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R. macrandra light levels
> From: krandall at world_std.com
> No, if you didn't burn your other plants, I'm sure your R. macrandra didn't
> get "too much" light per se. OTOH, R. macrandra is a _VERY_ fast growing
> plant under high light conditions, so needs more nutrition when you force
> its growth with strong light. I suspect that it would be the first of the
> plants you mentioned to show a nutrient deficiency.
>
> There is really no reason for light levels that high.
Have we have forgotten about esthetics?! =:) I think overly lit
tanks look very nice: I find reason for having three bulbs (4.5w/gal)
over my 10 gal tank simply because two bulbs look, imho, too dim.
> I don't know of any
> plants that really benefit from more than 3w/g. It just cost more money to
> run, and means you have to find a way to disipate more heat. Most of the
> plants you have chosen will quickly outgrow a 10G tank even with 3w/g if
> they are receiving adequate nutrition as well. As with everything else in
> aquatic gardening, more is not necessarily better.
Humm... is it necessarily worse to keep plants that quickly outgrow
their tank? I don't think so...
The jungle Val in my 55 gal tank at home quickly outgrows the tank.
We have stands of pristine Val around here that grow to at least
ten--maybe twenty--feet high. Will I stop keeping Val because it
quickly outgrows my tank and requires tons of nutrient? No, my Val
looks really nice thank you. Pruning my Val often is just the price
I pay for trying to keep it in any miniaturized aquatic environment.
Also, perhaps I'm just picking nits, but, gee, I'd argue that
"outgrew" can be an ackward adjective in this context: I kept Val,
Crypts, Hygro and Anubius nana in a *2.5* gallon tank with *5.6*
w/gal and just 1-1.5" of substrate. The Crypts and Anubius never
"outgrew" the tank but, rather, they naturally dwarfed. The Hygro
had a really short internodal length and looked awesome.
steve
-- -- -- --
Steve Rader
Systems & Network Manager
WiscNet--Internetworking for Wisconsin
rader at wiscnet_net