Plants that do well in low light
- On wood or rock: java fern, anubias, java moss, Christmas moss, flame moss and bucephalandra. Anubias grows in shady streams in the wild and even flowers under water; in bright spots its slow leaves collect algae.
- In the substrate: Cryptocoryne wendtii, vallisneria and dwarf sagittaria. Vallisneria spreads by runners into a tall background.
- Loose or floating: hornwort, marimo balls and Amazon frogbit.
- Roots in the water, leaves outside: pothos grown from the back of the tank.
Slow growth is the point
Low-light plants grow slowly, so they need little fertilizer and little trimming. The catch is that each leaf lives a long time, long enough to collect algae if the light is too strong or on too long. Start at 6 to 8 hours a day and change one thing at a time. A few fast growers such as hornwort or floating plants use up spare nutrients while the slow plants settle.
Where they go
Tie or glue the rhizome plants (java fern, anubias, bucephalandra) to wood or stone; buried, the rhizome rots. Plant crypts and vallisneria with the crown just above the substrate and push a root tab in near them every few months. Keep floating plants to a small patch in a low-light tank, since they take the light first. How to attach plants · Fertilizer and root tabs
What will not grow in low light
Carpets such as Monte Carlo and dwarf hairgrass, red stem plants and most fast stem plants want medium light and often added CO₂. Under a basic light they stretch toward it, drop their lower leaves and fade. CO₂ for planted tanks