Plant question??

[cougargirl50]

I got gutsy the other week and bought 2 amazon sword plants (small) but they look big, and I have a water lily and I think its an onion plant in my tank now (the onion and waterlily came from petco), I never had live plants before and I want to keep them looking really nice, what do I need. The only thing I have right now is Flourish Iron.
I know I need a different florescent bulb, I have a 20 gallon tank and a 15 watt bulb. Anybody got any ideas of a good bulb that is not super expensive? What else do I need to keep these plants looking great.

I was at my sister-in-laws house yesterday and she has a couple live plants in her tank, and when she first got them they were really nice and green now they are brown and have holes in them like they are decaying. I don't want that. I asked her what she is doing to them but she just says that her fish are eating them. I don't think that is the problem

 

[discus4everGrl]

You need at least 40-60 watts of light on your tank of light to grow most plants depending on how deep or high your tank is. A bulb that is in the 6500-6800K range is good for plants because they are higher in the yellow/ orange light range that plants use. Don't get bulbs in the 10,000K range as they emit mostly blue light which plants don't need and are reserved mostly for marine aquariums. The K, Kelvin rating is on the boxes. Flora grow is a good one. However, many people report that homedepot sells plant bulbs which run much cheaper than petstores. You will need to upgrade your bulbs soon or the plants will quickly wilt. The bulbs that come on the standard hoods just won't cut it. The decay that your sister has is caused by a lack of light. Unfortuantly, the hood that comes with the standard aquarium will not usually hold enough light for a planted tank, so the real expense will be investing in a more adequate hood/light strip with legs and a glass top. The amazon swords, because they have roots at the base, will also need periodic ferts in the soil in the form of a tablet. Then once you get set in with the light, etc...you can learn about CO2 injection. It is usually best to start a planted tank from the bottom up.