# Need Advise For Plants...pics!



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I recently added a few plants and i need advise on how to care for the. Supposedly they are very easy to care for(according to the lfs).
I added some plant fertilizer but i'm guessing in need to test the water for phosphates and iron before i do.I added pics can someone tell me what i need to do by looking at my pics?Thanks.

















































As you can see,they're turning yellow/brown.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Your tank doesnt look bright enough for plants if the lights are on in that pic (specifically the last one). What is the lightign and tanksize? Swords arnt hard to care for but they need a good substrate. If you want them to grow good id add some root tabs. Is the other plant dwarf sag or something?

If you want plants you will probably want better lights as that looks like a stock striplight on your tank which i would assume is only like a single bulb and i can see its not even the tank width. Stock lighting and sand is probably the main reason they are not doign too good. Sand is fine (i have a tank with sand) with hardy plants but if they dont have an ideal substrate they should have good enough lighting. Something liek crypts, java fern and java moss would probably of been better choices for low light hardy plants as swords and any grass like plant are probably more middle of the road


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Your tank doesnt look bright enough for plants if the lights are on in that pic (specifically the last one). What is the lightign and tanksize? Swords arnt hard to care for but they need a good substrate. If you want them to grow good id add some root tabs. Is the other plant dwarf sag or something?
> 
> If you want plants you will probably want better lights as that looks like a stock striplight on your tank which i would assume is only like a single bulb and i can see its not even the tank width. Stock lighting and sand is probably the main reason they are not doign too good. Sand is fine (i have a tank with sand) with hardy plants but if they dont have an ideal substrate they should have good enough lighting. Something liek crypts, java fern and java moss would probably of been better choices for low light hardy plants as swords and any grass like plant are probably more middle of the road


I have a flora glo bulb but i cover the canopy with aluminum foil witch i punctured with holes to let light in. I'd say i'm letting 50% of the light in but it's on 10hrs a day. The tank is a 33G.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Id start by letting all of the light in add giving some root tabs to the swords and mayby dosing some ferts for the rest.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Id start by letting all of the light in add giving some root tabs to the swords and mayby dosing some ferts for the rest.


Shouldn't I test for phosphate and iron before i add more ferts?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Id just do a general one liek flourish excel depending on what types of plants you have (will kill some plants like vals)


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Id start by letting all of the light in add giving some root tabs to the swords and mayby dosing some ferts for the rest.


What are root tabs?


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I Can Mate said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


I have a 20W flora glo bulb. BUt like i said,i cover most of the canopy to keep the tank dim. How often should i fertilize? Will anubias be fine with this set up? I also have an 20W aqua glo 18000 kelvin. Should i use that?


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

1rhom said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


I have a 20W flora glo bulb. BUt like i said,i cover most of the canopy to keep the tank dim. How often should i fertilize? Will anubias be fine with this set up?
[/quote]
Any anubias will grow in your tank as its a low light plant. Fert is really unessisary but do it 1 week with flourish comp if your going to dose some ferts. In my dosing in my high light tank I dose nitrogen,phospate and potassium 3x a week and a plantex csm which is a trace like flourish comp 3x a week. Butthats high light and your tank is low light.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I Can Mate said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


I have a 20W flora glo bulb. BUt like i said,i cover most of the canopy to keep the tank dim. How often should i fertilize? Will anubias be fine with this set up?
[/quote]
Any anubias will grow in your tank as its a low light plant. Fert is really unessisary but do it 1 week with flourish comp if your going to dose some ferts. In my dosing in my high light tank I dose nitrogen,phospate and potassium 3x a week and a plantex csm which is a trace like flourish comp 3x a week. Butthats high light and your tank is low light.
[/quote]
Will the 20W aqua glo 18000K bulb be better? How long should i leave the light on? For the moment the lights stay on for 10hrs.


