low light tall plants?

[Electrobes]

do low-light tall plants exist? i have a 45 gallon tall and am about to install a 65 watt mogul base fuorescent light... which only gives my tank about 1.44 watts per gallon... any thoughts.. I have a tall fake plant.. just not big into fake plants and all... just wanted something to occupy the top space of the tank... currently I only will have Java Ferns in there... but they don't get too tall

 

[TankGirl]

The first thing that comes to mind is aponogeton. This comes in a dry bulb (often sold at Walmart in the fish dept) and you sprout it in your tank. It grows right to the top of the tank and does fine in low light. I don't think you will go wrong with aponogeton, and it may take over the tank!

If you can find it, I have grown Asian ambulia in a low light tank, as well as anacharis. Hygro might grow as well, but it will probably be slightly leggy and less attractive. The other two above definitely do better in slightly higher light situations, but they might work. I think that is about it for tall plants. Your java fern can be tied to an upright piece of driftwood or something and thereby creating a vertical plant arrangement with it. I have it that way in 2 of my tanks to hide heaters, intake tubes and the like.

 

[medge00]

something called an onion plant. its a bulb. grows every where. before i upgraded my lights, i had about 1 wpg and i had to trim it every other month or so. i'm not sure if its the same bulb as tankgirl mentioned, but it worked for me. some grassy plants seem to work too. not always, but its worth a try. look for long and grassy, not short clumps.

 

[TankGirl]

I had an onion plant as well in my low light tank but it did not do all that great. It is not the same as the apon, but really looks just like a spring onion in the produce dept. I think it is considered a low light plant, so definitely worth it.

 

[Madame_X]

There are two kinds of onions--I think the dwarf variety do better in low light. I have the larger species (with flat leaves) and it didn't really thrive until I upgraded our lighting to a little over 2WPG.

Now we have to prune it weekly!