Tall, Low Light Plants?

[GeekySnailGirl]

I'm having lots of plant issues with my betta's 5 gallon tank and could use some advice. The hood only allows for a 15 watt bulb halfway across. In the front I have a Bronze Crypt Wendtii and lace leaf java fern, which are growing fairly well. The Amazon Sword is getting brown leaves, possibly from plant fert tabs w/iron that I will never use again (almost killed my apple snail, long story). The back of the tank is the biggest problem. I used to have wisteria under the filter spout and on the opposite side I had Rotala indica which my betta loved to rest in. They looked great for awhile and then started to get spindly and die off from lack of good light. I had to replace the wisteria with a plastic plant to diffuse the filter current. The Rotala indica is barely hanging on. It does have some new branches, but it's pretty pathetic as you can see in the pic. My betta still managed to make a little hammock out of it, until last week when I accidentally uprooted it and couldn't get the branches back the way they were. He's not a happy guy right now.

What types of tall plants can I get for low light that will, 1) diffuse the filter flow and 2) give my betta something to rest in? I want to get the plastic plant out of there. I know the tank looks imbalanced and it's driving me nuts. Any suggestions welcome.

 

[Biulu]

I am not sure whether I can give you advice on plants your betta can rest in, but for the flow, you could go for C. balansae or vallisneria. I don't know how high your tank is, but I assume as it is smaller that it won't be more than 30 cm, so I would suggest you take a smaller vallisneria type.

Alternatively, you could hava a look here. Then you click on the individual plants to get more information especially about height.

 

[Carlovel1]

Java fern, Giant Anubias and some Cryptocoryne are nice tall plants and grow well in lowlight

 

[GeekySnailGirl]

Thank you both!