Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
Id like to keep most of the flora in my tank under 4 inches (preferably 2"). I deff want something with a bit of color besides green thats low, any thoughts?
Looking for red/purple low growing plants any suggestions?
- Thread starter Angel_fish
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As far as I know there is no plant that stays that low naturally without trimming. Not even Crypt Wendti's Red, Bronze, Mi Oya, and Florida Sunset. Depending on your lighting there are several non-green stem plants that can be used but you would have to keep them trimmed to the height you want them.
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Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
Sigh, lives all about compromise isnt it lol
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Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
Because i made this background and its so pretty i don't want to cover it up. I dont really mind triming
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Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
There home depots fluorescents i think. They came with tank so dont know specifics, though i can tell they arnt aquarium lights.
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Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
What would u recommend?
maestromad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Following this one as I've tried in vain to locate coloured plants for my aquarium
Unfortunely these lights won't support red plant growth as they are very low light. If you want to get into colored plants or some of the lower growing carpet plants you would have to upgrade your lighting.
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Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=768+3118&pcatid=3118
I found this one on my own, the purple is underside of the leaf, for me thats not the worst thing. Ill keep looking on my own and post what i can find.
Two things.... first that picture shows it in it's emmersed form, meaning it's been grown with roots in the water and leaves out of the water. Once it is fully submerged new leaves grow in it's immersed (submerged) form and they are green, they lose the under color. Second, in lower (you have very low so it may not even grow) becomes leggy and more vertical, with sparser leaf growth. It will focus more energy on growing taller reaching for more light than on producing small plantlets. With your current light you are not able to support plant growth except for Anubias, Java Ferns, Bolbitus, and Crypts.
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Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
Dude this isnt my first rode with lights. Ive grown coffe plants under florescent lighting in my bathroom. Im sure thats fine but thanks for pointing that out its a swamp plant rather aquarium.
I'm female and I am giving you proper information to help you and am in no way insinuating anything. Unwater gardening is different as light penetration is different in water. Also many plants that are aquatic are often grown emmersed before being added to an aquarium. This does not mean they are bog plants. True bog plants will eventually rot and die when planted submerged where as aquatic plants grown emmersed as bog plants are will change and grow submerged leaves and live indefinitely underwater.
Rcguerra
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I am sure you got some transferable skills doing that, but if your coffee plants were not immersed, there are a few things to learn...
phishfriend
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'm using 6500k CFL's on my planted tank. they are from Lowes and have been working well with my reds. Your in the best hands when it comes to plants. rivercats is an aquatic plant Guru. Also, growing plants out of the water vs. in the water is very different. Not said you dont know your lights. Just pointing out that water does affect a bulbs ability. here is a great link,
Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts
Here is a link to the bulb I use,
Shop SYLVANIA 2-Pack 23-Watt (100W) Spiral Medium Base Daylight (6500K) CFL Bulbs at Lowes.com
And check out this plant site.
AquariumPlants.com
Hope this helps!
Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts
Here is a link to the bulb I use,
Shop SYLVANIA 2-Pack 23-Watt (100W) Spiral Medium Base Daylight (6500K) CFL Bulbs at Lowes.com
And check out this plant site.
AquariumPlants.com
Hope this helps!
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
I don't think you have realistic expectations for your tank. As a simple matter of biology, plants need a certain environment to produce red pigment, and by far the most important factor is light (although CO2 is a close but debatable second). Even people with t5ho fixtures often have issues with "red plants" turning green, which is often a result of a nutritional issue. Long story short, good coloration is hard, and there's not really a good shortcut.
That being said, brown is a pretty easy color to get with a number of crypt species. Probably the lowest light species that has good coloration at medium light levels is Alternanthera reineckii.
That being said, brown is a pretty easy color to get with a number of crypt species. Probably the lowest light species that has good coloration at medium light levels is Alternanthera reineckii.
