How would you rate this setup...low, medium?

[coachfraley]

I have a 12G nano cube that I have planted with 1 amazon sword, 1 crypt, 1 anubia nana, 2 anubia minima, and some moneywort.

My lighting consists of 2 t5 8watt Full Spectrum Bulbs, and 1 t5 8watt 10000k bulb.

On all the plant descriptions I look at, they talk about low, medium, and high light requirements, but I haven't seen much info. on what low, medium, and high watt/gallon ratings are?

I have 2watts/gallon, so would that be considered low???

I am asking because my growth has seemed pretty slow and my moneywart and crypt (which I just added) don't seem to be doing that great. I also just started dosing with excel last week.

[Chrona]

Given good parabolic reflectors on those T-5's, I would say you have medium lighting. The w/g rule breaks down for small and large tanks, as 2+ watt/gallon on a 180g tank would be considered high light. The crypt is a low light plant though, so if it's not doing well, it is something else. How long have you had it in the tank? You could be experiencing crypt melt from changing light conditions.

[Sasquatch]

This is probably a stupid question, but do you have fish and/or do you fertilize?

It may be as simple as a nutrient deficiency if you're plants aren't growing as fast as they should.

Do you have a CO2 system?

[coachfraley]

The crypt has been in there about 2 weeks. I don't know much about them, so I don't know how they are supposed to look. When I purchased the plant it was a solid green color. After about a week, the central large leaves turned a reddish/brown color.

After about 1 week in the tank, I bought some bog wood, so I had to move the crypt and I don't know if moving it stunted it even more. I have also been monkeying with the bulb combinations (the tank came with a blue bulb, which I used for a while and then switched to the 10,000k)

Here is some more info. I should have added to my first post: The tank is fully stocked with fish and I have been dosing it once a week with a liquid fertilizer. I have a sand substrate (see link below) and I put root tabs in for the crypt and the sword. The anubias are all tied down to wood and they are slowly attaching themselves.

http://www.strictlypetsupplies.com/_034652065063.html

[Sasquatch]

You might want to check you pH, hardness and alkalinity. From the link you provided, it looks like you added marine sand to the aquarium. If that's what it is it'll raise your pH, hardness and alkalinity signigicantly. That could be the source of your problems. If your pH is to high, it could be bad for the plants and it'll likely stunt them while they acclimate.

[coachfraley]

The PH is fine, it hasn't changed since I started the tank...7.6 (which is the same as my local tap water)

Man, you respond fast!

[Lady Hobbs]

It also takes a while for plants to take off. They go thru a set-back when transplanted. Their roots will grab hold and then you will probably see the growth you're looking for.

Too high wattage for crypts is said to melt them and the anabus is a slow grower anyway.

[Chrona]

Give it a little more time and see what happens. What kind of liquid fertilizer btw? Plants prefer acidic substrates, but I've seen a few people growing plants in a crushed coral substrate (albeit in a high tech setup) so it can't be that bad. Most likely a combination of the actinic bulb and the rerooting is causing the slow growth.

[xoolooxunny]

I've learned that plants will adjust to their new environments, well in my experience anyway. Some of your plants may lose some of their leaves while new, slightly different looking leaves grow in. My melon sword and kleiner bar sword look completely different from when i bought them, and at first it looked like they were dieing.

I say give it some time, 2 weeks is too soon to tell, do you use c02 in conjuction with excel? how do you dose the excel?

[coachfraley]

Thanks for all the great responses!

The fertilizer is made by Kent, it is called Freshwater Plant supplement (0-0-3)

I don't know if it is any good, but it was reccomended at my LFS.

Chrona, I checked out the pics of your 10g with the 28watt...nice tank, hopefully I will be there soon!

[Chrona]

Yep that's good. And thanks :)

[coachfraley]

Well, I got rid of the moneywart. I don't know if it was the excel, or a light problem, but the leaves on the middle and bottom of the stems were just turning to mush. I really just wanted the moneywart in there to provide some shade for my nana, which has been developing some GSA. I was using anacharis for shade in the past, but it really cannot handel excel.

I pruned they crypt a little bit and it seems to have responded a little allready.

I have also noticed that the anubias seem to be growing a little quicker since I started adding the excel.

I don't know if anyone else has tried anubia minima, but they grow sloooooooow! I think the minima part of their name was referring to their growth rate.

Thanks again for all the help.