Plants for 172 Gallon tank with only 68 Watts florescent lighting.

[bitterman]

Hi,

I have a 172 gallon (with 30 gallon sump) frontosa tank with one 34 watt 10k and 1 34 watt antic light to simulate the deep water enviorment that frontosa live in (30-150 Ft). I want to add plants..... (I have 2 anibuis on a driftwood to try but its only been 2 months)

What can I add and will it work.

Also the tank is 31" tall.

On a side note, I have duck weed in my sump with a light over the sump.

Thanks,
   Bruce

[NjOyRiD]

to be honest with you, I've been trying several plants in my 130g with 60w of light and i cant keep anything
I didnt try java fern yet, maybe you could see what it does thnx

[BigDaddy]

Plants don't grow in deep water... simply because not enough light gets down there.

You won't be able to grow anything but floating plants in that light.

[NjOyRiD]

ah! Big daddy has a +1 on Karma! Good post

[bitterman]

Thanks so much for confirming my beliefs. I hope the anubias don't dye, they are expensive. Only time will tell. If they start looking bad I will put them in a different tank.

Bruce

[NjOyRiD]

or you can just sell them to me

[Aquafish]

If I'm not mistaken, to grow most plants...don't you need 1watt pre gallon???

[BigDaddy]

If I'm not mistaken, to grow most plants...don't you need 1watt pre gallon???

To grow most plants, you need at least 2.5 watts per gallon

The WPG rule breaks down on very small and very large tanks, but 2.5 wpg is "moderate"... you can grow most of the plants available, save the really high light demanding plants.