For a long time I have just been running my aquarium in order to keep
my fish happy and alive, where I have certainly been doing well enough
in recent years.

However, this posting is about my plants, which until now are just
those thing that grow in the tank. As since I am aiming to achieve
perfection from my tanks these days, then so have I been annoyed that
two of my three new plants have been dying on me.

In my unwise way I just purchased three random plants from my local
fish shop and expected them to live. And of course live plants are
ideal to use up some of the masses of Nitrate, where also many of my
fish of course expect some plants and rocks.

To begin with the Vallisneria Americana one is doing so great that it
is starting to take over the surface, which is why it will soon have a
happier home in the larger tank.

However, the couple of Myriophyllum Tuberculatum (red) ones have been
subject to a rapid death, where only their core sections are still
alive and subject to a little new growth.

I have another plant that I cannot identify that is in the middle and
is losing its lower leafs while is otherwise not looking too bad.

Since my tank has enough light, then my problem with my plant growing
must be my water. And so I began looking into what is wrong, which is
why I purchased a simple test kit.

Up until this point I had been (foolishly) suspecting that maybe lack
of Nitrate was the problem, where of course now I know that my regular
water changes are in fact to remove ever increasing Nitrate from my
very efficient Nitrate production system.

Anyway, after testing my aquarium water a few times, then my test
results are this...

pH = 7.8
KH = 15
GH = 20.5
NO2 = 0.01 mg/l
NO3 = 100 mg/l

I have also seen that NO2 levels drop to zero at night time, when I
guess the fish must have stopped pooping and all the NO2 has been
converted to NO3.

Two obvious problems with my aquarium water is that first of all the
pH level is a little high at 7.8, but I am not really concerned about
this, when plants should do well enough. However, it is clearly the
General Hardness (GH) that is posing the biggest problem to my plants.

After testing the aquarium water, then so did I test the tap water,
where the results are as such...

pH = 7.8
KH = 18
GH = 19
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 50 mg/l

So my GH problem is clearly coming out of the water supply that I used
to fill my tank with. This is not too surprising, when my water is
known to be subject to lime scale thanks to the local hills.

The extra GH increase in the tank I suspect may be due to my long ago
added garden rock, which is why I recently replaced it with an
artificial rock.

And so to improve my tank further I need to lower the General Hardness
to a region that is more acceptable to both plants and fish. That is
my first plan, where my backup plan was just to stock plants suitable
for my local water.

Since I consider that saving the Myriophyllum Tuberculatum is a
hopefully case, when my plant search rates them as "very difficult"
ones to grow anyway, then I have been seriously considering simply
disposing of them. Still, I will give them one last shot, to see if
they can improve in better water.

However, the problem with getting plants for my hard water is that I
think that most of the available choices look ugly, where the better
looking plants (like Myriophyllum Tuberculatum) all prefer a softer
water level.

So, softening my water is my key plan, when then my choice of plants
can be a lot more flexible.

To begin with simply standing this new water I see helps very little,
even if the water fresh from the tap has GH of 21+, where it has to
settle a little while for GH to drop below 20.

I was giving thoughts to making use of rain water, where this more
acid nature would not be too bad when combined with tap water, but
since I live in a large town, then this could introduce undesirable
pollutants as well.

Then while researching about how to lower my GH I came across one
idea, which is simply to boil the water first.

And so I simply tested the same water from the electric kettle that I
had just made a cup to tea with, where naturally I let it cool down a
lot first, where my test results are as follows...

pH = 7.2
KH = 5
GH = 8
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 50 mg/l

Well I thought that boiled water may have some effect, but seeing
these results was a total surprise. In case of some temporary
chemistry effect, then a few hours later I tested this same water
again (now totally cold) and got the same results.

What I believe is going on here is that when I simply boiled up some
water and poured it into a clean jug, then after a short time a thin
film of "something" appeared on the surface.

