Re: Looking for help with 37g tall, low light

["Rachel Sandage" <rachelsor at hotmail_com>]

Matt,

I have a similar situation in my 29 gallon tank with eclipse 2 hood. When I 
started it I knew I wanted to do plants but I didn't know anything about 
them (hadn't found this list yet), so my tank has not much light and great 
big black gravel. I ordered a supposedly easy-to-grow plant assortment, out 
of which only one plant (a generic anubias) survived. So I know where you 
are coming from.

Anubias and Bolbitis are good plants for low light. I've also had very good 
luck with sunset and willow hygro, and reasonable success with Rotala 
indica. I have recently put in some Ludwigia repens and Hygro. difformis, 
and they seems to be doing pretty well. I also have Aponogetons in there - 
boivinanus and ulvaceous - and enjoy the way they look.

I recently added CO2 to the tank with the Hagen plant-gro natural system, 
and I can see that the plants like it. I had been using Flourish Excel, but 
it did not seem to work as well as the CO2 and may have been the reason most 
non-bottom dwelling fish died within 3 months of being put in the tank.

The plants are healthy and doing well, with minimal algae. They grow nice 
and slowly, and while the colors aren't as nice as in my big high tech high 
light tank I am very satisfied with how it all works.

Because it's low-light it's hard to photograph, but here's a picture from a 
while back:
http://groups.msn.com/rsfish/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=37
In the middle of the background, by the way, is a beautiful crypt - C. 
spiralis - which died like all crypts do when they come into my tanks, but 
if crypts grow for you it's a great looking plant.

-Rachel



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