I'm
not sure which plants I have. This weekend I bought loads of plants and have
planted all of them. I know I have 2 or 3 types of Java fern and a small
amount of Java moss. I think I have corkscrew vals and there were some long
stemmed plants with small leaves that I have not been able to id yet. Pet
shops here are not big on plants and generally don't put labels on them! I
can try and take a pic of the tank and then maybe one of you would be so
kind as to ID them for me if you have the time.

Since you've added more light, you should be able to grow a fairly wide variety
of plants. (Especially if you have a standard 15 gallon, since it's fairly
low.)

To prevent algae, make sure you have some of fast-growing stem plants. Egeria,
Limnophila, etc. Low-light plants tend not to grow fast enough to inhibit
algae.

I plan to keep the lights on for 12 hours a day.
Is this too much?

That's perfect. Don't go lower than 10 hours a day, even if you start getting
algae. Plants need at least 10 hours of light a day. If you can, put the
lights on a timer.

Leigh, you say they're
too big for the planted tank but would'nt it be ok to put them in for a
while and then remove again once the job is done?

They'll be fine as long as they're small. As long as you're sure they are real
SAEs. Here in the U.S., the fish sold as SAEs usually aren't -- they're false
SAEs. Anyway, you'll know if you've got false SAEs, or real SAEs that are
getting too big -- they'll be quite aggressive with each other.

I can get my hands on
apple snails but they seem way to bulky for the tank. I had them b4 in this
plant tank but they kept dragging my plants all over the place, these are
also in the community tank now , should I put them back in?

Only if they are Pomacea bridgesii. Any other species of apple snail will eat
your plants. See www.applesnail.net for how to tell the difference.

For future reference, If I have another cyanobacteria outbreak, what does
this mean? Is cyano a sign of a missing nutrient? Or caused from a lack of
something or maybe an abundance of something? Cyano bacteria is ime an
absolute killer, the stuff just totally consumed my tank!!!

It's hard to say without more info. It's a weird algae. I've heard it's
caused by low nitrate, high nitrate, and/or low oxygen (not enough current). I
had that algae in my low-light, nonplanted tank, when I didn't change the water
often enough. As soon as I did a large water change, it would go away. How
much water do you change each week?


Leigh

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