lighting and plant questions

[RockabillyChick]

i now have two 15 watt bulbs on my tank from two different light strips. its a 10 gallon tank. this would be 3 wats per gallon, right? wich would be med-high light?

i have no CO2. should i get it? would an air stone help? since there is CO2 in the air, and an air stone agitates air into the water.....

i also just bought two new plants. one is fern-like with very thin lacey needle like leaves, very delicate, almost looks like pine tree needles, but obviously its not.

the other almost looks like a type of dwarf crypt. its much shorter than my other crypts, but has the same sort of leaf structure, just smaller, shorter leaves, and they've got red speckles all over them. the young leaves in the center are almost completely red.

 

[Ryank327]

Co2 Is always a good idea especially since you have 3 wpg. If you add co2 you will also need to start using ferts, I would reccomend Flourish. Air stones are a no no. You want the least amount of surface agitation possible since this will break up and deplete your co2. To diffuse my co2 I just shove the tubing form the co2 into my filters intake, then it gets sucked in and ther impeller diffuses it great and its free.

 

[Captain Hook]

If those are fluorescent light bulbs and not incadescents, then yes you have 3 watts per gallon. This is a good amount of light, you should be able to grow all medium plants with good fertilization and CO2 levels. I can't say for sure on high light plants but I would think they would be ok too.

You might want to think about adding Flourish Excel or DIY CO2. Excel is a liquid carbon source that you add daily or every other day. DIY CO2 is a mix of yeast and sugar that adds CO2 to the tank. I've tried this method personally but you can find lots of good information using a google or Aquaria Central search.

 

[RockabillyChick]

yeah, they're flourecent bulbs. could i do flourish OR the CO2? not both? cause i could add flourish Excell, but i dont really want to put together a CO2 injection thing.

 

[Captain Hook]

You could try the Excel on its own. I've seen many tanks successful doing this.