Tall Plant For A Low Light Tank?

HI everyone, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a vertical plant to add to my 20G (tall) low-light, no CO2, tank. I have some java ferns which are doing well, and a compact amazon sword. I was hoping to find something that grows vertically (12 to 14 inch or so) and thin, to put in the corners of the tank, since the top half of the tank is void of plants. However I don't know if any such plant thrives in lower light. Any ideas?

 

Giant hair grass (don't know about lighting though)

 

Java fern is pretty tall. So are many types of Val and some rotalas (all of which I have had success with in my low-light fert free tank)

 

Moneywort should work too, I have one in a low light tank and it is doing well. Grows pretty quickly too!

 

I would reccomend vals or some of the larger crypts - like spiralis.

 

Egeria densa and anacharis are also some other plants to look into.

 

Vals. Period. Heh...I like the red Jungle Vals. Or Italian. Not sure what makes them "Italian" though...perhaps some pencilneck thought it looks like green spaghetti...? Dunno! lol...

 

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I will look into all of these.

 

I have an Anubis that is well over 15 years old I break it up every few years but it gets very tall. Here are some shots of it or parts of it in various aquariums over the years. Not thin but have a look anyway.

1. The 44 from years ago. This aquarium is 24" deep so that Anubis is around 14" tall.



2. Part of it in a 37 gallon.



3. Part of the parent plant today in the 44.

 

I have an Anubis that is well over 15 years old I break it up every few years but it gets very tall. Here are some shots of it or parts of it in various aquariums over there years. Not thin but have a look anyway.

1. The 44 from years ago. This aquarium is 24" deep so that Anubis is around 14" tall.
View attachment 439511

2. Part of it in a 37 gallon.
View attachment 439513

3. Part of the parent plant today in the 44.
View attachment 439514

WOW! I hope my anubias lives and thrives like yours!

For OP, I've had most successful with jungle vals in terms of height! I've had the same issue filling the top of my tank with plants so I've also resorted to floating hornwort in the top of the tank. I'm hoping with time my jungle vals will fill the top so I can take the hornwort out.

 

Jungle Val all the way. doesn't need much, mine grows an inch or so a day.....no exaggeration

 

WOW! I hope my anubias lives and thrives like yours!

It Has been a good strong plant


fish4us Keep in mind that Vals and the like do poorly if Excel is used.

 

very true^^^I veeeeerry slowly introduced excel to my tank with vals at a 10th the recommended dosing, and gradually increased dosing over weeks to the recommended amount. Now they do great and grow faster than I would like. If you suddenly star dosing excel to a tank with vals at the recommended dosing you can definitely kill them.

 

Beautiful tanks Thunder_o_b ! Thanks for sharing! I didn't know anubias could get so big. I bought one when I first set up the tank, and during unpacking all the leaves fell off. The rhizome looked healthy so I have it attached to a rock and now it has teeny tiny leaves. I think I will look into getting a new one eventually. Also like the idea of the jungle val. I don't use Excel but thanks for the info about that everyone. Eventually I want to start using a liquid fertilizer that would benefit the java ferns and anubias but right now I'm dealing with some fish problems so I don't plan on adding anything to the water at the moment. Plants will have to wait for a while.

 

Thank you

They are slower growing than some other plants but some of them can get rather big