Tall Plants For A Tall Low Light Tank?

[lateinningmagic]

Hey, I have a .54 WPG 37g tank and am finding most fish staying in the bottom half of the tank boring. Granted, the fish aren't top dwellers, but I think they'd venture up more often if they had some plant cover.

I have one of those common "Full Spectrum" lights that you get at the big box stores. I also bought Nutrafin Plant Growth. I'm not sure how effective it is, since I never see it mentioned here, but the store I went to didn't carry Flourish. The directions call for treatment once a week. If you guys believe Flourish, or some other ferts would really help, I'll go out and buy it. I am not however looking to upgrade the lights just yet.

I currently have 2 Java Ferns and 2 Anubias plants. I also just put up a Java moss wall last week ago. Will take a while to grow out though.

What tall plants can I add? a 37g tank is essentially two 20 gallon long tanks stacked ontop of each other. Height is 22 3/4".

[Death Pony]

Anacharis will grow surprisingly fast in low light conditions and can reach 3' tall. Mine miraculously turned from regular anacharis to narrow leaf anacharis in my tank, but I like the narrow leaf look better. Here are some other plants that you should look in to;

Anubias minima (one of the taller species)
Bolbitis (grows like Java fern, adheres to wood and rocks)
Bacopa
and I think broad leaf Ludwigia

Flourish is an amazing product!!!! I've been using Excel for a while and it seems to double the growth rate of every plant. I just started using their Iron and Potassium ferts yesterday and I'm already seeing a difference. My Anubias' leaves are already significantly darker and more lush, along my my Java ferns. Flourish is one of those products that is actually as good as they say it is.

[lateinningmagic]

Anacharis will grow surprisingly fast in low light conditions and can reach 3' tall. Mine miraculously turned from regular anacharis to narrow leaf anacharis in my tank, but I like the narrow leaf look better. Here are some other plants that you should look in to;

Anubias minima (one of the taller species)
Bolbitis (grows like Java fern, adheres to wood and rocks)
Bacopa
and I think broad leaf Ludwigia

Flourish is an amazing product!!!! I've been using Excel for a while and it seems to double the growth rate of every plant. I just started using their Iron and Potassium ferts yesterday and I'm already seeing a difference. My Anubias' leaves are already significantly darker and more lush, along my my Java ferns. Flourish is one of those products that is actually as good as they say it is.

Thanks, I will looks into those plants and see what is available locally.

Could you explain Flourish a bit better? I believe I've seen something called "Flourish" and another product called "Flourish Excel". Which should I get? Or should I get both? You mentioned Iron and Potassium ferts, are those each a different product, or all in one?

I will post the specs of Nutrafin Plant Growth in a moment. Maybe can tell me if it's any good.

[angyles]

cabomba carolina will grow loooooong, doesn't demand a lot of light, and is very pretty and easy.

[vampie]

Could you explain Flourish a bit better? I believe I've seen something called "Flourish" and another product called "Flourish Excel".

Flourish is a plant fertilizer, Excel is basically liquid co2.

Vallisneria and Onion Plants are also worth a look.

[stratusfearrr]

the flourish three pack (starter pack i think its called) works amazingly on my plants. the growth doubles almost.

seachem makes excellent liquid ferts for planted aquariums

[FastFly67]

moneywort, pennywort, swords (with root tabs)

[lateinningmagic]

cabomba carolina will grow loooooong, doesn't demand a lot of light, and is very pretty and easy.

I'll add it to the list of plants to look at. :thm:


Flourish is a plant fertilizer, Excel is basically liquid co2.

Vallisneria and Onion Plants are also worth a look.

Gotcha. Added to the list.


moneywort, pennywort, swords (with root tabs)

Ooh, I'd love to do swords. I' saw this HUGE Amazon Sword for less than $3. Other decent sized ones are the same price. So I definitely need root tabs for that? What are some good brand tabs?

[fishorama]

crypt. spiralis too

[DGalt]

crypt spirals and retrospiralis both get rather tall

[BreezeRuehls]

I had westeria, it took over my 55 with only 70 wts

[bazil323]

Another way to get more height without adding tall plants is to tie anubias or Java fern to taller driftwood.

[dundadundun]

flourish is both the name of seachems plant fertilizer line as well as their broad spectrum supplement.

poke around a little, there's a lot there...
http://www.seachem.com/Products/Planted.html
and flourish itself...
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Flourish.html

[Death Pony]

Thanks, I will looks into those plants and see what is available locally.

Could you explain Flourish a bit better? I believe I've seen something called "Flourish" and another product called "Flourish Excel". Which should I get? Or should I get both? You mentioned Iron and Potassium ferts, are those each a different product, or all in one?

I will post the specs of Nutrafin Plant Growth in a moment. Maybe can tell me if it's any good.

Flourish is the name of a whole line of ferts. Flourish Excel is CO2 in liquid form. Flourish Iron and Flourish Potassium are both individual products. I prefer to have the elements in different bottles so adjustments can be made if deficiencies show up.

[67chevelle]

Amazon swords may work too.But will need root tabs.

[Slappy*McFish]

Aponogeton Crispus would be an excellent choice.

[katana1200]

I bought some Aponogenton Crispus, Undulatus (sp?) and a beautiful Grandifolius Sword from Customdrum in the classifieds. Couldn't be happier with them. The Grandifolius is probably my favorite plant right now. Its trying to grow out of the top of my 72 bowfront! I don't remember if anyone suggested Crypt balensea but that would work too.

[dundadundun]

a few different companies make root tabs. the first 2 to come to mind are api and seachem. you can get them for aquariums or ponds. they're essentially the same thing except you get a lot more for your money with the pond tabs... you'd just have to break them up. they do get expensive fast though.

here is a link to diy root tabs. i find they work much better than store bought and cost a whole lot less. they do take some time to make though but once you're done you save yourself the time of driving back and forth to get more anyway so it balances out.

oops, forgot the link: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169591