Melon sword

It appears that your rep at the LFS is not a plant enthusist. The melon sword is actually from Brazil. This species of sword has an average difficulty to grow and requires moderate light. By this the light needs to be approximate 2-3 watts per gallon. If the plant is currently in a small tank (less than 10 gallons) then it would probably do well, but in a bigger tank it is not likely to do as well. The plant will not get the intensity that it needs for the photosenthisis process to keep it healthy, and also your bulb you mention is only 5000k and from my experience and dealing in the planted tank and talking with others the recommended bulb is 6700k and some go with the 10,000k bulb. Newer compact lighting systems come with both. Your plant will likely need an iron rich fertilizer and some form of substrate for the roots or root tablet supplements. Of course this all depends on your set up. A easy grow low maintenance plant that is not too particular on light requirements is the Java Fern. Hope this helps and good luck.

Jim

Your lfs guy is an idiot. A fern mistaken for a broad leaf plant? Day one stuff. Med to high light, would benefit from fert. +iron. But not ness. Slow to acclimate. may take a few weeks to show growth. Dont move around the gravel.

I don't know which number stands for which nutrient but one of those is way to high and asking for trouble in a tank. the only root tabs I'll use contain no phosphates as getting a bunch leached in to the water is asking for algae and lots of it.

I had a melon sword in my 20 befor I found out that its potential size was bigger than my tank. it was growing decently with the 30 watts of flourescent lighting I have on the tank.

that said most houseplant type fertilizer have urea in them which is basicly amonia and could easily be fatal to your fish.

getting plants to grow and keeping your fish alive is not something that most fertilizer manufacturers think about.

Plantabbs might be OK -- they do make products intended for aquatic use -- but if it is regular houseplant food, it could be dangerous. Either way, don't disturb the gravel, and djlen may be along soon to remind us how troublesome those tabs can be!

The "K" rating is a rating of color temperature, not power, so buying a higher K will not make much of a difference. Anything in the 5000-6700K range will be fine -- there is no "magic" number, really, for color temp. Even 10,000K works for some, but I don't have experience there.

You can't get a more powerful lighting setup without getting a new fixture or "retrofitting" your existing fixture. The key number is watts -- watts per gallon, really, and that is a very rough rule of thumb -- rather than K rating.

Don't bother spending money on the bulbs at the LFS. Those are overpriced and no better than "regular" fluorescent bulbs (such as those from GE).

Rather than letting the LFS guy's bungle dictate your equipment purchases, I'd recommend you stick with the bulb and fixture you have for now, let the plant wither away (don't want to pull it up now that you've got those tabs under there), and get some Java fern or Java moss to tide you over while you consider your options. Maintaining a high-light tank properly is a serious investment of time and money, and I wouldn't let an LFS mistake force me into it.

If nobody at the LFS can properly guide you to low-light plants (and ~0.7 watts per gallon is very low light), then you might check out aquabid.com or aquariumgarden.com.

This lighting stuff can be extremely confusing starting out. I know it was for me. A good starting point is The Krib's slightly dated but still useful lighting section. Search on AC for lighting topics, too, and you'll get a wealth of information to browse through.

To sum up, I'd enjoy the sword while it lasts, look for an actual fern in the meantime, and if you're still interested in high-light, do the research and prepare for the overtime it'll take to do it right. HTH and good luck with your tank!

My apologies -- I assumed they were gravel tabs, hence my "under there" comment. I've never used tabs that just dissolve in the water, but it sounds like you followed the instructions properly. Unfortunately, they aren't going to do anything for the melon sword, which will be starved of light regardless. I'd stop using those tabs and brace myself for an algae explosion -- a few large water changes over the next few days could stem the coming algae tide. HTH.

Wildiana said:

you've been a great deal of help thanks

one more question, will a pleco algae eater help out witht the out break?

Click to expand...

The quick answer is yes. The longer answer is if it is a common pleco, then it will outgrow a 29g tank. Those fish can reach rather long lengths, like 12-18 inches. Some other plecos are smaller and colored very nicely, but personally, I'd go with 3 Otocinculus catfish in a 29g. They are cute, do well in groups and remain small.