Does anyone know about plants?

[dawn]

Hi,
I have a 30L tank im planning on keeping a Japanese fire belly in. I have an airstone but its making a lot of disturbance in the water and Ive read that strong currents will stress a newt. To try and solve this problem I want to get some live plants but I dont have a light and getting one will involve getting a whole new hood for the tank, which Id rather avoid! Does anyone know of plants that need little enough light to survive without a tank light? I have some mares tail outside, which is a good oxygenating plant but I dont know if it's suitable for an aquarium.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[jeff]

Try java moss, it's very hardy.

 

[william]

hornwort is an excellent plant for low light levels.

 

[paris]

no matter what plant you have-there will have to be light for it to survive, you wont necessarily need a new hood-you could just put on of those fluroescent desk lights next to it and aim it at the tank...are you talking aquatic plants or land plants? no matter which, you will need light, esp in aquatic set ups-if light isnt supplied then the plants will actually take oxygen out of the system (your tank), even with low light plants they must get enough to survive-and remember that glass will filter out some of the light getting to the plants

 

[dawn]

Thanks for that, I'll look for those plants.

Paris - I'm talking about aquatic plants. I will try shining a desk lamp through the glass, I will just have to experiment to see how many hours they need it on each day. There is some light getting in from a window but not much - probably not enough. When you say fluorescent is that the same as the energy saver light bulbs? They would be good temperature wise if i could use them.

Thanks again,

Dawn

 

[paris]

fluorescent bulbs as in not incandescent- you definitely dont want an incandescent since it gets really hot and even those made for plants provide very little good light, you can get compact fluorescents that are energy savers that fit into screw in sockets and they should work ok for java moss, java fern, anacharis(elodea) and possibly some swords...ive had no luck with swords or hornwort so i cant speak for those plants....

 

[joan]

Hornwort's great. I had fantastic luck with it until I introduced an extra airstone (over aeration of the water caused the whole mass to kick the bucket within days). I have one sword that gets a little bit of light from a north-facing window, but it's putting out new leaves. I'd recommend swords for moderate light tho. I have no extra light on any of my tanks. With the fluorescent screw-in type bulb, I'm betting swords would thrive.