How well do Ancristus and Hygrophila Difformis due with low lighting

It is probably not enough light unless the tank is in a bright spot. Hygrophila defformis needs iron. I am not sure what the other plant is.

Don’t be afraid to try them.

I am not talking about direct sunlight. I am talking about ambient light. Right now there is a foot of snow in the back yard. During the day it is very bright here. There are two glass doors facing north in the room where my aquariums reside. On the east side of the doors are a bunch of plants, on the west side of them are a couple aquariums. I am adding about 1.5 w per gallon in the aquariums. I am not adding anything at all to the houseplants.

Maybe you have a lot more light than you think. Stick a few in there and see if they grow. If they don’t remove them don’t let them foul the water. Keep an eye out for the low to medium light plants. Read through the listing at Tropica. http://www.tropica.com/default.asp

Learn a little about crypticoryne and anubias. There is lots you can do with that light.

As for the egeria densa, I don’t know anything about it. I have never liked that plant. That is just my own prejudice.

H. difformis will probably survive for a while at that light level, but it likely won't grow much. E. densa (and similar plants) will require more light than that if you want it to look right. At low light levels, the new leaves will be small and the space between them larger — very ugly. Most swords will tolerate low light levels, but the growth level will be well below normal (as indicated by your results of 8 inches in several months). I would probably not try to grow most plants at such a low light level. Java moss and java fern should do OK, and perhaps a few of the low-light tolerant Cryptocorynes. A budget "more light" solution I used on my 29g: I took the original lighting fixture out of the hood and put in two double-socket fixtures made for a 10g incandescent hood ( http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/productInfo.web?picGroupKey=15479 ). I made a reflector from a disposable baking pan and put four 10W screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs ( http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/productInfo.web?picGroupKey=10916 ). It gives me enough light to grow swords and multiple species of Hygrophila, but still not enough for elodea.

15 watts is 15 watts..
t-8 is just a smaller diameter bulb.

if you have some ambient or filtered sunight that will change some of the parameters.

sunlight is way more intense than any bulb we can use. the downside is it iss harder to control the amount of light..I have seen tanks fare well in moderate sunlight supplemented with a light fixture.

you cn try them but monkey-toes is right on.

you can try e.densa if you float it it will be closer to the light..but generally it does poorly in low light.

I have a few I trnasferred into my 75 with slighly over 3 wpg and it is growing very well in this tank. in a tank with less light(just under 2 wpg) it grows but is more sparse.

Daylight is the way to go. Amazon reached up to get closer to the light. Many folks think the Amazons won't do well without a super amount of light. Well, not to worry as you can see. In the wild, both plants do well submerse with daily sunlight. you can accompli9sh the same with sunlight indoors also. Of course most folks don't like that idea cause it is a challenge. Whatever you do, Anubius will prosper.

star_rider said:

15 watts is 15 watts..
t-8 is just a smaller diameter bulb.

Click to expand...

Not entirely true. A T-5 28 watt bulb, puts out about as many lumens as a 32 Watt T-8, and a 40 Watt t-12.

http://ecmweb.com/ops/electric_fluorescent_lamp_coming/

Not to mention what Compact fluorescent bulbs throw into the equation. When it comes down to it the watts per gallon rules are mostly designed for the T-12 bulbs. Stronger bulbs mean less watts per gallon.

http://woo.gotdns.com/Aquarium/Lighting.htm