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Yeah, I'm a sucker. A big one. My oscar is a big baby, and I'm wanting to put plants in his tank. HARDY ones. Anubias barteri, java ferns, bolbitis, clover, perhaps an easy non-duckweed floater. . . Hardy and low light. But obviously they need Some light. I've got 30 watts of NO on his 60 gallon tank currently, and the barteri I've got now is growing a new leaf every couple/few weeks. I can't really tell with the java fern since it was big to begin with.

Would a 2x32 watt 4' NO fixture from walmart added onto the tank give me enough extra light that I could grow the plants without worrying that they aren't getting enough light? I still wouldn't have much, but nothing I'd be growing needs too much light either. TIA

[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/bNFR][/url]

it all depends on the K rating like a very good plant light that would help the plant grow good would be a 6700k and upto 8800k but the lower the better but 1 wpg gives enough light for those plants but we need to now the K rating

33 gallon 7 neon tetras-5 platys-3 bleeding heart tetras-2 corys-1 rainbow shark-2 L83 gibby plecos

plants are great!, but not for an oscar. by the time that fish reaches adult-hood... he/she will destroy all of the plants you attempt to put in there...

the anubias and java fern are slow growers so dont expect mass growing from them...
for a floater try najas or guppy grass, hornwort, or riccia fluitans/crystalwort

for a good oscar set up i suggest you stick with mass amounts of drift wood and attaching mosses and maybe a few java fern plantlets to them driftwood.

also be prpared for your oscar to redecorate you tank... they all do it... so tie down whatever plants you may have and connect drift wood peices to lareg pieces of slate to try to keep them in place.

a light for anubias and java fern is hard to decide. java fern can do well with nearly no light, but for a good anubias to grow you need higher lighting. 60watts total watts would definatly be better for all the plants, but you will need at least 12watts for a clover plant togrow properly... but go for the new fixture and you can always buy higher wattage bulbs if they are needed also make sure to buy aquarium bulbs that support plant growth, they have these at walmart, but get the ones that arenot in the aquatics area. go to the home area (near paints and such) and get plant/aquarium bulbs. these have arround a 9000K rating and a pinkinsh tint to the light, but they are good for plant growth.

there are also other alternatives like using a multi screw in bulb fixture for a bathroom and putting a peice of glass between it and the tank and getting all 26watt compact flourescent daylight bulbs... these will up your wattage and are a bit cheaper if you can find a fixture to support them. the 226watt CFs cost arround 6.50$ and the one 20watt flouro plant/aquarium tube costs arround 5.50$...

take a bit of planning into consideration as to what you can afford, what you "want" and how much wattage you want/need.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Tried the fixture and it didn't work The on/off switch is a chain and it hung right down into the tank. Not good.

I know he's likely to end up shredding everything, but hey, those are supposed to be the nastiest tasting plants out there, so I figured it can't hurt to try them. Plus I've got most of them on hand. Right now, though, he's a 5" coward. He's always hiding out and nearly never comes near me. I've had him for a few months, and the only attitude suggestions I've been able to find were "more hiding spots" and "dither fish" I gave him some rosy barbs, and he seems to be interested in them(likely not good for the barbs ) and the driftwood here is either way too expensive, or is way too tiny. I figure if he'll live with plants for a while in there, I'll be able to sell them and get sturdier decor when he gets bigger instead of the plants. That way he can just sulk for a couple of days and then get over himself. . .

Ps: I hate hornwort Every time I've tried it, it sheds like mad or overtakes EVERYTHING else in the tank no matter how much work I put into keeping it. . .

[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/bNFR][/url]

Well, I can safely up the light now. I ended up trading my oscar for a trio of fantail goldfish. The idea had been tossed out there on an oscar forum I occasionally visit, and I ended up doing it. I'd tried every suggestion tossed out there, and the last straw, so to speak, came when I was out sitting out of sight of him a few times in the last week I had him and he'd always be out and happy(and a few times chasing the dither fish no wonder they adored me.) , yet when I got near the tank, in sight range, he'd run and hide. NOT something I want to be spending a lot of money and time to be taking care of when I got him for that lovable puppy dog attitude. ANYWAY.

So the goldies aren't light sensitive(that I know of anyway) so I can reasonably put on better lights. If I put the 30 watts I've got now(I don't know what the K rating is, but they're the slightly pinkish sort sold to grow plants at stores) and got a small fixture for the other side of the tank, something like a 30-ish watt pc with a plant happy bulb, would that be good to grow the plants with? Still sticking with strictly low light plants, since a lot of them have the reputation of being "tough" in comparison.

[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/bNFR][/url]

HI,
You seem inclined to want only fish that will chomp
your plants to shreds and will throughly enjoy eating
them. Goldfish will eat plants as well.

Frank

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