So clearly I had boiled this "something" out of it, where my cup of
tea had removed this from the surface before my second pouring
achieved the test results above.

And so boil, pour, wait a little while, then pour off this film of
"something" is my apparent recipe to perfect aquarium water.

However, since this kettle water was subject to multiple boilings and
pourings, then doing this just once may produce an intermediate
result.

Since I have just tested a single boil batch of water, which displayed
much lesser improvements, then clearly this water needs a lot of
boiling. I will have to do yet more testing I see.

Anyway, that first multiple boiled water testing made me a lot more
happy, when pH is closer to perfection (if there is such a thing),
where all the other values are within the range of what fish tank
water should be.

I am a little concerned about the lower KH (Carbonate Hardness) value,
when as seen above KH 18 from the tap turns into KA 15 in the tank,
where KA dropping to 2 in the tank would not be good.

Still, since I had problems accurately matching up this new lower KH
value to the colour chart, then I will have to watch this value
closely in my tank.

What has gone on with this boiled water I am not fully sure, which is
one reason why I am doing this posting, but if everything is as I see,
then I can just use ex-boiled water in my weekly water change.

My only other problem is to remove NO3 (Nitrate) from my tap water,
when the ideal level to avoid algae growth is below 25 mg/l, where I
am already getting 50 mg/l direct from the tap.

And as I now see this will easily rise to over 100 mg/l before my next
water change, which of course pushes it back down a bit.

Lucky I guess that my tap water does not have an algae problem (not
that I would notice anyway), when unlike in the US here in the UK we
do not have chlorine added.

Anyway, I am soon to start slowly improving my aquarium water using
this method over the next month or so, where I can only hope that
everything goes well.

As if I can really get the GH down, then plant perfection will soon
follow, even if I stick to the types rated in the easy growing level
for now.

I also got in some super concentrated plant food recently, which
should add everything that plants need except for Nitrate. What it has
got in it I do not have a clue (beyond iron), but it does say to
discontinue in case of an algae outbreak.

Sorry, but in my higher Nitrate water algae is just a question of
keeping it in check, where I am hoping that adding lots of plants can
at least keep me closer to the 50 mg/l level. Going below that I see
as next to impossible, when my two White Mollies have bred to make the
current seven White Mollies who like to eat and poop a lot.

I swear that I must be over feeding them, even if those hungry mouths
consume all the double daily feeding within a minute or two. Those
White Mollies are so pro-food that they even eat some of the algae,
but of course not enough to keep it in control.

Well I am just here to air my current thoughts as I work on improving
my aquarium (20 gallon) and slowly getting the two new aquariums (one
20 gallon and one 40 gallon) up and running.

I have been wondering if in my new 40 gallon tank I should add a layer
of peat under the gravel (and a small sand section), with a layer of
protection between the two of course. As that could help the plants
further (the aquarium guides hardly mention this), but I am worried
about the effects this would have on the water.

Anyway, if you fancy commenting on any section, then just snip and
quote as you please. I am now off to give lots of water a heavy
boiling, which I am sure will achieve serious water improvement.

Cardman.
http://www.cardman.com
http://www.cardman.co.uk

So how do you know you have enough light? Generally the lights that come
with aquariums only have enough light for relatively low light plants. In
my experience, Myriophyllum requires fairly bright lighting, perhaps 3 watts
per gallon or more? So I would either look into getting more light or
replace it with other low light requiring plants like: Java fern, java
moss, anubias, etc.

--
Bob Alston

bobalston9 AT aol DOT com
"Cardman" wrote in message
ws.com...

For a long time I have just been running my aquarium in order to keep
my fish happy and alive, where I have certainly been doing well enough
in recent years.

However, this posting is about my plants, which until now are just
those thing that grow in the tank. As since I am aiming to achieve
perfection from my tanks these days, then so have I been annoyed that
two of my three new plants have been dying on me.

In my unwise way I just purchased three random plants from my local
fish shop and expected them to live. And of course live plants are
ideal to use up some of the masses of Nitrate, where also many of my
fish of course expect some plants and rocks.

