I bought elodea for my fish tank and with in 12 hours the coulor had gone from a dark green to a lime green colour... is this really bad??? I have bought liquid fert and placed this in the tank... what can I do 2 ensure my plant stays healthy???

What are your water paramaters (especially things like pH, hardness, temp), is the plant floating or in substrate (and what kind), what type of lighting do you have, how many watts per gallon, and how long's it on per day, and have you used anything to disinfect it before putting it in your tank (what/how long if so)? Whew --- we need a plant help "red box" too.

I really dont know what my water is like but i always use water conditioner and water ager the waterr conditioner hardens the water as it is 2 soft here...

I have gravel and the plant is anchored with a plant anchor in a bunch

The light came with my tank a pic is below of what my tank is (although mine is blue) is is 22L

The light is on for like 14 hours a day (this 2 much yeah?)

No I havnt disenfected it

Knowing the water quality would help, and its also pretty important to test your water regularly for your fish too!

The lights that come with the tank usually aren't any use for plants, its a type of light they can't use. They need a full-spectrum light. Elodea/anacharis needs more light than the usual aquarium hood holds as well.

Usually 10-12 hours of light per day is recommended for plants, though I often have mine on 12-14 hours per day and have no problem, and my elodea/anacharis are happy.

THX the prob is its not a singole tube like most fish lights so I not think i can get a suitable replacement!

It only has one socket and kind is a "U" Shape

Actually that is great that you have that kind of fixture. Well, if its a 10 gallon tank...

You can go out to nnnnnn and pick up a smaller screw in compact flourenscant light bulb. They look sort of squiggly? Anyways, they make a 10 watt one that will fit in this type of hood. Plants can't really use most incandescent bulbs (which is what your standard screw in is), but they can use the watts from the flourescant and compact flourescants much much better.

Here's a link to the bulb I'm talking about to buy it online if you can't find it at nnnnnn. I've never been able to find them at nnnnnn unfortunately for some reason.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...0&N=2004+113346

And a picture (not sure if this will work):

Ok here is the thing... no Wallmarts in Australia... and 2, mine has one U shape not 2 like on the webdit u posted... so would the light of this type that came with the tank be ok???

No, the light you have, if it looks like this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...8&N=2004+113179

Will NOT work with plants. That is incandescent lighting and they just can't really use it. I'm sure you can order the compact flourescant one I posted above from an online store, or I also know there is a person who sells them on www.aquabid.com, not sure how much shipping would be. Light bulbs are lightweight though.

If you don't want to do that, you would probably have to get a new hood that holds flourescant bulbs, and for eloda you probably want 1.5 watts per gallon or so at least.

No it looks nothing like that....

Look at the pic above that one... c how the bulb has numerous U shapes? Mine has one single u shaped light

You're looking for a daylight compact fluorescent bulb. I like 6500K color temp bulbs. Doesn't matter if it's a corkscrew or shaped like Us as long as it fits in your fixture. I'd say, shoot for 3 watts of light per gallon.

I'd heard that there are several versions of elodia (anacharis) out there. Some of them do better in cold water and die in warmer water. How warm is your tank water?