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In my 80 gallon tank I have about 2-3" of medium grain sand and one 4200K 40 watt strip and one 18000K strip (1 W/G). I have a large peice of driftwood which I want to attach Java Moss and Fern too. Then I want lots of Giant Vals in the background and a few Amazon Swords in front. I will dose Kent Freshwater Plant liquid feritlizer weekly.
I was wondering if this will be sufficient for these plants. I was thniking about getting a bag of Flourite to put around the areas with the Sword and Vals and changing the 18000K strip to a 4000-7000K strip. Would this be a good idea?
Akso, how many Amazon swords should I get? How large in diameter and height do they get?

[span class="edited"][Edited by nattereri 2004-09-05 21:44][/span]

Amazon Swords require a little bit more than 1w/g to do great and it also depends on how deep is your tank, they also can get rather large, so i wouldn't get that many, maybe 2, if you provide them with good lighting and a good iron rich substrate (flourite) they will get probably up to 20" tall and all around.

Before Using liquid fertilizer, make sure your plants need it, if not you can cause an algae bloom.

Falstaff has already given you the relevant info on the plants.

With regard to your lights. Yes you have 1 wpg but unfortunately it’s 1 watt of pretty useless light.
4200k is not much good for plant growth and will give your tank and inhabitants an ugly (IMO) yellow glow. The 18000K is intended for coral growth in SW tanks. It’s in the blue spectrum which is of more use to algae then plants. It will also wash out the colors of fish and plants and make them look very pale.

I would change both bulbs immediately. With a tank that size I’d imagine it’s pretty deep. Personally I’d go for 1 6700K Daylight bulb and 1 10,000K bulb. The 6700K is perfect for plant growth and will make the colors look natuaral. The 10,000k has a bit of blue in it and will get some additional light to the bottom.
If the tank is not that deep (20” or less) I’d just go with 2X6700K bulbs.

As well as greatly improving plant growth, this will make your tank look a lot better visually and I think you will be very pleasantly surprised by the result.

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