Low lighting plants?

[seshat]

I'm hoping to upgrade to a 55 gallon very soon and I'd like it to be a planted discus tank. To cut down on costs I was hoping to keep the lighting that comes with it. Are there any plants for low lighting?

Also for future planning, how many discus would you suggest in a 55?

[BowRiver]

I think 5 adults would be good, if you buy discus under 3"than you would be looking for about 6 to 8 discus in case you have some stunt or unhealthy one along the way. About the plants I have no idea, java ferm maybe.
Quang

[Orange Crush]

Java fern, java moss, anubias.
Discus need 10 gal of water each if you have plants and subtrate you have less than 55 gal of water in that tank.
Discus are schooling fish and need to be in groups of at least 5-6. You will need to get a bigger tank than the 55 for all of that. More importantly, if you have a planted tank it would be better to buy discus that are at least 4.5". Juvies do not do well in planted tanks.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?93624-My-Planted-Tank-Experience
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?35043-The-ease-of-cleaning-bare-bottom-tanks

[seshat]

10 gallons each. Okay. Thanks for the plants

[boscobear]

If you live near the coastal southeast part of the US you can grab some of the weeds from my front lawn. In all truthfulness, the plant called, Brazilian PennyWort, is known as dollar weed around the coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. It grows very nicely in aquaria, I've used it for years. The plant is not picky on light requirements. I just seen it this morning on this web site, where a person was showing his new discus from Kenny.

[walt3]

i have a crappy stock bulb on a ten gallon setup and my anubias is growing. very very dim light!

[vq5]

What type of light is it exactly T5 T8? There are lots of plants that can grow under standard lighting. Almost all plants will grow in any light but how well depends on water conditions. Anubias, mosses, ferns, Crypts, Sword plants can grow well in low lighting. But really like i said most plants that do better in high light can grow in low light just not as fast and full.

[joshvito]

Marsilea minuta is a slow growing easy carpet plant
Most of the common Cryptocoryne spp. are easy low light plants.

If you stick to root feeders (non-stem plants), you can use root tabs, and you won't need to dose a lot of ferts.
There is a lot of information on the subject at Aquatic Plant Central plantfinder (http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/).

[santeclaws]

+1 for the java ferns and anubias.. those things just don't die.. I think the lightbulb in a room would be enough haha..

[Oscarsx]

I agree, those plants require very minimal light to grow, but if you add high light + co2 + IE dosing, that thing will grow like a weed!

I'm growing anubias in my grow out BB tank, but I'm getting nutrients deficiencies because of the daily WCs, how do you guys not have this problem?

[Orange Crush]

I'm growing anubias in my grow out BB tank, but I'm getting nutrients deficiencies because of the daily WCs, how do you guys not have this problem?
I add fertalizer. My plants in the discus tank do not grow very fast but they stay healthy at least.

[Oscarsx]

Right I get that part, I have a bunch of EI dosing in my closet, but my question is do you add new ferts when doing your WC?

If you don't mind me asking, how often do you do your wc's in the tank with plants?

[Orange Crush]

I do a wc everyday and I replace the amount of ferts that got removed with the wc everyday.

[Oscarsx]

hmm... interesting, going to have to give that a shot.

Sent from my DROID X2

[bogia99]

I had to raise temp to 88-90F for about a week and most of my plants died, except for the anubias and a few others.