To begin with the Vallisneria Americana one is doing so great that it
is starting to take over the surface, which is why it will soon have a
happier home in the larger tank.

However, the couple of Myriophyllum Tuberculatum (red) ones have been
subject to a rapid death, where only their core sections are still
alive and subject to a little new growth.

I have another plant that I cannot identify that is in the middle and
is losing its lower leafs while is otherwise not looking too bad.

Since my tank has enough light, then my problem with my plant growing
must be my water. And so I began looking into what is wrong, which is
why I purchased a simple test kit.

Up until this point I had been (foolishly) suspecting that maybe lack
of Nitrate was the problem, where of course now I know that my regular
water changes are in fact to remove ever increasing Nitrate from my
very efficient Nitrate production system.

Anyway, after testing my aquarium water a few times, then my test
results are this...

pH = 7.8
KH = 15
GH = 20.5
NO2 = 0.01 mg/l
NO3 = 100 mg/l

I have also seen that NO2 levels drop to zero at night time, when I
guess the fish must have stopped pooping and all the NO2 has been
converted to NO3.

Two obvious problems with my aquarium water is that first of all the
pH level is a little high at 7.8, but I am not really concerned about
this, when plants should do well enough. However, it is clearly the
General Hardness (GH) that is posing the biggest problem to my plants.

After testing the aquarium water, then so did I test the tap water,
where the results are as such...

pH = 7.8
KH = 18
GH = 19
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 50 mg/l

So my GH problem is clearly coming out of the water supply that I used
to fill my tank with. This is not too surprising, when my water is
known to be subject to lime scale thanks to the local hills.

The extra GH increase in the tank I suspect may be due to my long ago
added garden rock, which is why I recently replaced it with an
artificial rock.

And so to improve my tank further I need to lower the General Hardness
to a region that is more acceptable to both plants and fish. That is
my first plan, where my backup plan was just to stock plants suitable
for my local water.

Since I consider that saving the Myriophyllum Tuberculatum is a
hopefully case, when my plant search rates them as "very difficult"
ones to grow anyway, then I have been seriously considering simply
disposing of them. Still, I will give them one last shot, to see if
they can improve in better water.

However, the problem with getting plants for my hard water is that I
think that most of the available choices look ugly, where the better
looking plants (like Myriophyllum Tuberculatum) all prefer a softer
water level.

So, softening my water is my key plan, when then my choice of plants
can be a lot more flexible.

To begin with simply standing this new water I see helps very little,
even if the water fresh from the tap has GH of 21+, where it has to
settle a little while for GH to drop below 20.

I was giving thoughts to making use of rain water, where this more
acid nature would not be too bad when combined with tap water, but
since I live in a large town, then this could introduce undesirable
pollutants as well.

Then while researching about how to lower my GH I came across one
idea, which is simply to boil the water first.

And so I simply tested the same water from the electric kettle that I
had just made a cup to tea with, where naturally I let it cool down a
lot first, where my test results are as follows...

pH = 7.2
KH = 5
GH = 8
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 50 mg/l

Well I thought that boiled water may have some effect, but seeing
these results was a total surprise. In case of some temporary
chemistry effect, then a few hours later I tested this same water
again (now totally cold) and got the same results.

What I believe is going on here is that when I simply boiled up some
water and poured it into a clean jug, then after a short time a thin
film of "something" appeared on the surface.

So clearly I had boiled this "something" out of it, where my cup of
tea had removed this from the surface before my second pouring
achieved the test results above.

And so boil, pour, wait a little while, then pour off this film of
"something" is my apparent recipe to perfect aquarium water.

However, since this kettle water was subject to multiple boilings and
pourings, then doing this just once may produce an intermediate
result.

Since I have just tested a single boil batch of water, which displayed
much lesser improvements, then clearly this water needs a lot of
boiling. I will have to do yet more testing I see.

