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As some of you know, I'm in the process of (slowly) trying to convert to live plants. I want to make sure that the ones I have are pretty tough, and can survive my low-light (.68 watts per gallon) tank. I have the following:

An Amazon sword (Echinodorus bleheri)
Moneywort
Hygrophila (I don't know the species, but the lfs employee told me it was hardy. Of course)
Cabomba
Aponogeton bulbs (purchased at Wal-Mart, though I've heard good things about this plant)

Did I make good selections? And, is there anything special I should know about these plants? My tank is a 29 gallon, with a single 20 watt bulb.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Your Cabomba will fall apart fairly sone believe me i've tried. Hornwort is a hardy plant but not quite the plant most people are looking for. The Sword was a good choice many people told me it would work with less than 1wpg well i've had mine for a few months and its been thriving. Frill is a Hardy/fast growing plant that my store has. And its kinda like Cabomba cept a little softer. Grows good roots fairly quickly tho doesnt start with to many when you buy them at the lfs. GOOd luch with your plants.

Aubias is a good bet. However, I would shy away from bacopa sp. (moneywort) until you can get about 1 wpg+. Though they are relatively easy plants to care for, they like their light of medium intensity.

I agree with Fish1. Get rid of the cabomba before it becomes a crumbling nuisance, it really need strong light. Another good low-light plant is the Java Fern. It will grow slowly, but it will grow nevertheless. A good place to get information about individual plants is www.tropica.com.

i am currently running .80 wpg. after about 1 and 1 half months, only several plants are thriving. a lucidia (spelled wrong) and java MOSS are thriving. moss took me forever to find, but well worth the effort. my java fern and banana plant seem to be holding their own- new leaf growth negated by old leaf die-off.

the sword plant is slowly dying- i do not know if it is due to light restrictions or the fact that it is being constantly uprooted by various fish. i had hair grass for awhile, but the red-clawed crabs ate it all within 2 weeks (it was the only plant specie they ate). it looked like it would have grown well in the absence of the crabs.

if you have any luck with other plants, let me know. it sounds like we are striving for the same result.

sirbooks

I dont think its a big secret I am a huge fan of Anubias there are several reasons, easy to grow and buy also a very hardy plant that can easly be propergated. They must be grown either on rocks, wood or left floating free. They do not like their roots burried at all.

I would have 99% Anubias in my tank.

Keith

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Well, my tank's plants have changed a little. I had to throw out my moneywort and cabomba, because they were not doing well at all. I bought an anubias yesterday (I don't know what kind), as my lfs had just gotten some in. I hope that it will do well, though I've heard that they are slow growers. Keith, you say that they do not like having their roots buried? Then, is it all right to bury just the ends (to keep it anchored), and leave the rest out? I don't have any wood or a suitable rock in my tank.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

It would be better if you could attach them to a peice of wood rather than having them sorta buried. Im looking into getting some anubias to hope it does well for you,.

It is ok to bry the roots on java fern and anubias ... however it is the rhizome that cant be buried. Ive had both on driftwood and with just roots buried, and could tell no noticeable difference. If the rhizome is buried it will eventually start to decay.

Bdadawg

If you have it weighted on top of the substrate the roots will grow down and bury themselves! Then you can remove the weight and the plant won't float away. On the other hand some people like to have their plants just sitting on top of the substrate so they can move them and do a gravel vac underneath.