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Re: Flat Cryptocorynes
Cathy H. wrote
>
> I have a 30 gallon tank with 4 30-watt Corallife Trichromatics on my tank. Two
> bulbs are on for 8 hrs/day, 2 for 10 hrs. I've got a forest of Crypts in one
> corner of the tank which are anything but flat, probably 10" tall, wonderful deep
> green and bronze colors.
Perhaps the reason that they are 10" tall is because they are in the
corner of the tank, and therefore receiving less light. Unless your
fluorescent bulbs overlap the ends of the tank, lighting will be less
intense at both ends and especially in the corners. Also, the depth of
the tank, clarity of the water, shading by other plants, type of
reflector, cleanliness of the cover and whether or not one is even being
used, are factors. And, I'm sure that there are other factors as well.
> It may be that the particular variety of crypt you have
> is responding to all the light by reduced size; my dwarf Sag grow at different
> heights in the tank depending on whether or not they are shaded by other plants.
> Perhaps if you shade the crypts a bit, they will grow more upright.
Thats kind of what I said. If you don't like the flatter growth, reduce
the lighting.
The 20 l is a very shallow tank. For my own experimentation, I
intentionally tried to use what I thought would be too much light on
this very shallow tank. I wanted to see how the plants would respond.
Every single plant grew less upright. H. Zosterafolia creeps right
across the bottom, rarely exceeding 4" in height.
BTW, my 20 long eventually developed a thread algae problem. I have
reduced the lighting, and I'm currently taking steps to fight the algae.
Pat Bowerman