Anyway, that first multiple boiled water testing made me a lot more
happy, when pH is closer to perfection (if there is such a thing),
where all the other values are within the range of what fish tank
water should be.

I am a little concerned about the lower KH (Carbonate Hardness) value,
when as seen above KH 18 from the tap turns into KA 15 in the tank,
where KA dropping to 2 in the tank would not be good.

Still, since I had problems accurately matching up this new lower KH
value to the colour chart, then I will have to watch this value
closely in my tank.

What has gone on with this boiled water I am not fully sure, which is
one reason why I am doing this posting, but if everything is as I see,
then I can just use ex-boiled water in my weekly water change.

My only other problem is to remove NO3 (Nitrate) from my tap water,
when the ideal level to avoid algae growth is below 25 mg/l, where I
am already getting 50 mg/l direct from the tap.

And as I now see this will easily rise to over 100 mg/l before my next
water change, which of course pushes it back down a bit.

Lucky I guess that my tap water does not have an algae problem (not
that I would notice anyway), when unlike in the US here in the UK we
do not have chlorine added.

Anyway, I am soon to start slowly improving my aquarium water using
this method over the next month or so, where I can only hope that
everything goes well.

As if I can really get the GH down, then plant perfection will soon
follow, even if I stick to the types rated in the easy growing level
for now.

I also got in some super concentrated plant food recently, which
should add everything that plants need except for Nitrate. What it has
got in it I do not have a clue (beyond iron), but it does say to
discontinue in case of an algae outbreak.

Sorry, but in my higher Nitrate water algae is just a question of
keeping it in check, where I am hoping that adding lots of plants can
at least keep me closer to the 50 mg/l level. Going below that I see
as next to impossible, when my two White Mollies have bred to make the
current seven White Mollies who like to eat and poop a lot.

I swear that I must be over feeding them, even if those hungry mouths
consume all the double daily feeding within a minute or two. Those
White Mollies are so pro-food that they even eat some of the algae,
but of course not enough to keep it in control.

Well I am just here to air my current thoughts as I work on improving
my aquarium (20 gallon) and slowly getting the two new aquariums (one
20 gallon and one 40 gallon) up and running.

I have been wondering if in my new 40 gallon tank I should add a layer
of peat under the gravel (and a small sand section), with a layer of
protection between the two of course. As that could help the plants
further (the aquarium guides hardly mention this), but I am worried
about the effects this would have on the water.

Anyway, if you fancy commenting on any section, then just snip and
quote as you please. I am now off to give lots of water a heavy
boiling, which I am sure will achieve serious water improvement.

Cardman.
http://www.cardman.com
http://www.cardman.co.uk


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.648 / Virus Database: 415 - Release Date: 3/31/2004

So how do you know you have enough light? Generally the lights that come
with aquariums only have enough light for relatively low light plants. In
my experience, Myriophyllum requires fairly bright lighting, perhaps 3 watts
per gallon or more? So I would either look into getting more light or
replace it with other low light requiring plants like: Java fern, java
moss, anubias, etc.

--
Bob Alston

bobalston9 AT aol DOT com
"Cardman" wrote in message
ws.com...

For a long time I have just been running my aquarium in order to keep
my fish happy and alive, where I have certainly been doing well enough
in recent years.

However, this posting is about my plants, which until now are just
those thing that grow in the tank. As since I am aiming to achieve
perfection from my tanks these days, then so have I been annoyed that
two of my three new plants have been dying on me.

In my unwise way I just purchased three random plants from my local
fish shop and expected them to live. And of course live plants are
ideal to use up some of the masses of Nitrate, where also many of my
fish of course expect some plants and rocks.

To begin with the Vallisneria Americana one is doing so great that it
is starting to take over the surface, which is why it will soon have a
happier home in the larger tank.

However, the couple of Myriophyllum Tuberculatum (red) ones have been
subject to a rapid death, where only their core sections are still
alive and subject to a little new growth.

