leigh, is there an alternative to using 175w bulbs? I heard street
lamps make a very nice blackwater look however promotes alot of algae
growth.

Sorry, I don't know much about MH lights. I use flourescents, myself. Perhaps
if you raised them higher over the tank, that would cut down on the light
intensity?

my problem is I am a noob to aquatic plants and am looking for advice
on some good hearty plants.

You'll have about 2 wpg, which would be a good number for a smaller tank. For
a 180 gallon tank, though, that might be too much. You may need to inject CO2
to keep the pH from going crazy. Not to mention the inevitable algae problems.

With a low-light tank, you could go with a few hardy, easy plants. But with a
high-light tank, you must plant heavily, and some of them should be
fast-growers. High-light = high maintenance. Make sure you can move your
lights out of the way easily, because you'll be spending a lot of time working
in the tank.

As for the actual plants...I like Hygrophila, because it's easy to maintain.
You might want a lot of low plants, like Sagittaria subulata, Marsilea, or
pygmy chain sword, so your fish still has room to swim. Vallisneria,
cryptocorynes, anubias, java fern, and Aponogetons are all tough plants that
will stand up to big fish pretty well.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/