Help Choosing Plants For My Fish Tank

I see the article on lighting for plants on Thinkfish suggests keeping them on for 12 - 14 hours per day ...................

I guess i will have to sit the diatoms out then and hope more lighting will grow plants that will starve the diatoms is that right? i

Algae is most fish keepers nightmare, but only because it looks unsightly. Fish and other tank occupiers have no bother with it. As algae needs the same things to grow as plants, it is pretty much impossible to have a tank without algae. However, certain types of algae are able to out compete plants when one of the growth factors (light, carbon dioxide, nutrients) is limited. Diatoms generall thrive in new tanks with high nutrients and low lighting, so that would suggest that you need your lights on for longer. However, leave your lights on for too long and your plants will deplete the CO2 in the tanks and things like black beard algae, which can outcompete plants for nutrients when CO2 is low,will appear.

It's all about finding the balance in your tank. Adding co2 and fertilizer will allow you to leave the lights on longer without running into problems like black beard algae, however if you add them and the lighting isn't sufficient and there are excess nutrients and co2 in the tank , then you are likely to run into other algal issues.

8 to 10 hours a day of lighting should be enough to get adequate plant growth. I'd throw some nerites in the tank to munch on your diatoms. Search "neritina " on eBay and you can get 10 delivered for under a tenner.

Thanks Helen, i will have a read. I'm basically just waiting to see if anything is going to thrive, somethings seem to be melting at the base, but green nearer the top of the tank, it's all a bit sparse still, but im not buying more till i know these will live.

A lot of aquatic plants don't like to have their roots messed with. As Steve said, crypts are notorious for this. I have recently moved quite a few crypts in my tank and have been keeping an eye out for them melting. I have had crypts melt in my tank before, it's pretty nasty looking, but you don't even get debris to clean up. The leaves just kind of disappear.  But if you leave the root base undisturbed, they will be fine.

The reason I was moving crypts in my tank is because after they melted they multiplied, but didn't settle where I wanted them to.