Best Low Light Plants?

[David941]

I want a planted tank but I can't afford expensive lighting. I have a 40 gallon that I plan on putting a peacock eel in with some other community fish. If I can find them at petsmart or petco that would be best because I don't have any close fish stores.

 

[betta fish]

Anubias, crypts and Java fern are good choices that are widely available, I keep them in all my tanks purely for that reason 

 

[StevenF]

anacharis and duck weed do well in low light and I have found them to well in various water conditions.  Anubias I have found to be a little fussy on water conditions.  Anubias and Anacharis are available at my local petsmart.  I haven't been to petco in a while so I am not sure.  You can find most of the others on amazon.com or Ebay.  Plants are much  more tolerant then fish to shipping.  You might want to quarantine the plants to be sure they are free of pond snails which can multiply faster than the plants can grow.  They won't eat your plants but will overrun your aquarium.

 

[David941]

anacharis and duck weed do well in low light and I have found them to well in various water conditions.  Anubias I have found to be a little fussy on water conditions.  Anubias and Anacharis are available at my local petsmart.  I haven't been to petco in a while so I am not sure.  You can find most of the others on amazon.com or Ebay.  Plants are much  more tolerant then fish to shipping.  You might want to quarantine the plants to be sure they are free of pond snails which can multiply faster than the plants can grow.  They won't eat your plants but will overrun your aquarium.

I plan on setting the tank up at least a week in advance, I want to use river sand so I'm gonna wash it thoroughly and let it cycle to make sure the water is perfect.

 

[RCA]

I would avoid duck weed as it takes over pretty quickly, and you never get rid of it. I prefer Ricca, as it binds together whilst floating and makes a lovely mat that is easy to handle or plant elsewhere. Amazon Swords seem fairly good in low light in my experience, as well as those already mentioned. Crypts are certainly strong plants and grow and spread well. I have one fastened to a piece of lava rock so it can be moved easily if required.

 

[StevenF]

 
 
I would avoid duck weed as it takes over pretty quickly, and you never get rid of it

If you simple remove everything you see once a day you within a week have very little left.  Individual plants may show up intermittently later but if you continue to remove everything you see daily within a month you won't have any left.  It is also helpful to remove anything with a wire or hose attached to it.  Sometimes it hides between your glass and filter or water heater. Als thoroughly clean the filter outside and inside.  Pieces of duck week can hid in your filter and eventually make it back into the tank.  Its time consuming at first but as the amount drops less time is needed.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with anubias, swords and java ferns for low light methods.  For me, anubias and swords have aged better than java ferns.  ~w~

 

[Ch4rlie]

Don't swords grow pretty big? Should be ok in a 40 gal but would not put these in anything smaller tbh.
 
Duckweed CAN be rid of as Steven F pointed out, I did the exact same thing, every water change and maintenance I spent ages taking out every duckweed I could see, a shrimp net is great for this btw. Until eventually there was none left, I was so pleased

 
I have replaced the duckweed with water lettuce, much easier to remove excess numbers, fish and shrimps do like this, provides nice shade and something for shrimps to nibble on

 
Personally I would go for java ferns, anubias and low crypts, LOTS of each can make a beautiful tank in a low tech set up

 

[DoubleDutch]

Don't swords grow pretty big? Should be ok in a 40 gal but would not put these in anything smaller tbh.
 
Duckweed CAN be rid of as Steven F pointed out, I did the exact same thing, every water change and maintenance I spent ages taking out every duckweed I could see, a shrimp net is great for this btw. Until eventually there was none left, I was so pleased

 
I have replaced the duckweed with water lettuce, much easier to remove excess numbers, fish and shrimps do like this, provides nice shade and something for shrimps to nibble on

 
Personally I would go for java ferns, anubias and low crypts, LOTS of each can make a beautiful tank in a low tech set up

That depends on the Swordspecies. Agree with the other plants

 

[snowflake311]

I love my Vallisneria I can grow it in any tank. It is great for low light high light. It grows like a weed and it grows tall. It is the tall grassy plant in the background in my Sig. 

 

[superswimmer]

Amazon sword and Anubias are my two favorites.