Micro sword

I just bought some micro swords at my lfs. I sparsely planted them because they woman at the store said they'll spread and make a nice foreground carpet. Is it true micro swords require very high lighting. I have a 20 gallon long tank with two t5 bulbs. 24 watts each so 48watts for a 20 gallon tank. It's a pretty shallow tank so i hope they're getting enough light. I am dirted and have CO2. Also my lights are on for 8 hours a day. Do you think they will do okay and will they spread to form a lawn. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Oz "Mr.Chain Sword" on November 3, 2011 at 10:57pm

Take your lights down to 7 hours,are you running one 6500-6700K and one pink(colormax) bulb?U should be good yes,but I would recommend not running Co2 for a couple months to allow the roots to take hold in the dirt first,it's a very slow grower even with Co2 injection,also u may need to add some form of fert's at the root!Such as Flourish Root Tabs(http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG/...) or Iron Pellets(www.aquariumplants.com)...If you are running a 20 tall I would recommend one 10,000K T5HO 24watt bulb along with one 720nm Colormax(Pink) Freshwater bulb,should give you the desired effect for optimum growth in your setup,if your running a 20 long then what you have is good but may need to raise your lighting off the top of your tank,also water changes of 40-50% a week(when running Co2) or 20-25% if no Co2 is being injected.All that's left is time,don't up root and move it,just give it time to grow...

One thing,keep off algea,you have to watch it like a hawk for build up of algea,if covered in algea it will slow growth drastically...Hope this helps,Oz