# Good low light plants?



## Kittona (Sep 26, 2014)

I'm new to having fish and I'm trying to figure out some good low light plants to put in small betta tanks (small being 1-3 gallons). Any suggestions would be awesome!


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## merrycat (Mar 29, 2014)

Java Fern, Wisteria, Anubias and Crypts generally do well in low light and are fairly hardy too. Java moss and other mosses work fairly well too.


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## kjg1029 (Jun 14, 2014)

water sprite, and duck weed do fine aswell. I also have water lettuce that seems to be fine with one 6500k bulb in my 5 gal


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

*ferns*: java fern, needle leaf or narrow leaf java fern, african water fern (aka bolbitis fern) phipine java fern (suppsoedly gets the tallest). Regualr java fern is the most common but its not the only one!

*anubias *(omg so many use to have a huge collection of these!): coffefolia, broad leaf, angustifolia, afezelii, lancolata, minimia, hastifolia, congensis (aka heterophylla), barterie, nana, nana var narrow leaf, stardust, nana var petite (also just called petite), micro (omg so damn cute and tiny but hard to find), gold, marle, snowwhite/snow/snowflake (multiple names for same thing, mostly white leaves)
most expensive and harder to find are the bottom 4, the snow white ones can go for over $100 for just a few leaves. Nana on the other hand is typically $5.

Both java fern and anubias are rhizome based plants (its a horizontal stick taht roots and leaves grow from) DO NOT EVER BURY THIS it will rot the rhizome and kill the plant. Most people tie these plants to decor/rock/wood, roots will eventually attach themselves to that item (don't tie too tightly, it would be light cutting blood flow off to your limb).

*Mosses *(another with many varieties most common first): java, chirstmas/xmas, flame, singapore, weeping, christmas mini, rose, rose mini, fissendens (several in this sub family cant recall all their names), triangle,.. I'm sure I'm forgetting some..
Attach mosses with thread or fishing line, they will eventually grow roots and anchor themselves, you can even cram hem in crevices of wood or rocks.

*Marimo:* NOT a moss, its actually a specialized form of hair algae, needs very little light, too much light lets other algaes grow on it, you cannot use aglaecides or you will kill the marimo (bleach, peroxide, Excel, other algae killing products), only way to remove invasive algae is by hand/tweezers.

*Some others:*
Anacahris, hornwort, water spite, wisteria: floaters that can be planted, the last two prefer closer to medium light but some say they've grown in low light.

Dwarf hair grass, micro word, mini micro sword, hygro tiger, hygro compata, hygro angustifolia, several other hygros I can't recall atm 'grasses' and stem plants that can grow in low light though they tend to prefer medium lighting (all hygro plants are potassium hogs: if you see pin holes in leaves they need a potassium supplement).

Its late I can't think of any more to slap up here right now.. if I remember any others I'll post them.
My vote is for anubias, LOVE that plant, slow grower but durable as long as the rhizome is not covered or damaged (they can unfortunately suffer from a spreadable disease called "rhizome rot" though, if you want more info on that let me know.. I lost my huge collection to the disease so I sadly know a lot about it).

edit: oo I always forget crypts >.< they are another good species with several varieties, though some are more medium light than low light plants.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

ok, it's hard to top Aqua Aurora's lost so I shan't even try.  However, I will say that I've had both java fern and water lettuce in low light small tanks, and the java fern is such a slow grower it drove me crazy. However, the water lettuce is a great floater and has fabulous long roots that my bettas just LOVE! It does NOT like high current and any tank I've had it in with a good current it dies. I've had pretty decent luck with pennywort as well. I love the way it looks.  Jungle val also seems to do well in low light. I think most grass-type plants will.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Cambomba carlioliana seems to thrive everywhere I put it.  Pretty sure i could put it in a cup, in the back of the shed and find it sproutying out after a few weeks.


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## Kittona (Sep 26, 2014)

Are any of these plants I could find at Petco/Petsmart? Or would the internet be the easiest place to buy them?


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Kittona said:


> Are any of these plants I could find at Petco/Petsmart? Or would the internet be the easiest place to buy them?


Java Fern and anubias are commonly at the Petsmart and PetCo here but every place is differnt.. My petsmart also has marimo.. Personally I won't buy plants from these stores they never take care of them properly and they are over priced. 
I trust plantedaquariumscentral.com they have nice stuff (not the hugest variety but plenty for low light tanks), always healthy plants, never any algae, do get snail eggs but I don't mind them, and always gives a little extra.


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## hestersu (Sep 28, 2014)

Impressive list Aurora! I didn't know about the Massimo balls being a special form of algae. I may remove it from my tank since I use glut products (API CO2 booster, Seachem Excel). The benefits of glut out weigh the ball. 

Thanks for the list!


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## PiscesPlunder (Aug 30, 2014)

Another fun mossy kinda plant that does good in my med to low light tanks is pelia. Kinda funky looking but grows fast and my bettas love to fool around in it and catch the ocassional baby snail in it.


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