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	Enough light?
johnsmith Enthusiast Posts: 166 Kudos: 144 Votes: 0 Registered: 13-May-2004	I have a 10g with two flourescent bulbs that say: 15 watt 6400K/12000 lumens This is a cichlid tank with sand and I'm wondering if I could put some Vals in the background. Is that enough lighting and would they do okay in sand? Are there any other alternatives for a background plant in this tank? [span class="edited"][Edited by johnsmith 2004-07-30 15:11][/span]
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:45
FRANK Moderator Posts: 5108 Kudos: 5263 Votes: 1690 Registered: 28-Dec-2002	Hi, With the light that you have, you could grow just about any plant in that tank. A 10 gallon tank is shallow and with 3 watts atop of it, it would be just about as bright as with 4+ watts/gallon! However, with sand for a substrate, you may have trouble with plants. Sand compacts, and prevents the plants from rooting. You should use aquarium gravel as the "finest" or smallest grain size. Frank -->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:45
chris1017 Fish Addict Posts: 610 Kudos: 421 Votes: 70 Registered: 09-Sep-2003	the light should be good and the sand is fine but the val itself might not be, depending on what type of cichlid you have they might tear it up. my suggestion is a huge piece of anbuis or some java fern because the fish ususlly dont mess with them and they are pretty strudy chris
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:45
johnsmith Enthusiast Posts: 166 Kudos: 144 Votes: 0 Registered: 13-May-2004	Thanks for the replies. I thought 30 watts would be sufficient, but I wasn't sure about the difference b/t flourescent & incandescent, although I know flourescent is better. The cichlids are l.ocellatus, I'm not sure if they bother with plants or not. I have one small java fern in there but it has some green algae growing on it and doesn't look like it's doing very well. Right now I actually only have one of the bulbs I mentioned and a 25 watt incandescent bulb, which is going to be replaced.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:45


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