10 Great Low Light No CO2 Plants for Beginners

Hi All,
Today I want to present you with my top 10 beginner friendly plants for low light, no co2 aquariums.
These plants should give some great textures and patterns and lead to a nice lush low tech planted tank.
0:00 Introduction
0:38 Cryptocorynes
2:03 Pearlweed
2:44 Anubias
3:35 Java Fern
4:26 Frogbit
5:22 Advertisement
6:13 Wisteria
7:10 Bolbitis
7:52 Hygrophila Polysperma
8:56 Hornwort
9:38 Pellia/ Subwassertang
10:40 Outro
Hope you enjoy.
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#AquariumPlants #LowLightAquariumPlants #BlakesAquatics

[@kcejksten1820]

Love the description area. It seems to me like you've given viewers a chance to roam around the whole vid if they ever get bored. Watched the whole vid btw. I love your content. Thumbs up. Gonna try the rest of the plants in the list. Thanks for sharing.

[@ColumbianPowder]

Wow I’ve been looking all online for a good plant ring and your advice for some floating airline tubing was great lol I did it in 5 minutes and it’s so tidy

[@tritonriverstone5185]

Awesome Video Blake. Always looking forward to your videos. Stay Awesome!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks mate 👍

[@SupremeGecko]

Outstanding list. Concise and easy to understand. Thanks!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Cheers 👍

[@lachlanisaac]

Awesome video. Great suggestions, I’ll try some out for one of my tanks. Keep it up.. thanks

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks Lachie 👍

[@IdratherbeinHobbiton]

Nice video, good info. I'm trying to do my research before attempting my first planted tank and I was hoping there were some plants that didn't require me to set up a co2 system as well. I'll do it if I have to lol, but right now I didn't want to hassel with it. Thanks!

[@edstar81]

great suggestions there mate. thanks for upload!

[@BlakesAquatics]

No problem 👍

[@bdunleavful]

Anacharis and Dwarf Sag needs to be added to the list! Both foolproof easy growers

[@faedoyle4147]

I never understood crypt melt until this video!! Thank you b. ❤️❤️

[@BlakesAquatics]

Happy to help!

[@DanielKeepingFish]

Great list mate. Super useful to a lot of fish keeper I'll bet.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks Dan appreciate that

[@valiaudet3415]

Subwassertang is my favourite. The colour and structure is amazing

[@BlakesAquatics]

Its so good once its established

[@markfranklin8831]

Awesome information on beginner plants thanks for sharing

[@BlakesAquatics]

My pleasure

[@paintcrazyola1542]

That was awesome info for a noobie like me. Thanks :)

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MaicoMoon]

Love this list, I definitely want Pearlweed, maybe an Anubias, Java Fern, and maybe Water Wisteria for fry to hide into for my nano tank. I've never got into planting and taking care of plants in my fish tanks as well as my fish, so this will be a fun adventure.

[@butkusfan23]

I hear you. I used to be the same way. Now I am more into plants than I am the fish, although I still love the fish! Once I really got the hang of plants, and learning about treating the tank as an ecosystem, the more my plants and water quality took off, and naturally the better my fish looked as well. It’s all connected! Life is short. I encourage everyone to try a couple plants that grabbed their eye, do the research on their care, get information from several sources to compare, and then go for it. Be patient, and know that some plants die back and look poor before they take off. Patience is key. You can do this! Good luck!

[@TimsBitsnPieces]

Interesting list. I only seem to have luck with Java fern and Anubias in my 4ft tank's and similar in my 2ft tanks but also have Val planted and floating on top I have Elodia and frogbit in those.

[@jaredchastain606]

Try and top of your substrate with something that will catch nutrients and debris to feed the plants just watch your waters parameters when letting debris build up to be sure the plants can filter for the fish I have the levels of substrate being rock and gravel then sand mixed with a bit of gravel

[@jaredchastain606]

I could have worded that better, I have three levels of substrate starting at the bottom with thumb sized rocks moving up an inch or two to gravel and then about 2 to 3 inches of sand

[@rafaeldathird4385]

Crypt and water wisteria are the only plants that survived my tank No co2 injection No liquid fert No root tabs Sand substrate .

[@jscritters5579]

If your looking for another easy plant try Anubis! You literally can't kill it (I would know can't keep many plats alive) lol good luck 😊

[@laowhy86]

@@jscritters5579 oh you can kill it lol. Anubias rot will rip through your tank if you're unlucky, and wipe out every single anubias you ever had, and ever will have.

