Low Light Tank

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Tonym

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Hi

Im setting up a Amazon biotype tank it will have a peat moss substrate and leaf litter as a result the water will be very dark with tannins so light will be heavily reduced, after doing research on the web plants which are advised as lowlight are as follows Java Ferns, Bolbitis Ferns, Anubias, Java Moss and Christmas Moss are these plants suitable for a low light enviroment, what plants would you guys recommend for low light enviroment.

Thanks

Tony
 
Hi

Im setting up a Amazon biotype tank it will have a peat moss substrate and leaf litter as a result the water will be very dark with tannins so light will be heavily reduced, after doing research on the web plants which are advised as lowlight are as follows Java Ferns, Bolbitis Ferns, Anubias, Java Moss and Christmas Moss are these plants suitable for a low light enviroment, what plants would you guys recommend for low light enviroment.

Thanks

Tony

hi, biotope is the term used for a tank set up with plants/fish all originating from a specific region.

so while these plants are suitable for low light, i dont believe any are suitable for a true "amazon biotope"
 
Hi

Im setting up a Amazon biotype tank it will have a peat moss substrate and leaf litter as a result the water will be very dark with tannins so light will be heavily reduced, after doing research on the web plants which are advised as lowlight are as follows Java Ferns, Bolbitis Ferns, Anubias, Java Moss and Christmas Moss are these plants suitable for a low light enviroment, what plants would you guys recommend for low light enviroment.

Thanks

Tony

hi, biotope is the term used for a tank set up with plants/fish all originating from a specific region.

so while these plants are suitable for low light, i dont believe any are suitable for a true "amazon biotope"

Baron von bubba is right. None of these plants are indigenous to the Amazon region. Anubias and Bolbitis hail from Africa, the rest hail from SE Asia. If I knew how low you were planning on going wattage-wise and the size of your tank, I can help you out. There are South American plants that will do well with lower light levels. Couple that with some "global" species, and you can get a fairly decent "Biotope". Now, remember, no biotope will ever be a true biotope. True blackwater conditions are not especially pretty. They are usually so dark, that it is pointless for viewing. :lol: It's like trying to setup a true rice paddy setup for betta, it would be extremely ugly. A shallow muddy ditch with rice and other plants. Not pretty. You can do a nice general setup, though, and create the viewer-friendly version. Floating plants would be great for this setup, especially Amazonian frogbit. I like the leaf-litter idea, but don't go so tannic, you'll have problems with viewing. Go for the color of weak tea or very weak coffee. A light yellow-amber is sufficient. It is enough to satisfy tannic conditions, but still pleasant for viewing. Most of my tanks are tannic without me consciously planning it. They are a little lighter, though.
 
Thats why i posted in here as all the plants i could find which would be able to handle low lighting and where recommended are from asia and africa the lighting i have ia a 20W T8 sun glo. I am trying to find amazonian ones dont really know where to start.
 
Thats why i posted in here as all the plants i could find which would be able to handle low lighting and where recommended are from asia and africa the lighting i have ia a 20W T8 sun glo. I am trying to find amazonian ones dont really know where to start.

this could potentially help you! :0)
<a href="http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...=amazon+biotope" target="_blank">http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...=amazon+biotope</a>


Thanks baron von bubba thats exactly what i was needing a list of amazonian plants that should keep me busy, lljdma06 what would you recommend as far as getting that water light coffee coloured, also water where im from is very hard comes out the tap at 7.4 then when in the tank it rises to 8.4 i run peat moss in filter at the moment, ph is a steady 7.5, what would you adv on lowering this to say around 6 or 6.5, i was thinking bottled water. when water changing rather than tap.
 
Thanks baron von bubba thats exactly what i was needing a list of amazonian plants that should keep me busy, lljdma06 what would you recommend as far as getting that water light coffee coloured, also water where im from is very hard comes out the tap at 7.4 then when in the tank it rises to 8.4 i run peat moss in filter at the moment, ph is a steady 7.5, what would you adv on lowering this to say around 6 or 6.5, i was thinking bottled water. when water changing rather than tap.