I have another plant that I cannot identify that is in the middle and
is losing its lower leafs while is otherwise not looking too bad.

Since my tank has enough light, then my problem with my plant growing
must be my water. And so I began looking into what is wrong, which is
why I purchased a simple test kit.

Up until this point I had been (foolishly) suspecting that maybe lack
of Nitrate was the problem, where of course now I know that my regular
water changes are in fact to remove ever increasing Nitrate from my
very efficient Nitrate production system.

Anyway, after testing my aquarium water a few times, then my test
results are this...

pH = 7.8
KH = 15
GH = 20.5
NO2 = 0.01 mg/l
NO3 = 100 mg/l

I have also seen that NO2 levels drop to zero at night time, when I
guess the fish must have stopped pooping and all the NO2 has been
converted to NO3.

Two obvious problems with my aquarium water is that first of all the
pH level is a little high at 7.8, but I am not really concerned about
this, when plants should do well enough. However, it is clearly the
General Hardness (GH) that is posing the biggest problem to my plants.

After testing the aquarium water, then so did I test the tap water,
where the results are as such...

pH = 7.8
KH = 18
GH = 19
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 50 mg/l

So my GH problem is clearly coming out of the water supply that I used
to fill my tank with. This is not too surprising, when my water is
known to be subject to lime scale thanks to the local hills.

The extra GH increase in the tank I suspect may be due to my long ago
added garden rock, which is why I recently replaced it with an
artificial rock.

And so to improve my tank further I need to lower the General Hardness
to a region that is more acceptable to both plants and fish. That is
my first plan, where my backup plan was just to stock plants suitable
for my local water.

Since I consider that saving the Myriophyllum Tuberculatum is a
hopefully case, when my plant search rates them as "very difficult"
ones to grow anyway, then I have been seriously considering simply
disposing of them. Still, I will give them one last shot, to see if
they can improve in better water.

However, the problem with getting plants for my hard water is that I
think that most of the available choices look ugly, where the better
looking plants (like Myriophyllum Tuberculatum) all prefer a softer
water level.

So, softening my water is my key plan, when then my choice of plants
can be a lot more flexible.

To begin with simply standing this new water I see helps very little,
even if the water fresh from the tap has GH of 21+, where it has to
settle a little while for GH to drop below 20.

I was giving thoughts to making use of rain water, where this more
acid nature would not be too bad when combined with tap water, but
since I live in a large town, then this could introduce undesirable
pollutants as well.

Then while researching about how to lower my GH I came across one
idea, which is simply to boil the water first.

And so I simply tested the same water from the electric kettle that I
had just made a cup to tea with, where naturally I let it cool down a
lot first, where my test results are as follows...

pH = 7.2
KH = 5
GH = 8
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 50 mg/l

Well I thought that boiled water may have some effect, but seeing
these results was a total surprise. In case of some temporary
chemistry effect, then a few hours later I tested this same water
again (now totally cold) and got the same results.

What I believe is going on here is that when I simply boiled up some
water and poured it into a clean jug, then after a short time a thin
film of "something" appeared on the surface.

So clearly I had boiled this "something" out of it, where my cup of
tea had removed this from the surface before my second pouring
achieved the test results above.

And so boil, pour, wait a little while, then pour off this film of
"something" is my apparent recipe to perfect aquarium water.

However, since this kettle water was subject to multiple boilings and
pourings, then doing this just once may produce an intermediate
result.

Since I have just tested a single boil batch of water, which displayed
much lesser improvements, then clearly this water needs a lot of
boiling. I will have to do yet more testing I see.

Anyway, that first multiple boiled water testing made me a lot more
happy, when pH is closer to perfection (if there is such a thing),
where all the other values are within the range of what fish tank
water should be.

I am a little concerned about the lower KH (Carbonate Hardness) value,
when as seen above KH 18 from the tap turns into KA 15 in the tank,
where KA dropping to 2 in the tank would not be good.

