plant question

[kangster]

i have
2 amazon sword plant (i think)
2 moss balls
bundle of java moss
bundle of myriophyllum
bundle of baby tears

i also have 15w light bulb that came with the kit and the bulb says all glass aquarium light bulb
i made my own DIY CO2 injection system and it seems like its not working too well so i might end up buying hagen CO2 injection kit because i cannot afford a pressurized gas set up
i bought some root tabs and liquid fertilizer today and dosed them following the instruction

my question is...is the light i have enough for the plant to live?
should i change the bulb it is only 4 months old...
do you recommand this product...as i am not very skillful and i keep getting gas leaks in my DIY CO2 set
HAGEN CO2 NATURAL PLANT SYSTEM - Aquarium Center, Inc.

what other things should i worry about if there are any
thank you for your advice

i just saw one of my myriophyllum get too long and i pull it out to cut it to propagate and i noticed a very long root like string growing under my playsand
oh...and is it normal for dwarf gouramis to eat myriophyllum plants or is he just eating the algae on the leaves? he is either eating the dead leaves or the algae and this is not a problem since they are growing very fast...too fast

 

[beglely]

Im new to plants as well but I would say your lighting is underpowered. What type of lighting is it? If its the incandescent stuff that comes with the aquarium then you will be lucky to grow anything but moss and anubias.

 

[kangster]

flourecent type...strangely enough, the java moss and the myriophyllum plants are growing really fast, but my sword plant stopped growing and started fading out

 

[beglely]

java moss is incredibly easy to grow. I bought some a month ago and its tripled in size already and wont stop growing. Java moss does well in low-light tanks and is probably the easiest plant to grow (although I recently put a clump in my betta tank and it strangely died...been investigating how that happened as that is difficult to do). Swords I have read are much more difficult to grow. They need more care. Do you have eco-complete or flourite for substrate or are you dosing with ferts? That combined with some improved lighting should help. I dont do either and steered away from swords. Amazingly Ive gotten cabomba to grow really well in my tank without ferts or co2. Ive got several new sprouts coming up

 

[beglely]

There are some good guides to lighting on here as well. Just look around.

 

[CrazyPlantLady]

Baby tears need high (3+watts per gallon) light to grow well from my experience. I grow it great in a tank with 3.75watts per gallon, and ok-ish in a tank with 2.5watts per gallon.

The rest should be ok in lower light. Without a better picture showing the swords, its hard to tell what type they are, but MOST swords get way too large for even a 55+ gallon aquarium.

The Hagen system is fine for the sized tank you have as long as your substrate isn't too deep. The 'ladder' that helps to difuse the CO2 is about 9 inches tall. It's basically a DIY setup, designed well. But don't go for the 'refills' that they sell, its a waste of money. Just fill the canister to the line with sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of yeast, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, and WARM (not hot or cold) water.