# Rotala Rotundifolia and Ludwigia repens low light dirt substrate?



## Polinar (Jul 12, 2012)

Hey I have a 29 gallon that supplies only 0.5 wpg with 1 inch Miracle Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix capped with 1 inch of gravel and I was wondering if Rotala Rotundifolia and Ludwigia Repens would grow in my tank. I dont mind if grows slow but just want to know if it will at least survive. If CO2 would help I can make a DIY CO2. Thanks for any help or advice


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## Skizhx (Oct 12, 2010)

Depends what type of light we're talking about... T8? T5? T5HO? CF?

With no other information except 0.5wpg, I would be inclined to say no.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

If you only have 15W on that 29 gal tank, I'd venture to say you'd have a tough time maintaining alive, much less growing, either of those two. Anubias is about the only plant I'd say to try under those conditions. CO2 never hurts. If that's all you've got, give it a shot, and get back with results in the future.


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## Polinar (Jul 12, 2012)

Sorry for the lack of information, this was a quick post. I have 1 Fluorescent T8 17 watt bulb. There are people with tanks that supply 0.75 wpg and grow nice rotala with a bit of pink in it and they just recommend using dirt with red clay in it with maybe some iron and potassium liquid ferts. so I thought it would be okay, just wanted others opinions.


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## Skizhx (Oct 12, 2010)

The key here is that watts per gallon doesn't actually translate into anything meaningful or relevant, except your electric bill.

Those people are using lights more efficient than yours (so uses less watts, but outputs more light that's useable to the plants).


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## Luffy (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm doing similar tank that's 10 gallon and everybody tells me to just buy a bunch of plants and see what happens. I have Baby Tears, Pennywort and Crypt Undulata and they're all doing great. Everybody said Baby Tears wouldn't work without high light and CO2 but I got some on accident when my LFS gave me the wrong plants; I just stuck it in the tank anyway and it's my best grower. I'd say go for it. Stem plants are cheap enough to replace anyway.


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## PlantedTank (Sep 11, 2012)

I've heard that you need a minimum of 1.5 wpg to grow plants. However, this is an archaic form of measuring light intensity. You can still use it on your tank.


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## mgnrygrl (Oct 27, 2006)

Luffy said:


> I'm doing similar tank that's 10 gallon and everybody tells me to just buy a bunch of plants and see what happens. I have Baby Tears, Pennywort and Crypt Undulata and they're all doing great. Everybody said Baby Tears wouldn't work without high light and CO2 but I got some on accident when my LFS gave me the wrong plants; I just stuck it in the tank anyway and it's my best grower. I'd say go for it. Stem plants are cheap enough to replace anyway.


I'm doing the same thing. I bought a bunch of stem plants for my sister and swiped a few of each type to see if anything would survive. All I know about my light fixture is that it has 21 LEDs. No idea what the output, spectrum, etc. is. My tank is only 6 gallons, so I think it is shallow enough that things are working.

I used to have a very deep 45 gallon corner tank with a 65W CF fixture. Rotala grew for me but they were "leggy" rather than fully leafed. Most of the leaf concentration ended up being in the upper parts of the tank and I didn't get many runners or new plant growth.


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