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

1rhom said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


I have a 20W flora glo bulb. BUt like i said,i cover most of the canopy to keep the tank dim. How often should i fertilize? Will anubias be fine with this set up?
[/quote]
Any anubias will grow in your tank as its a low light plant. Fert is really unessisary but do it 1 week with flourish comp if your going to dose some ferts. In my dosing in my high light tank I dose nitrogen,phospate and potassium 3x a week and a plantex csm which is a trace like flourish comp 3x a week. Butthats high light and your tank is low light.
[/quote]
Will the 20W aqua glo 18000K bulb be better?
[/quote]
try to get the 6700k one anything under 10k and over 5k shoudl be fine for you


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## nilocg (Apr 5, 2010)

1rhom said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


I have a 20W flora glo bulb. BUt like i said,i cover most of the canopy to keep the tank dim. How often should i fertilize? Will anubias be fine with this set up? I also have an 20W aqua glo 18000 kelvin. Should i use that?
[/quote]

Even 20 watts of light over your tank is going to be very low light. With that light you are going to have problems growing pretty much anything. If you want to grow much of anything you are going to need to add another 20 watt light and leave it on for 8-10 hours a day.


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

nilocg said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


I have a 20W flora glo bulb. BUt like i said,i cover most of the canopy to keep the tank dim. How often should i fertilize? Will anubias be fine with this set up? I also have an 20W aqua glo 18000 kelvin. Should i use that?
[/quote]

Even 20 watts of light over your tank is going to be very low light. With that light you are going to have problems growing pretty much anything. If you want to grow much of anything you are going to need to add another 20 watt light and leave it on for 8-10 hours a day.
[/quote]

he can still grow most mosses very slowly and most anubias. and water sprite and also hornwort will grow fine with he light he has.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

nilocg said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


I have a 20W flora glo bulb. BUt like i said,i cover most of the canopy to keep the tank dim. How often should i fertilize? Will anubias be fine with this set up? I also have an 20W aqua glo 18000 kelvin. Should i use that?
[/quote]

Even 20 watts of light over your tank is going to be very low light. With that light you are going to have problems growing pretty much anything. If you want to grow much of anything you are going to need to add another 20 watt light and leave it on for 8-10 hours a day.
[/quote]It's actually very bright.


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## nilocg (Apr 5, 2010)

1rhom said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


 said,i cover most of the canopy to keep the tank dim. How often should i fertilize? Will anubias be fine with this set up? I also have an 20W aqua glo 18000 kelvin. Should i use that?
[/quote]

I have a 20W flora glo bulb. BUt like i
Even 20 watts of light over your tank is going to be very low light. With that light you are going to have problems growing pretty much anything. If you want to grow much of anything you are going to need to add another 20 watt light and leave it on for 8-10 hours a day.
[/quote]It's actually very bright.
[/quote]

Even if you had 20 watts of t5ho light over the 33 gallon tank you have very low light, especially considering that it appears that you have a pretty tall tank. How tall is it? What type of light do you have, t12,t8,t5no or t5ho? With this light anubias and mosses will most likely survive, but there wont be much growing. Most likely they will become covered in algae over time and struggle.


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## Onkiebonkie (Apr 5, 2010)

Guideline for planted tanks is 2.5 - 3 watts / gallon. that will grow the majority of plants that require "Moderate" light. Adding more fertilizer won't help unless they have the light to process it. Otherwise it will only serve the algae.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

nilocg said:


> Guideline for planted tanks is 2.5 - 3 watts / gallon. that will grow the majority of plants that require "Moderate" light. Adding more fertilizer won't help unless they have the light to process it. Otherwise it will only serve the algae.


Won't i have algea issues with this much light and so little plants?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

root tabs are little fertilizer pellets you can usually get at lfs. You can make your own too but youll have to find a good recipe for yourself.

Id start by letting all the light though as 20 w isnt overly bright. My 15g reef has85W of light over it and i could still make it brighter. Point is just becasue the tank is lit up enough to see each corner of it doesnt mean its bright.

annubias, cryplts, java moss, java fern would all of been better plants to start with as they are less demanding. They can survive in low light though their growth will be slow.


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## Onkiebonkie (Apr 5, 2010)

> Won't i have algea issues with this much light and so little plants?


You will, but your plants will grow bigger in time and fill the tank. Adding more fertilizer without the proper light to process it will only imbalance your water with algae as a result. It will not benefit your plants, that is what i mean to say. Just keep the suggested dose as a guideline.

