Re: Advice sought for sparsely planted tank

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Dunter Powries 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
> If the tank is really two feet high, 30 watts of lighting lands you 
> well-and-truly in the low-light end of the hobby.

I know, that's one reason I asked the question in the first place.

It should be pointed out that I will be concentrating on Java Fern and 
Anubias, both of which attach to rocks, and so will be placed higher up 
in the tank. Thus they will not be under two feet of water.

Also, I have reflectors on the lights, so I should be getting more than 
30W. The sales blurb on the box claims that they double the light 
output. I'm not convinced that's true, but even if they only increase it 
by 50%, it takes me to 45W which is a little better.

>  I don't know what the spectrum (degrees kelvin) of your lamps are 
> but, if they make your fish look good, they're probably on the high end 
> for plants (between 5000k and 7000k). Java fern and anubias should do 
> OK and you'll probably be alright with java moss, sagittaria and, 
> maybe, some tall crypts, but they will be growing VERY slowly and 
> contributing little to water quality - you'll probably want to start 
> off doing 25%-or-so weekly water changes until you get a feel for how 
> stable your tank is.

I usually do twice weekly 10% water changes anyway, so this isn't a 
problem.

>  The good news is that fertilizing won't be necessary at all (test for 
> iron from time to time and watch for pinholes in the leaves) and you 
> sure won't be pruning much.

OK

>  Consider converting your hood to compact flourescents... 
> www.ahsupply.com

Well, if the plants will be happy, albeit with slow growth, at the 
current level, then I'm not worried. I just want healthy plants, I'm not 
bothered for loads of growth.

Thanx for the reply

--
Alan Silver