|| I wonder if anyone can help me with a (very stupid, I think) query
|| regarding artificial lighting and plants. Everything I read on the
|| net tells me that planted tanks need artificial light. What I would
|| like to know is why? If I have a tank in a position with bright
|| natural light - a position where houseplants would do well - and
|| some direct sunlight though not too much - why isn't this suitable
|| for low light aquatic plants? (I have a couple of rosette-y things
|| growing in a tank at the moment with no artificial light and they
|| seem fine. they're not growing fast but they are growing - nice new
|| leaves (coming out red when they appear) - and I can't see any real
|| problems with them. I can see that high-light plants would require
|| something close to the brightness of unfiltered sunlight, but for my
|| situation, I'm puzzled as to the reasons for the additional lighting
|| - and why isn't this actually counterproductive for plants which
|| like low light which are already in a brightish position?
||
|| does the requirement for artificial light assume that the tank is
|| kept in a low-light area?
||
|| I would be very grateful for any clarification at all...
|| --
|| sophie
|| puzzled idiot.

IIRC, Sunlight is nearly 20,000k, or kelvins, a rating for light's 'power'
or 'strength' Most freshwater tanks/plants, grow great with that much
light.. but what also grows wonderfully with that much light is algae....
You would need to outcompete the algae just to be able to see your plants,
in your setup. To do that, you'd need high outputs of CO2, and
fertilizers.... and it's a risky thing, because the sun can be here today,
and cloud covered for a week.... So the need for lights in the tank are two
fold. To give the plant adequate exposure to light, and the control-ability
to keep it from getting too out of hand.

Since you are so 'new' to the hobby... Consider this. Start out with the
smallest, most basic setup. Regular light strip with whatever sized tank
you have... Use that, with some low light plants, and they'll grow slow, but
will do fine... Add more light, you'll need to start adding more something
else, like CO2, or ferts... Eventually, when you get to a WattsPerGallon
nearing 2WPG, you'll see more algae, because there's enough light that algae
will outcompete your plants...

It gets less and more confusing as you go.... just don't expect to rule the
hobby anytime soon... even the experts, are learning on a daily basis... and
I'm so far from an expert, I feel bad posting to some questions, cuz I'm
never 100% sure about my accuracy.... I'm just glad this is a great bunch
of ppl and someone will correct me where and when I'm wrong...

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is that better??