lighting

[rsretep]

i have recently bought some live plants (amazon swords) that being said ,over the last six weeks i have pruned brown leaves and knowing that is normal my question is this ...i just bought a new bulb for my hood it is a three foot, 30 watt "aqua glo" ,18000 k ...is this the "correct" bulb for plants and is this enough lighting to promote growth????? all responses are appreciated

[Chrona]

How big is the tank and what kind of substrate do you have? Brown leaves are not really normal for any plant unless the leaves are really old, which indicates you have some kind of deficiency.

[rsretep]

chrona ...sorry for the lack of info... my tank is a forty breeder..the tips of a few leaves turn brown not the entire leaf...but i continue to prune

[rsretep]

substate is medium pea gravel

[Dave66]

substate is medium pea gravel

Ah. Amazon swords are nutrient hogs, and especially need chelated iron in the substrate and water. Medium pea gravel won't cut it for them. Check into Eco-complete, florite or any fractated clay substrate designed for planted tanks. Around 2 wpg of full spectrum light, regular chelated iron supplementation, and those swords will dominate that little 40 gallon.

Dave

[Chrona]

Ah. Amazon swords are nutrient hogs, and especially need chelated iron in the substrate and water. Medium pea gravel won't cut it for them. Check into Eco-complete, florite or any fractated clay substrate designed for planted tanks. Around 2 wpg of full spectrum light, regular chelated iron supplementation, and those swords will dominate that little 40 gallon.

Dave

^ probably the best solution. For a 40g tank though, a nice and cheap alternative is Lesco's Soilmaster Select (get the charcoal color), since you'll need several bags of Eco/Flourite/Aquasoil to fill it, whereas 1 50lb bag of SMS will fill more than a 75g tank and costs about 20 bucks.

If you don't feel like changing the substrate, I would just stick some Flourish tabs underneath the swords. You still won't get great growth, simply because pea size gravel is so spaced apart, and doesn't hold nutrients at all, but your plants will do better. As Dave said, a chelated iron/potassium mix does wonders for most low-tech planted tanks, as those two are common deficiencies.

[Lady Hobbs]

Since you're talking about amazons, what makes them get those transparent leaves? Mine were in small gravel with laterite clay balls and plant tabs and still they did poorly. I have read they don't care for hard water so now have added some peat. ??????

[zackish]

If you have the money go with the Eco-Complete. I love my eco-complete. You would probably need 3 bags though and most LFS they are around $27 each for 20# bag.

[rsretep]

thanks for the info all ...will see if i can find the correct substrate:9: