 per a ball! They also sell as 5 or 10 but I thin they average around $3-4 per a ball at the smaller quantities. Still better than petstore prices though!


----------



## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> Java moss doesn't look like a ball so that's a huge difference there  when people say "moss BALLS" they definitely mean Marimo
> 
> Mine were pretty tiny, actually. Like, half the size of an adult's palm. If your pet store only sells the big ones then they're probably gonna sell it one by one for profit's sake.


Ours also sells java moss tied to a ping pong ball, so you gotta watch what you buy.


----------



## VillagerSparky (Dec 1, 2015)

Down here I've not found a shop that sells any floating plants, much to my dismay, But I I do like my java moss and typical pond weed. Don't ask why I'm using pond weed.


----------

