if i was u Peter, i'd get a KH and pH test kit then use this web page ...

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...to see what ur co2 levels are. then u will know exactly how hard or soft ur water is and more importantly how much co2 ur plants are getting.

i recon its worth it. when i 1st started to test my co2 levels i realised i was adding barely more than the ambient co2 that would be normaly present. as i got the co2 level upto a better level i quickly saw the results in my plants.

i think this would might be a cheeper and more effective way of increasing ur growth than it would be to elongate ur tubes (that expression makes me giggle everytime ).

So you reckon I may be under-dosing. That's something hadn't really considered. I may go down that path, and do some testing. I know that low light can cause elongation of the PLANT stem, that's why I was looking at increasing the light.

The info on that link looks very familiar, I may actually have that in a book somewhere...

i just thought of something else that may be relevant. i have experience growing 'other' plants under artificial lights.

from what i've read and experience, red and yellow light helps the plants grow stems, stalks and roots while blue and green light helps the plants grow larger leafs. idealy u need a good mix of both or a 'natural' spectrum that gives all of this.

apparently as light tubes get old they tend to lose the high end of the spectrum, i.e. the blue green end. if ur lights are more than a year old this may be what is happening. replacing ur current lights or adding a high end tube that gives off lots of blue green light may help.

it may also be that as ur plants get thick and bushy that the lower part of the plants are not getting enough light and the pants are 'stretching' up to get the light. maybe thinning the plants out could help.

at the moment i use a very light coloured substrate that is good for reflecting light up to the lower parts of the plants. i was thinking of getting a darker substrate but i was also thinking that this could end up reducing the light my plants get. so many factors to consider

I remember being warned off light gravel, years ago, as it supposedly promotes Algae growth...

I did use a Plant light for a while, but I wasn't convinced it was doing anything special. Certainly not for the price.

The tubes I have now, I researched their spectrum, and Lux or Lumin, and what-not. (What is it, Lumin for light output, and Lux for lightfall on an object?) They're supposed to have a 'Natural' spectrum, with Blue & Red peaks, and matched that of several tubes sold for Aquarium use (at 1/4 the price!). They're only 2 months old right now. I'm aware the the useful light only last's about 6 month's. What I plan to do later, is stagger their replacement over a 12 month cycle.

And you're certainly right about my overgrowth affecting the plants underneath. But that's all gone now. Just wipe off the Splash Glass, stoke up the fermenter, a splash of fertilizer, and off we go...

oh, something I've just remembered because I found the suction cup whilst pruning, I have a long-term CO2 indicator. You put a couple of drops of chemical in a 'diving-bell' that sticks to the glass. But it only provides a 'too much, ok, not enough' reading through color change. This has generally been in the 'Ok' range. (up until I took it out for cleaning, a few months back, and dropped the sucktion cap!)

How did you go about increasing the CO2? I'm guessing that adding more Sugar or Yeast into the same Fermenter would either lengthen the reaction period, or explode, respectively. Did you add a second Fermenter?

Yeah, I'm afraid silver dollars haven't really attracted me either. I'm having the hardest time trying to decide what kind of fish to use as a "centerpiece." I like schooling fish, somewhat bigger than the larger groups of dither fish that I also love to keep. Well, when we move we're planning on buying an RO/DI converter so maybe that will help broaden my choices.

Thanks Nick for the advice and links! I'll have to catch up sometime when it's not 3:30 in the morning. Ugh, insomnia. Thanks for the good luck wishes too, I can't wait to get this little alien out! I shouldn't be buying any new fish for a while. I'm lucky with the robust ones I have now and they'll need to stay healthy because I won't be able to do any water changes for a few weeks after surgery, unless I can get my husband to help out. But I'm almost afraid to ask him, because he's liable to accidentally kill them!

i dont want to 'tell' u what to get but purely as a suggestion if u want a nice school, i'd go for maybe some tetras, there are many to choose from. in a 10g tank i'd say the smaller the better as this would allow u to have more fish. from my own experience i also like black widows, altho these can get a little bigger than most tetras. i also like harlequins, they shoal together lots and are always having little pecking order displays which are quite funny to watch.

i have harlequins in my 'cory' tank and one reason i like them is that they dont bother the corys at all or try to steal their food as some other fish do, well not once its hit the bottom, some times they try to steal a pellet on the way down but i find waving my hand infront of the tank as the pellet sinks stops them grabbing it.

Its been ages since I had a decent shoal of tetra's, and not something I can safely keep atm either because of my angels. Was tempted to go find some emperors but caught a couple of the bigger angels yawning today, and lets just say I'd be spending a lot of money on the best bit of live food they've had in a long time .