In article , Dunter Powries
writes
If the tank is really two feet high, 30 watts of lighting lands you
well-and-truly in the low-light end of the hobby.

I know, that's one reason I asked the question in the first place.

It should be pointed out that I will be concentrating on Java Fern and
Anubias, both of which attach to rocks, and so will be placed higher up
in the tank. Thus they will not be under two feet of water.

Also, I have reflectors on the lights, so I should be getting more than
30W. The sales blurb on the box claims that they double the light
output. I'm not convinced that's true, but even if they only increase it
by 50%, it takes me to 45W which is a little better.

I don't know what the spectrum (degrees kelvin) of your lamps are
but, if they make your fish look good, they're probably on the high end
for plants (between 5000k and 7000k). Java fern and anubias should do
OK and you'll probably be alright with java moss, sagittaria and,
maybe, some tall crypts, but they will be growing VERY slowly and
contributing little to water quality - you'll probably want to start
off doing 25%-or-so weekly water changes until you get a feel for how
stable your tank is.

I usually do twice weekly 10% water changes anyway, so this isn't a
problem.

The good news is that fertilizing won't be necessary at all (test for
iron from time to time and watch for pinholes in the leaves) and you
sure won't be pruning much.

OK

Consider converting your hood to compact flourescents...
www.ahsupply.com

Well, if the plants will be happy, albeit with slow growth, at the
current level, then I'm not worried. I just want healthy plants, I'm not
bothered for loads of growth.

Thanx for the reply

--
Alan Silver