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Lighting Question



I recently bought a 10 gallon tank. I searched long to find one that had a heater and flourescent lighting.
What was interesting was that the tube is a U-shape and 13 W. Does this effect the output? Also, the tap
water is at 220 mg/l for KH, (I can't remember how to change the units to degree kh) and the Ph is at 7.2. I have some Java fern in there now, what other plants would really thrive in this setup? I can add some peat moss to soften and lower the ph if needed. Any input would be great. 
 I have a problem with two plants in one of my other
setups. The water is at a very low KH hardness, test kit reads unmeasurable. The Ph is extremely low, somewhere beyond 5.8. Lighting is about 1watt/gallon I have been unable to raise the ph. I removed a large lava rock, I thought it was the culprit because it dyed everything a red color. Alas,I did a couple of major water changes with neutral water to try and raise the ph, to no avail. There are now no decorations in the tank, I have peat moss in this tank. It was added AFTER this problem occurred. 
The plants in question are hygro. difformis and a plant that I can't remember the name of.... It is often described as resembling cherry trees. The stems are deep red and the leaves a lighter green. 
The plants have been in this setup for about 6 months.They have shown extremely slow and stunted growth. The new leaves are small and crinkled up. I have many other plants which are doing fine. Hygro. polysperma, Echind. swords, red wendtii and lots 'o' 
duckweed. :> 
 Why are these two plants not doing well? Would adding CO2 make them grow better? 

P.S. Sorry about the sci. name spelling, I don't have
access to my aquatic plant book.

Thanks in advance,
Sherri

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