[APD] lighting for plants

[Joey Choochootrain <hubbahubbahehe at yahoo_com>]

I have a 4 ft long 40 gallon tank.  18 inches above the substrate is a 2 x 65w  coralife hood.  All my plants grow at a slow rate and are okay in terms of health and appearance... and my rotala rotundifolia is green colored (not red like in high light setups).   Now, if you do the math, i have 3.25 watts per gallon on my tank....however, stuff just doesn't grow as healthy as i know they could be...  i added nitrate to 10 ppm  phosphate 1 ppm  potassium 10 ppm  and traces and iron.... and i injected co2 too.... 

and another thing, if i neglect the tank and let duckweed cover the top, then my stem plants begin to rot at the bases...  

i really respect tom barr and what you have to say about only needed 2 watts per gallon....  but my tank compared to my friends tank with 192 watts over a 3 ft long 40 gallon..he has beautiful beautiful plants growing at an unbelievably fast rate...he doesn't even add fertilizer or co2 and his plants are thicker, lusher than mine.his rotala is red, his ludwigia is red, and his pearlweed is twice the size of my pearlweed..  true, he has algae problems but i believe he could fix that after he adds his pressurized co2 and gets his ferts right.....  

the biggest difference between his and my tank is  lighting......

is there something i'm missing?


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