| I suppose the short answer to that is a | | | | get your self a really deep aquarium. I think the |
| resounding no. The long answer probably revolves | | | | problem with a lot of experts is that they forget |
| around watts per gallon and light spectrums and | | | | their roots. By the time they have been keeping |
| uses words like halogen and fluorescent and | | | | fish for a few years they have moved onto the |
| daylight, blue light, white light etc. | | | | difficult to keep fish and plants and think of |
| If you are keeping freshwater tropical fish in a | | | | everything as a problem solving exercise. |
| tank that has artificial plants in then all you need is | | | | My philosophy tends to revolve around if it isn't |
| the standard fluorescent tubes that most | | | | broken then don't fix it. Put too much light in your |
| aquarium manufacturers put in at the factory. | | | | new aquarium and you are more likely to grow |
| After all they are hardly likely to sell you | | | | algae successfully than plants. Your plants might |
| something that doesn't do the job for the simple | | | | love it but it will be hard to tell if you can't see |
| reason that they rely heavily on their reputation | | | | them because of the algae blooms or the hair |
| as experts in the field. | | | | algae covering their leaves. |
| Do you need extra lights to grow plants? Well | | | | The only thing I would say about lights is do |
| that all depends on what plants you intend to | | | | replace them before they stop working. |
| grow. Most of the plants that you can but in | | | | Fluorescent lights have a nasty habit of getting |
| aquarium stores, off the shelf, (out of the tank) | | | | lazy as they get older so it's worth investing in |
| will be perfectly happy with the standard lamps | | | | new ones every six to eight months just to keep |
| provided in most off the shelf aquariums. Don't | | | | things bright. |
| forget that your room is going to provide a | | | | That may be a good time to try out a tropical |
| certain amount of light to start off with, add in | | | | tube to enhance the colour of your fish but stick |
| the standard fluorescents and you probably have | | | | to the same wattage as your old one. |
| enough for your needs. | | | | And if you get the bug and want to try different |
| Try it and see what happens. If the plants aren't | | | | plants just remember that like fish, plants all like |
| thriving then add some reflectors before you | | | | different conditions. Think carefully before you get |
| start adding extra lights. It may be enough to do | | | | something that needs a lot of light if the rest of |
| the trick at a fraction of the cost. | | | | your plants don't because you are setting off |
| Extra lighting really only becomes essential when | | | | down a very slippery slope with nothing but |
| you start growing more exotic plants or decide to | | | | problems at the bottom. |