[@botje420]

I have anubias and crypts with the same setup. Works perfect for me

[@lukyguy1240]

I don't know if people consider it ethical or not, but I just go down to a large creek near me in the spring or summer and collect specimens of whatever looks like it will fit into my tank. I have found some really hardy and fast-growing plants that way. I would never return a plant from my tank to the wild, though. That's asking for invasives.

[@BlakesAquatics]

If its legal thats fine i reckon. A lot of places in Australia its not

[@lukyguy1240]

@@BlakesAquatics I'm in the South of the US, and almost everything is legal! Thanks for replying.

[@TripleJAquatics]

Best explanation of crypt melt I've ever heard on a video. Great job man! Personally I dont have luck with java fern lol. All my other plants grow fine. Java fern doesn't seem to like my water.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Much appreciated! thanks so much.

[@kendracrippen]

Same. Java Fern does not like my water at all. I have probably 6 different types of plants in my tanks that are definitely considered harder than Java Fern that do just great but so far absolutely no luck with Java.

[@petergriffin8677]

You need the potassium

[@yvettecintron3988]

Thanks

[@antonytj2003]

Thank you

[@emailaddress100]

If you want to get your hands on any aquarium co-op stuff I can be a middleman and order it and ship it to you and we can work out the details Great video as always

[@BlakesAquatics]

Cheers for the offer 👌

[@wisemandenny8]

Apisto school at 1:24 is so awesome

[@sheridanford5080]

Great vid Blake. Were they all tropical plants? Any cold water?

[@BlakesAquatics]

I have kept most of them in both tropical tanks and coldwater tanks. in particular bolbitis, frogbit and anubias worked well in coldwater.

[@sheridanford5080]

@@BlakesAquatics thank you! I’ll give some a try!

[@marthanewsome6375]

Wish Coburg would get in clown killifish. I used to buy them from them all the time. On their website they keep saying they are in stock, but they aren't anymore.

[@hydrocooledcarrot]

Are you in Melbourne Blake? Coburg aquarium is so good!

[@BlakesAquatics]

I am mate yeah, you should also check out fastway aquarium in west footscray

[@MissChelle]

Hey Blake, I’ve been trying to find bulbitis fern for my new tank. Haven’t had much luck in NSW, anywhere you can suggest? Awesome vid, thanks❤️🇦🇺

[@BlakesAquatics]

Try ebay or asking on facebook groups like jagaquatics

[@sydmiller2973]

Another great video Blake. Does Anyone know what the fish at 8:51 are?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Neolamprologus caudopunctatus mate cheers 👍

[@sydmiller2973]

@@BlakesAquatics thanks so much mate, just watched the fish room tour and saw them in that too

[@want.to.b3.gamer670]

I'm going to get a 180 tall. What are great low light large aquatic plant. My crinum grows well in my 125 with not bright light but also it in the only part of the tank with window light.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Amazon swords, apontogeton crispus

[@zakashiXninja]

I really can't get balbities to grow lol its strange I have a fully planted tank and the only plant I struggle with is balbities lol

[@darreldavis1]

Hello. Should I use the full spectrum or just the white lights for my Anubias plants to thrive? Thank you.

[@BlakesAquatics]

If you can dim full spectrum thats best

[@darreldavis1]

@@BlakesAquatics Thank you Blake.

[@tylerlazerte4987]

How long would you cycle a 16 gallon with a seeded sponge filter AND a new sponge filter?

[@BlakesAquatics]

With a seeded sponge filter I would put fish straight in

[@tylerlazerte4987]

@@BlakesAquatics Okay. Thank you Blake!

[@Hrafn22]

And what about Bucephalandra? :-) I got inspired by that video about Pearlweed (Micranthemum micranthemoides) and consider choosing them due to colour contrast as Buceph. is a dark green colour and offers bigger laves for shrimps to hide.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Not really. Prone to melting, pinholing, algae and prefers co2

[@Hrafn22]

@@BlakesAquatics Wow, no one mentioned that before ... So Anubias would be a better option? If I have algae eaters and some fast growing plant still the algae is an issues for slowgrowers? :( So if I want to use something to place on rocks or wood in my nano aquarium, what it should be?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Youve talked me through your setup and itll be fine but for those reasons I wouldnt recommend it on a list of beginner plants

[@Hrafn22]

@@BlakesAquatics Sure ;) So which slow grower would you recommend to place with Micrantemum Micrantenoides? Also Rotala Rotundifolia looks similar to this fast grower but I don´t know more about this plant whether it is more durable than MM :)

