More Light?

[Stoty]

Hi,

I currently have a 20 gallon tank with ancharis and creeping charlie growing along the back of the tank. The plants are not doing horrible but they are crowning with thin leaves and thin stems. i am guessing they need more light? i understand that these are low light plants but i am using 8,000k full spectrum daylight 17watt bulb. What should i replace it with? i know nothing about lights and am new to planting. I like the specturm this current bulb puts out. i feed the plants with flourish by seachem and dont use c02. i have 2 swordtails, 2 gold barbs, 9 neons, 4 (soon to be 6) corydoras, and 3 mystery snails. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Stoty]

someone. please?

 

[RadaR]

I highly doubt it's lack of light (unless loads of light is being blocked out) and it's probably a nutrient related issue.
Manufacturers say to change the bulb every 6months-1year however this is most likely to get you to spend more cash.
If your tap water has good nutrient levels then perhaps perfrom more water changes? Preferably do this after the lights go off for the day to avoid algae problems due to the swing in CO2 concentrationn (tap water has high CO2 and this sudden change can disrupt the plant growth/function, which results in algae like BBA).

 

[hensonc4098]

Am I right in thinking that the seachem doesn't does N and K? If so, it might be more a lack of nutrients as plants need several different nutrients to grow properly, the main ones being Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K) and Phosphorus (P). I'm pretty sure the seachem only provides one of those 3, so it could be a deficiency of the other two?

 

[Marius]

But how do you get these in your tank?

 

[hensonc4098]

Different fertilisers will supply either different ones, or some will supply them all. TPN+ supplies all three and so is the plant fertiliser that many people choose to use as it is very comprehensive. Not only does it contain the main 3, but it also contains other more minor ones that are still needed in smaller quantities.