Gail Futoran wrote:

"spiral_72" wrote in message
roups.com...


Stay cheap. Forget injected CO2 and intense lights. In my limited
experience, Java Fern, Ambulia and Amazon Swords will grow slow but
steady in a low light tank. I can't imagine plants doing anything but
benefit your tank. They improve water quality by absorbing fish waste,
ect. Expect to dose some kind of fertilizer at you water changes
though. Generally, a tank left alone does not provide sufficient
nutrient levels for plant growth. The Ambulia grows quite rapidly in a
10gallon tank with 15W of light as long as nutrients are present. They
stay dormant if not and I've never killed one.

http://www.geocities.com/spiral_72/Spirals_page.html



I would like to agree with this post. It describes
my set-ups rather well. I don't CO2 inject, I don't
add fertilizer (fish food functions for that), and my
easy care plants are doing quite nicely a year or more
after establishment.

A proper substrate helps, I believe. I'm using
Schultz Aquatic Soil with gravel over. Crypt
wendtii can do ok in plain gravel (one tank hasn't
been converted yet) but it seems to do better
with the aquatic soil substrate.

Gail



Okay, that sounds good. The 80 gallon I was going to keep outside
inside my screened in patio, and I figured that climate wouldn't be a
huge liability to the tank like it would in places further north. I was
thinking maybe guppies or something to start with, and some plants from
local water areas, and maybe moving up going along. There's not a lot
of direct sunlight into the patio, but there are fibreglass twilight
windows that would provide light. I have lots of decorative artificial
plants, but I think real plants would be better.

Thanks for the advice.

TH