"Sanjay Thomas" wrote in message
. ..

snipped and mid-posted

What are some basics to lighting? (Why 1wpg instead of 4wpg? What is the
"right" range, and why, and under what conditions?)

With everything you do in a planted tank it's all about balance. Between
lighting, co2, and fertilization... The reason you frequently hear it
recomended to start with lower light is that it's easier to find that
balance and maintain it.

As I heard Rex Grigg put it just the other day. "A 4 wpg tank is what I
consider to be a very fast tank. Plants grow fast, nutrients are used fast,
problems happen fast, fixes happen slow."

And I would add this is oh so true! My 75 gal. with 260 watts of power
compact lighting (about 3.5 wpg) can be pretty touchy at times. Although
I've got most of it worked out these days and it's not too bad.

What kind of plants are you interested in growing? This can help determine
what amount of lighting is right for you.


What are some basics to CO2? (Do I have to use it? Why do I need it?
What
would necessitate it?)


You do not have to use co2 if you keep you lighting below 2 wpg. You can use
it but you don't have to... Once you start getting over 2 wpg co2 becomes
nessasary to keep the algae from going crazy. The reason for injecting co2
is that one of the basic building blocks of a plant is carbon. Therefore
basically we add co2 to supply the plants with carbon so they can grow
faster.

What are some basics to fertilizers? (You get the point.)


The basics of fetilization are that plants consume Nitrogen, Phosphates,
Potassium and various trace elements in one form or another in order to
grow. Depending on how fast growing the tank is (how much light you have)
you might need to dose some or all of these.

Thanks all, and after I see some responses I'll let you know what I'm
facing
here and what I'm trying to do, maybe you could steer me in the right
direction.


This is all just quick and dirty overview... There is a lot more detail to
it all. If you could let us know what you are interested in doing we can try
to help you get there.

Hope this begins to help,
Ron