If you add light, do this slowly so you plants can adept to it aswell.

How many watts/gallon are you running now?


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

L


Onkiebonkie said:


> > Won't i have algea issues with this much light and so little plants?
> 
> 
> You will, but your plants will grow bigger in time and fill the tank. Adding more fertilizer without the proper light to process it will only imbalance your water with algae as a result. It will not benefit your plants, that is what i mean to say. Just keep the suggested dose as a guideline.
> ...


Gallon per watt nowadays only apply s to t8 and t12 . When you get to the t5s they are measured by par. 1rhom I suggest you go to plantedtank.net as they have lots of kinfo for you there


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I Can Mate said:


> > Won't i have algea issues with this much light and so little plants?
> 
> 
> You will, but your plants will grow bigger in time and fill the tank. Adding more fertilizer without the proper light to process it will only imbalance your water with algae as a result. It will not benefit your plants, that is what i mean to say. Just keep the suggested dose as a guideline.
> ...


Gallon per watt nowadays only apply s to t8 and t12 . When you get to the t5s they are measured by par. 1rhom I suggest you go to plantedtank.net as they have lots of kinfo for you there 
[/quote]
Thanks for the link. So far from what i've read,the hornworts will do fine in my set up. I will look for a 6700K tube and see what that does.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> root tabs are little fertilizer pellets you can usually get at lfs. You can make your own too but youll have to find a good recipe for yourself.
> 
> Id start by letting all the light though as 20 w isnt overly bright. My 15g reef has85W of light over it and i could still make it brighter. Point is just becasue the tank is lit up enough to see each corner of it doesnt mean its bright.
> 
> annubias, cryplts, java moss, java fern would all of been better plants to start with as they are less demanding. They can survive in low light though their growth will be slow.


I see what you're saying. The thing is ,i'm trying to accommodate my rhom since he likes dim lights and i also want to add plants to make it look more natural. How do plants in the amazon black water thrive? What kind of plants are there in blackwaters?


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I Can Mate said:


> There are two was to do planted tanks. High light and low light. You have hornwort,swords,and probally some saggitira. The hornwort will grow in almost any light and you don't have to worry about that. But the swords will need more light they are root feeders and root tabs will help but are not nessisary as I grown them perfectly fine in sand. Same goes for the sag. You have a low light setup so nutrients are really not needed and if you do find that you need some get some flourish comphensive. Excel like cluster said is ok but its just a carbon source and in a low light setup its better as am algacide. You shouldn't need to tesst for iron or phospate as your plants will use them up anyaways. In my highlight tank I dose nitrate and phosphate and potasium. So as long has you keep your low light you should be fine. Maybe upgrade the bulb to a 6700k bulb for better plant growth.


I think i'm going to remove the swords and add some hornworts and more saggs. I'll even throw in some annubias.(any annubia will do i'm assuming)


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

1rhom said:


> root tabs are little fertilizer pellets you can usually get at lfs. You can make your own too but youll have to find a good recipe for yourself.
> 
> Id start by letting all the light though as 20 w isnt overly bright. My 15g reef has85W of light over it and i could still make it brighter. Point is just becasue the tank is lit up enough to see each corner of it doesnt mean its bright.
> 
> annubias, cryplts, java moss, java fern would all of been better plants to start with as they are less demanding. They can survive in low light though their growth will be slow.


I see what you're saying. The thing is ,i'm trying to accommodate my rhom since he likes dim lights and i also want to add plants to make it look more natural. How do plants in the amazon black water thrive? What kind of plants are there in blackwaters?
[/quote]
Hey imo there are no plant really in black water because black water is where all the roots and organics are dying which gives off tanins. They maybe plants near the surface like swords and vals but I doubt much other highlight plant. Most likely low light plants will be the ones alive when the floods come in and all the other plants are there when the flood is out.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I Can Mate said:


> root tabs are little fertilizer pellets you can usually get at lfs. You can make your own too but youll have to find a good recipe for yourself.
> 
> Id start by letting all the light though as 20 w isnt overly bright. My 15g reef has85W of light over it and i could still make it brighter. Point is just becasue the tank is lit up enough to see each corner of it doesnt mean its bright.
> 
> annubias, cryplts, java moss, java fern would all of been better plants to start with as they are less demanding. They can survive in low light though their growth will be slow.


