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Lighting, plants and pH
I have a well established 10 gal. FW tank. Several months ago, I
decided I'd replace the plastic flora with live plants.
I have an anubias which seems to be ok - it's not growing, but it's not
dying either. I also bought a red stem plant (whose name I'll have to
go look up - and I forgot to bring the book) which has grown enough for
me to make cuttings and replant.
What seems to be thriving are the 3 banana plants (and some Java moss
_covering_ a tall driftwood creation). Two of the 3 bananas have sent
stems all the way to the water surface. The leaves on these two plants
are bright, waxy green. The third plant has grown huge red/brown/green
blotchy leaves. The roots from these plants have covered the bottom of
the tank (under the substrate).
Other tank inhabitants are 6 glo-lite tetras, 4 cardinal tetras, 2 dwarf
Australian rainbows, an albino cory, a dwarf spotted pleco, and a kuli
loach. All of the fish have been there for at least year, and really
seem to like the live plants much more than the plastic.
Couple of questions here -
1) I like to keep the tank pH around 6.5 for the tetras, but since I
added the plants, I'm having a hard time maintaining this level. It
keeps dropping to 5 and under (off my color chart). Nothing has seemed
to be affected by this; I bring it back up over a couple of days and
some partial water changes and pH Up. Should I be concerned?
2) The tank lighting is a single 15w Gro-Lite fluorescent. Do I need
more? Is there a better bulb?
3) Should I trim the floating leaves/stems from the banana plants?
4) I have been using TWP water, and then adding the pH corrector and
the trace elements. I have also been adding Kent plant nutrients, and
extra iron. OK? Not? Other recommendations?