as little gardening as possible

[redbucket]

i'd like to have some plants in my 55g to control nitrate and algea. i'm not certian if or when i could afford to upgrade my lighting (i'd have to buy a glass top and the new lighting fixture), so i'm left with ~48 watts for a 55g. i'd like to get plants that will do fine without CO2 additions or fertalizer. i was thinking of putting 3 amazon swords and 2 java fern in.

will my lighting support this? any other suggestions to amount / type of plant?

thanks!

[Darkblade48]

With under 1 watt a gallon, a Sword would definitely not do that well. I'd stick with low light plants like Java Fern/Moss, Anubias and maybe Hornwort. Of course, they wouldn't need CO2 or fertilizers, but would definitely appreciate if you could provide the ferts (CO2 isn't needed in a low light setup, as it's usually the nutrients that are limiting)

[Mako]

darkblade is right on. 1 watt per gallon won't grow any sword, at least, not predictably (somebody will prove me wrong on this, I just know it). Look for these plants, but don't expect any of them, even a truck load, to do much for controlling nitrates.

anubias species, especially nana and barteri
java fern (microsorum sp.), any variety
java moss (vesicularia dubyana)
cryptocoryne wendtii (went-eee-eye crypt)

They will just sit in the tank and look back at you for a month or two doing nearly nothing. Low light plants grow very slowly (crypt can grow quickly in high light/high co2 but it isn't needed).


To control algae, it's really dern hard to beat a squadron of "otocinclus affinis", oto cats. They are small, but they eat algae like I eat barbecue ribs.

[Blinky]

Slightly off topic, redbucket if your tank is a standard 55g - 48" long - you could DIY the lighting if you like. Fluorescent fixtures and tubes are quite inexpensive at this length at home improvement stores. If you're even slightly handy you can make your own light box or hood fairly cheap, and mount a dual-bulb shoplight inside, which would give you 60W of light. Adding that to the 48W you have would put you at ~2WPG and give you more options. Just a thought :)

I agree with mako - if you want to control brown algae (diatoms) or soft green algaes, otos are unsurpassed. Bristlenose and rubberlip plecos will also do a great job cleaning up soft green algae. If you've got hair algae, true SAEs are the best fish for the job, but they only go after new growth; you have to remove the old stuff by hand and let them take it from there.