Still, since I had problems accurately matching up this new lower KH
value to the colour chart, then I will have to watch this value
closely in my tank.

What has gone on with this boiled water I am not fully sure, which is
one reason why I am doing this posting, but if everything is as I see,
then I can just use ex-boiled water in my weekly water change.

My only other problem is to remove NO3 (Nitrate) from my tap water,
when the ideal level to avoid algae growth is below 25 mg/l, where I
am already getting 50 mg/l direct from the tap.

And as I now see this will easily rise to over 100 mg/l before my next
water change, which of course pushes it back down a bit.

Lucky I guess that my tap water does not have an algae problem (not
that I would notice anyway), when unlike in the US here in the UK we
do not have chlorine added.

Anyway, I am soon to start slowly improving my aquarium water using
this method over the next month or so, where I can only hope that
everything goes well.

As if I can really get the GH down, then plant perfection will soon
follow, even if I stick to the types rated in the easy growing level
for now.

I also got in some super concentrated plant food recently, which
should add everything that plants need except for Nitrate. What it has
got in it I do not have a clue (beyond iron), but it does say to
discontinue in case of an algae outbreak.

Sorry, but in my higher Nitrate water algae is just a question of
keeping it in check, where I am hoping that adding lots of plants can
at least keep me closer to the 50 mg/l level. Going below that I see
as next to impossible, when my two White Mollies have bred to make the
current seven White Mollies who like to eat and poop a lot.

I swear that I must be over feeding them, even if those hungry mouths
consume all the double daily feeding within a minute or two. Those
White Mollies are so pro-food that they even eat some of the algae,
but of course not enough to keep it in control.

Well I am just here to air my current thoughts as I work on improving
my aquarium (20 gallon) and slowly getting the two new aquariums (one
20 gallon and one 40 gallon) up and running.

I have been wondering if in my new 40 gallon tank I should add a layer
of peat under the gravel (and a small sand section), with a layer of
protection between the two of course. As that could help the plants
further (the aquarium guides hardly mention this), but I am worried
about the effects this would have on the water.

Anyway, if you fancy commenting on any section, then just snip and
quote as you please. I am now off to give lots of water a heavy
boiling, which I am sure will achieve serious water improvement.

Cardman.
http://www.cardman.com
http://www.cardman.co.uk


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.648 / Virus Database: 415 - Release Date: 3/31/2004

"Bob Alston" wrote in message
news:CWqbc.88256$Bg.86828@fed1read03...
So how do you know you have enough light? Generally the lights that come
with aquariums only have enough light for relatively low light plants. In
my experience, Myriophyllum requires fairly bright lighting, perhaps 3 watts
per gallon or more? So I would either look into getting more light or
replace it with other low light requiring plants like: Java fern, java
moss, anubias, etc.

Agreed.

pH = 7.8
KH = 15
GH = 20.5
NO2 = 0.01 mg/l
NO3 = 100 mg/l


Also, Myriophyllum is happer in slightly acidic and soft water.
Your conditions may well be too alkaline and hard for the plant to
thrive. (Even under ideal conditions, Myriophyllum Tuberculatum
is considered a difficult plant to grow and will not do well in many
tanks.)

BTW -- you should try to get those nitrate levels down. 100ppm is
definitely on the very high side where it will be toxic for at least some
fish species. Adding lots more plants will help in reducing nitrate
levels.

Cheers,

Michi.

"Bob Alston" wrote in message
news:CWqbc.88256$Bg.86828@fed1read03...
So how do you know you have enough light? Generally the lights that come
with aquariums only have enough light for relatively low light plants. In
my experience, Myriophyllum requires fairly bright lighting, perhaps 3 watts
per gallon or more? So I would either look into getting more light or
replace it with other low light requiring plants like: Java fern, java
moss, anubias, etc.