I see what you're saying. The thing is ,i'm trying to accommodate my rhom since he likes dim lights and i also want to add plants to make it look more natural. How do plants in the amazon black water thrive? What kind of plants are there in blackwaters?
[/quote]
Hey imo there are no plant really in black water because black water is where all the roots and organics are dying which gives off tanins. They maybe plants near the surface like swords and vals but I doubt much other highlight plant. Most likely low light plants will be the ones alive when the floods come in and all the other plants are there when the flood is out.

[/quote]
Makes sense.


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

If you seen joe's blk water 75 gal with all the leaves and braches is probally how I would do a low light blackwater tank.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I Can Mate said:


> If you seen joe's blk water 75 gal with all the leaves and braches is probally how I would do a low light blackwater tank.


Where can I see it?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

1rhom said:


> If you seen joe's blk water 75 gal with all the leaves and braches is probally how I would do a low light blackwater tank.


Where can I see it?
[/quote]
Its in the ppic section i think.

In nature you don't find planted tank like setups really. Mostly its wood or nothing and there is usually alot of algae. If you go diving in the amazon you arnt going to find some beautiful picture perfect setup like you do in aquariums. Theres some good vids on youtube showing under water in the amazon and you will see alot of places have only random plants here and there

If you want to kkep the sword i would add more lights and give it root tabs. the sag may be ok but i would probably add more light anyways. Your rhom will get used to the light. Any crypts and annubias should be fine.


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

You arent going to grow anything with a 20 watt bulb i dont care what color temp it is. Save yourself the heartache and get a decent fixture or if you prefer maybe make a canopy and mount some t8 fixtures in it


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## nilocg (Apr 5, 2010)

Ba20 said:


> You arent going to grow anything with a 20 watt bulb i dont care what color temp it is. Save yourself the heartache and get a decent fixture or if you prefer maybe make a canopy and mount some t8 fixtures in it


I agree, maybe they will listen to you.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

1rhom said:


> If you seen joe's blk water 75 gal with all the leaves and braches is probally how I would do a low light blackwater tank.


Where can I see it?
[/quote]

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?/topic/194784-blackwater-biotope/


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

joe would you like to hop on the 20 watts wont grow anything ban wagon ?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Ba20 said:


> joe would you like to hop on the 20 watts wont grow anything ban wagon ?


If we're talking T8 or T12, I'd pretty much agree with that... I've *kept* some mosses, crypts, java ferns etc. at less than 1 wpg, but they didn't do much *growing*. If you want plants to grow, you'd want more light than that.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I'm starting to see the "light"!! Thanks for the advise ladies and gents!

The fixture i have holds 24" tubes! All the 24" tubes i've checked are 20W.


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

There is a third option, get some plants that dont die quickly (crypts, anubias, java fern, java moss) and just take out the dying ones, and replace with new.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

maknwar said:


> There is a third option, get some plants that dont die quickly (crypts, anubias, java fern, java moss) and just take out the dying ones, and replace with new.


I have saggs,hornwort and some swords. I will remove the swords and replace them with anubias.


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

1rhom said:


> There is a third option, get some plants that dont die quickly (crypts, anubias, java fern, java moss) and just take out the dying ones, and replace with new.


I have saggs,hornwort and some swords. I will remove the swords and replace them with anubias.z
[/quote]
If you do get the anubias try not to plant the root under the subrate has it grows from the rhizome of the plant and prefer to be attach to wood or out of the subrate


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

Nice find but dont believe everything you read, my anubias have been burried for the past 2 years i am constantly cutting the rhizome to split and sell them


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

Ba20 said:


> Nice find but dont believe everything you read, my anubias have been burried for the past 2 years i am constantly cutting the rhizome to split and sell them


Never said you couldn't plant them just they prefer not to be


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

Did you ask them


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