plant choice for low lit 3gallon???

[pglenn]

I have a 3gallon eclipse, with a retro-fitted lighting in the hood (the original ballast corroded away) which is now a small 10w halogen bulb. I would like to setup the tank with a few live plants but have questions on what would be good for the currently relatively low lighting (~3.5w/gallon) as well as the light spectrum from the halogen.

I would like some type of low "grass" plant (Eleocharis 'parvula' or micro sword perhaps??), one or two "clump" plants such as a java fern or a crypt, and some stalking background plant

I have plenty of java fern and cabomba from 2other tanks and would like to include those if possible (tho the light may be too little for the cabomba?).

any and all suggestions on the plant selection are welcome...

I am considering as livestock, putting in a few ghost shrimp, a few red ramshorn snails, 2 or 3 pygmy cory's, and a dwarf puffer.

Patrick

 

[czcz]

Any chance of retrofitting the hood again with flourescent or more efficient lighting? Halogen is so inefficient for our purposes they are hardly if ever used, and the wpg is not relevant.

Erect or other mosses may be a good substitute for the foreground. Smaller crpts like C. willisii or willisii x lucens should be good. How about a small Anubias instead of Java fern, due to size/growth rate/spreading issues?

I have not grown Cabomba but am told it grows really fast. M. umbrosum is more delicate looking but will make the tank look larger and you could probably support it under low-moderate light. It grows fast (maybe too fast for a nano) under higher light though.

In case she doesn't post by the time you read this, Purrbox's logs in Planted Aquascaping would be good to check out for size appropriate plants, especially if you are open to going with higher light.

 

[Purrbox]

For livestock I would go with either the Pygmy Cories or the Dwarf Puffer, but not both. Either is a great selection for that size tank, but combined they are probably too much bioload and the cramped quarters would likely increase the aggression levels of the Puffer. Most people recommend at least 3-5 Gallons per Dwarf Puffer.

The Microsword requires more light than the Eleocharis Parvula, so the Eleocharis Parvula is probably your better choice. Cryptocoryne Parva would look really great but requires more light, the Cryptocoryne Willisii that czcz suggested would work too. Cryptocorne Willisii x Lucens is also very nice but pushes the size limits of your tank. Micranthemum Umbrosum and Rotala Rotundifolia are very nice plants in this size tank, but you really have to keep up with the pruning. You might also want to consider some of the Marsilea species as they make nice foreground plants under lower light. Marsilea Minuta in particular would be nice as it requires the least light and is extremely small.