# Best Low Tech/Non CO2 Plants



## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Pretty much any type of sword plant
Crypts of all shapes and sizes
Dwarf Sag
Most hygro's (just be sure to have a nutritious substrate.....which there is no reason not to have anyways)
Most bulb plants (Tiger lotus' come to mind especially....)
Easier (more common) Ludwigia sp.

and more, but I can't think of them atm really.

Thing I will say though, is that you should have a fantastic substrate if you are doing low tech, especially with stem plants, because I found that in weaker substrates the stems tend to fail, especially if you aren't dosing anything.


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## Optix (May 31, 2011)

most mosses
java ferns
anubiases
most hairgrasses


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## manzpants92 (Dec 6, 2012)

do a little research next time. look through the stickys, but here

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=56042


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Low Tech Plants*



Thamizhandaa... said:


> I have two empty tanks - a 24g 'high' tank and a 50g. And I want to change them into 'Low-tech & Non CO2 Planted Tanks'. I want the experts out there to help me by providing a List of Plants that can be grown 'successfully' with Low Lighting and Without CO2 supply.


Hello Tham...

I float Anacharis (Waterweed) and Pennywort in my low tech tanks. Water wisteria also grows well floated close to the light.

A couple of T8s or T12s is all you need. 6500K bulbs work well. GE has a good aquarium plant bulb for a few dollars each at the chain hardware stores.
They'll easily last a year, so you can get by fairly cheaply and still have nice plants.

Add a little liquid fertilizer a couple of times a week and you'll have a nicely planted tank in a few months.

B


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

It's always nice being handed absolutes, but there really aren't any when it comes to plants (or much of anything else).

Unless you're dealing with actual PAR measurements--or at least a defined tank dimension/light source combo--everyone's opinion on what constitutes a particular light level is going to be highly subjective. I've had high-tech folk refer to my shrimp tank as a "bloody cave" while low-tech folks wonder why I'm flooding it with so much light. Any supplemental sunlight the tank gets can be a total game changer as well.

Ditto on whether a plant is growing "successfully". Traditionally high-light plants that are brightly colored, large leaved and dense under ideal conditions can be healthy attractive specimens under very different conditions IF handled correctly. 

Fertilization also makes a difference. In a heavily fertilized low light tank, my hyro sunset grows fast--but small leaved and lanky. Not real attractive. Same light level, minimal fertilization produces the same small leaves, but with such slow growth that the nodes between leaves are tight and it becomes a reasonably bushy plant again, just very very small. 

One of the best tools I've found for learning what plants do under less common light conditions--other than direct experimentation--is browsing the tank here. There's also a thread in the low-tech forum that shows off how lush low-tech tanks can be--great to see how people have handled different plants and what results they've gotten.


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

You can grow half or most plants without CO2.


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## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

Egeria Densa, very adaptable, grows fast.


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## Thamizhandaa... (Sep 5, 2011)

Alright guys, how about these carpet/foreground plants;
1.Dwarf Blyxa.
2.Dwarf Marselia Fern.
3.Micranthemum Micranthimoides.
4.Elatine Triandra.
5.Staurgyne sp.
Which one of the above is the Best?


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