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Pruing plants...




I'm a newbie here, and kinda a newbie to aquatic plants in general, tho I
am fastly falling in love with them...

I have 2 tanks, both of which have plants; a 55 gallon moderatly planted
and a 20 gallon high with only 2 plants in it (just set it up this week.)

The question is:  
	In the 55 I have several hybrid Aptogen(sp?) crispis(sp?) plants (about 15
total).  5 of them have grown all the way up to he top of the water (this
growth spurt after having only planted them about 3 weeks ago).  The other
10 or so aren't too far behind the top 5 and will soon themselves be at the
top of the water.  
	So, how do I prune this plant?  Cut off the tops of the leaves, or clip
them at the bottom of the stem, or in the middle?  

	Another question is; they look very spindly.  Very long thin stems.  If
this is common of the Aptogen variety then fine, but I read the other day
that too much light or too long of duration of light will cause some
spieces to take on this appearance.
Is this true for Aptogens?  I am running 3 40 watt bulbs (a Triton white, a
GE Plant and Aquarium, and a Spectrum 5.)  I run the bulbs for 12 hours a
day via a timer.

Info on the 55: 

	Substrate: 3mm gravel, once a week add Sera flora tabs (1 tab for each 	
plant).
	Water: ph 6.5-6.8 (depends on water supply), temp 82f, low GH (can't quite
	            remember, been a while since I tested it, but it's always been
pretty 		stable.)
	No idea on K, N, Fe, KH, etc, as I do not have the $ right now to buy the
		exspensive test kits. <G>

	
Thanks,

Allan Tomkinson
atom at salisbury_net

Uhm.  I need some text to go here.....