That's wierd! What's your substrate? Usually pH goes down when water ages in your tank. Mine is at 8.4 and goes down to 7.2 or so after I remove the chlorine. What chemical are you using to dechlorinate? I would avoid chemical additives other than dechlorinator if you can. It makes you a slave to water chemistry.

The easiest way to get tannins without a chemical additive is just to add some nice bogwood. This is where the whole imperfect biotope comes into play. For me, African mopani is really good at producing tannins. Other woods hail from Malasia, California, and other locations. Finding a specific South American wood might not be easy. Don't sweat it though, I don't think anybody will stick their noses up at your tank because your bogwood is from another region. Fish, plants, and arrangement of scape is what determines the success of the biotope you are trying to convey. Bogwood is a little detail.
 
At the moment it is a pea sized gravel substate but this will get replaced by sand or peat moss, the water here is terrible i mean its stupidly hard as there is a lot of limstone in the area they probibly use some sort of chemical to lower the ph then the tetra safe start that i use neutralises this which raises the ph, I have some bogwood in the tank which releases only small amounts of tannins now as it has been in the tank quite a while now, the bog wood was brought from my LFS so its likely to be Mopani my test kit is a API i just cant get the water to go lower than 7.5 i am looking for a natural way in reducing this im just running out of ideas im just runing out of ideas.
 
At the moment it is a pea sized gravel substate but this will get replaced by sand or peat moss, the water here is terrible i mean its stupidly hard as there is a lot of limstone in the area they probibly use some sort of chemical to lower the ph then the tetra safe start that i use neutralises this which raises the ph, I have some bogwood in the tank which releases only small amounts of tannins now as it has been in the tank quite a while now, the bog wood was brought from my LFS so its likely to be Mopani my test kit is a API i just cant get the water to go lower than 7.5 i am looking for a natural way in reducing this im just running out of ideas im just runing out of ideas.

ya could always add co2! :0/
 
At the moment it is a pea sized gravel substate but this will get replaced by sand or peat moss, the water here is terrible i mean its stupidly hard as there is a lot of limstone in the area they probibly use some sort of chemical to lower the ph then the tetra safe start that i use neutralises this which raises the ph, I have some bogwood in the tank which releases only small amounts of tannins now as it has been in the tank quite a while now, the bog wood was brought from my LFS so its likely to be Mopani my test kit is a API i just cant get the water to go lower than 7.5 i am looking for a natural way in reducing this im just running out of ideas im just runing out of ideas.

ya could always add co2! :0/

Never used CO2 what will this do if i were to use this.
 
At the moment it is a pea sized gravel substate but this will get replaced by sand or peat moss, the water here is terrible i mean its stupidly hard as there is a lot of limstone in the area they probibly use some sort of chemical to lower the ph then the tetra safe start that i use neutralises this which raises the ph, I have some bogwood in the tank which releases only small amounts of tannins now as it has been in the tank quite a while now, the bog wood was brought from my LFS so its likely to be Mopani my test kit is a API i just cant get the water to go lower than 7.5 i am looking for a natural way in reducing this im just running out of ideas im just runing out of ideas.

ya could always add co2! :0/

Never used CO2 what will this do if i were to use this.

well, it would add co2 for the plants! altho not "needed" as such at lower light levels, but could still benifit the tank. as a consequence your ph will go lower, my tap water is around 7.7 the added co2 lowers my tank ph to around 6.6.

its a bit of an extreme way to lower the ph tho i guess :0/
 
Its something i would consider, but will have to look into it more as i know that too much co2 will kill any fish in the tank so thats another thing to look into on the long list of research i need to do before i set this up. I am steering towards less tannins nicer looking plant idea though after looking at some of the ones on the list that you posted in the link this afternoon.
 

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