Agreed.

pH = 7.8
KH = 15
GH = 20.5
NO2 = 0.01 mg/l
NO3 = 100 mg/l


Also, Myriophyllum is happer in slightly acidic and soft water.
Your conditions may well be too alkaline and hard for the plant to
thrive. (Even under ideal conditions, Myriophyllum Tuberculatum
is considered a difficult plant to grow and will not do well in many
tanks.)

BTW -- you should try to get those nitrate levels down. 100ppm is
definitely on the very high side where it will be toxic for at least some
fish species. Adding lots more plants will help in reducing nitrate
levels.

Cheers,

Michi.

On Fri, 2 Apr 2004 22:18:47 -0600, "Bob Alston"
wrote:

So how do you know you have enough light?

The manufacturer of my light seems happy enough. ;-]

You can read about it here...
http://www.arcadia-uk.com/fwatlamp.htm

Generally the lights that come
with aquariums only have enough light for relatively low light plants. In
my experience, Myriophyllum requires fairly bright lighting, perhaps 3 watts
per gallon or more?

I agree that my two Myriophyllum plants need more than what I am
currently providing, but well these are an evil plant to grow as it
is.

So I would either look into getting more light or
replace it with other low light requiring plants like: Java fern, java
moss, anubias, etc.

Well now that this subject is raised, then I would be fully happy with
switching to a twin light system. However, my tank only takes one
tube, where I have yet to see a suitable twin tube upgrade option.

So adding more lighting is currently not possible.

I guess that I will look more into it, when even my tube manufacturer
recommends buying two of their tubes. Don't think that I will shoot
for extremely bright light though, when I wish to use lighting for
both plants and fish.

I wonder if there is a triple tube option for my tank? This is not for
going for super bright lighting I should add, but I have always
fancied using that moonlight effect tube.

So one tube for the plants, one tube for the fish, then one tube to
see those elusive night fish (when I have some...) would be ideal.

Since I am getting two new tank hoods very soon, then I will have a
good look into the option of multiple tubing. Maybe I could even go
into four tubes, but then how much lighting do I need?

My Myriophyllum mistake can be excluded from this calculation, when I
will certainly choose more suitable plants in the future. When
considering my local water supply, then this pet shop should not have
been selling this plant in the first place.

Cardman.
http://www.cardman.com
http://www.cardman.co.uk

On Fri, 2 Apr 2004 22:18:47 -0600, "Bob Alston"
wrote:

So how do you know you have enough light?

The manufacturer of my light seems happy enough. ;-]

You can read about it here...
http://www.arcadia-uk.com/fwatlamp.htm

Generally the lights that come
with aquariums only have enough light for relatively low light plants. In
my experience, Myriophyllum requires fairly bright lighting, perhaps 3 watts
per gallon or more?

I agree that my two Myriophyllum plants need more than what I am
currently providing, but well these are an evil plant to grow as it
is.

So I would either look into getting more light or
replace it with other low light requiring plants like: Java fern, java
moss, anubias, etc.

Well now that this subject is raised, then I would be fully happy with
switching to a twin light system. However, my tank only takes one
tube, where I have yet to see a suitable twin tube upgrade option.

So adding more lighting is currently not possible.

I guess that I will look more into it, when even my tube manufacturer
recommends buying two of their tubes. Don't think that I will shoot
for extremely bright light though, when I wish to use lighting for
both plants and fish.

I wonder if there is a triple tube option for my tank? This is not for
going for super bright lighting I should add, but I have always
fancied using that moonlight effect tube.

So one tube for the plants, one tube for the fish, then one tube to
see those elusive night fish (when I have some...) would be ideal.

Since I am getting two new tank hoods very soon, then I will have a
good look into the option of multiple tubing. Maybe I could even go
into four tubes, but then how much lighting do I need?

My Myriophyllum mistake can be excluded from this calculation, when I
will certainly choose more suitable plants in the future. When
considering my local water supply, then this pet shop should not have
been selling this plant in the first place.

Cardman.
http://www.cardman.com
http://www.cardman.co.uk