Who Gives A Fish Forums

My echinodorus are breaking the surface, nearly there. Should I expect continued growth once they've reached the top? Anything I need to do or change when they get there?

What plant tabs are you using, are they a specific brand or type that work well with your swords?

Tried something similar, kugeln balls, didn't work out for me. Water changes made the water go super cloudy, and once it cleared, it left a residue on the plants. Anyone have experience with plant tabs, are they any good?

So I'm wondering, what's the crème de la crème of soil substrates out there? I've got plants in gravel and they're not exactly thriving. Specifically, my African swords and Anubis. The Anubis are hanging in there, but the African swords are looking pretty rough - they've got this black rim around ...

I'm not sure about using fertilisers, won't they just feed the algae too. I'm thinking of just waiting to see how the plants do without them for now.

Just a thought, I'm happy with my tank, but I've been wondering about LED lights. Do any of you have experience with them, especially the ones that let you adjust different shades of light?

This is all the info I can find on the tube. The packaging says 18w, but it doesn't give a Kelvin rating.

If I remove the partition, direct sunlight will hit the tank. I've got an 18 watt fluorescent tube for lighting. You're referring to pH, right? I think it was 7.5 last time I checked the water tests.

I'm curious about the Anubias not being a true aquatic plant, what do you mean by that? I've always been told direct sunlight on a tank is a recipe for algae disaster, that's why I've got it shaded during the day.

Thanks Nick and Colin for the info. Just switched to real plants two weeks ago, and so far, so good. Got Anubis calaforatia, Echinodorus bleheri, and another one that looks like Echinodorus Tricolor, but I'm not entirely sure.

As you can see in the photo, I block direct sunlight during the day ...