[@lacrosseguy108]

i bought some kind of crypt and idk what happened. it kinda melted off but didnt die but isnt really growing. all the plants themselves lost all the leaves except 1 which is like the main stem. they havnt grown more or grown taller or anything. theyve just exist lol. all my other types of plants in my aquariums are doing good. i have some dragonstone and put a wisteria plant on it and it rooted to it and grew off that. its cool how some plants grow the way they do

[@BlakesAquatics]

Try a root tab directly at the base

[@lacrosseguy108]

@@BlakesAquatics ill give that a try, i have a bag of some root tabs so i can put some in right away. i looked at the plants today and they show little growth so ill add some tabs. thanks so much!

[@lacrosseguy108]

@@BlakesAquatics how often should you replace the root tabs? i seen some people say never and others say every 6 months

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@lacrosseguy108 just add another any time theres a yellow leaf, holes in a leaf etc

[@avdo005]

Are those koi platys at 6:45 !? Very beautiful ! Where’s you get them ??

[@BlakesAquatics]

From allfish2u 👍 they are actually swordtails

[@avdo005]

@@BlakesAquatics thank you ! Will they ship to USA ?

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@avdo005 i doubt it. Some search terms you could try are sanke swordtails, tri color swordtails or koi swordtails and you might find them on aquabid or closer to you

[@henryp3114]

i got $70 and im trying to find a good light for plants (50cm tank) all the other youtube videos are American as an Australian any recommendations off ebay or amazon?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hey mate, for 70 bucks it might be a bit of a struggle. Nature aquarium sell a good range online i think the brand is aquavivo.

[@brelouum]

ive had pearl weed under no co2 and medium light for like 2 weeks now and its showing no signs of growing, i assume its because the plant initially grew above water so it has to get used to being submerged but this is taking ages, has anyone else had something like this?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Correct just give it some time

[@jaydengibson4740]

What’s the best plants for turtle tanks

[@BlakesAquatics]

Anything that is going to grow vast and stand up to being torn. Val, wisteria and that kind of thing

[@simonpidgeon949]

💯👍👍

[@madhatterjones4781]

Would you recommend carbon in a small 10gl tank??

[@BlakesAquatics]

I dont bother with it personally 👍

[@zachofalltrades6116]

Could you type this list out for us newbies

[@BlakesAquatics]

names and chapters added in for you mate so you know which is which

[@zachofalltrades6116]

@@BlakesAquatics thanks bro

[@aldilee51]

What is the name number 9?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hornwort. All the names are in the description

[@aldilee51]

@@BlakesAquatics thanks

[@mozby76]

“Load em up with root tabs??” lol surefire way to cause nutrient overload and algae bloom.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Lol I have done this 100s of times over the years... dont mock it until you try it

[@mozby76]

@@BlakesAquatics I get that root tabs are useful for plants like these. I’m just saying nutrient mgmt is also impt. Load them up suggests just stuffing the substrate with tons of root tabs. Are you saying that does nothing impact excess nutrient and algae?

[@BlakesAquatics]

I have placed 5 root tabs below an amazon sword in a terracotta pot before with absolutely no ill effects. I have also performed a root tab experiment where there was at least 20 tabs in one 3 ft aquarium. Root tabs are a slow release fertiliser, its not the same as dumping a bunch of liquid fertiliser in an aquarium

[@mozby76]

@@BlakesAquatics fair enough. I tried following the instructions on the package of my root tabs that said one per 3” radius and still had an algae bloom. But I recognize that other factors might be at play. I just didn’t think it would have NO impact whatsoever. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@henkplomp211]

It would be complete if there is English subtitels option. I'm deaf!!!!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hi Henk, ill have a look at how to get them set up for you mate

[@henkplomp211]

@@BlakesAquatics Many thanks Blake tot the quick respon.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hi Henk, I believe that english subtitles should be available, there should be a button you can press to get them, maybe with a 'CC' icon

[@henkplomp211]

@@BlakesAquatics I know but the last couple weeks there was not an CC icon. Many thanks and keeps the good works.

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@henkplomp211 oh ok i understand, well they should always be enabled, id never deliberately turn them off 👍

[@ihsanah85]

Please enable Arabic translation 🙏

[@BlakesAquatics]

Ill try

[@user-zz7um7ms8c]

Dude looks stoned as shhhhh

[@BlakesAquatics]

I get this a lot 😅 sorry to disappoint but im just allergic to everything