# Lighting



## cheseboy (Aug 5, 2005)

I just thought of somthing, Do floating plants get the full wattage of your light when floating? That means full wats, that's alot of light.


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

Yup. They also have easy acess to atomspheric CO2. And that's why floating plants grow so quickly, and that's why they are so good at combating algae and removing nitrogen compounds (ammonia, nitrite, nitrates) from the water. 

Floating plants are a good thing! I have duckweed, salvinia, and water lettuce in my tanks. The duckweed is especially useful since it provides nutrition for some of my cirtters (apple snails, rosy barbs).


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

They also block out lighting for other plants in the tank. Helpful if you have java fern, not so helpful for R. Wallachi.


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

Yup, they certainly can block the light for the submersed plants. That's why every week or so I take out most of the floaters.


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