I would be interested to hear what what this newsgroup's subscribers thinks
regarding the most important factors for good plant growth. I have
consistently over many years always found the plants in my community
freshwater tropical tanks by far the most difficult aspect of the hobby;
keeping the fish is easy!! My current set-up is a 240 litre Juwel "Rio"
model with integral filter/heater, it is illuminated with two fluorescent
tubes; one ordinary "warm" white and one "daylight" tube - both 38 watts,
42" (107cm) long x 1" (2.5cm) diameter (as supplied with the tank). The
lights are controlled by a timer switch which I currently have set for 10
hours on-time per day from 12.00hrs to 22.00hrs. The temperature hovers at
around 25 degrees celcius. Plants that I have tried recently are Broad Leaf
Amazon Sword, Stricta and Vallisneria Spiralis all of which started off OK
but now the only one that grows properly is the Stricta which also has
started to struggle recently. A few months ago I had an attack of the
dreaded thread algae which has declined now having reduced the lighting
hours from 12 to 10 hours, but now I have green "slime" algae on the leaves
and glass (the type that removes easily) even though the lighting hours are
reduced. The water in the tank generally remains crystal clear because of
the Juwel filtration system which I try as near as possible to maintain in
accordance with the manufacturer's instructions (ie changing the carbon
impregnated element every 6 weeks).

There is obviously something fundamental that I am getting wrong and I would
really like to know what it is! Any responses would be much appreciated -
thanks!!