Hey

Quick question...will increasing my water temperature help with my plant growth? My current water temperature is 23.89 degrees Celsius or 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

my tank is 34 gallon, has at the moment 2 x 20watt T8 lights with reflectors, 20ppm Co2, 5-10ppm NO3 and JBL aqua soil substrate. Most plants are crypts, hydrophilla, java ferns, vallis, amazon sord etc

Just wondered...

I think I would up the light, you have just over 1 watt per gallon, if you crank it up to 2.5-3 you should see some great growth

well I normally have 3 tubes which equates to 60watts but the hood has the lights built in so I'm a little stuck there until I change it...I had a bad case of a algae break out some months back so i'm running on two tubes at the moment...I have to hook the third tube on the back of the tank just below the water line.

what are your other water paramaters, and are you doseing micros/macros?

yup everything is getting on track...i dose KNO3, Tropica master grow and traces.

Just wondered if the heating would help...

I found the opposite to be true. High temps slow down plant growth, (over 80F) Mid 70s is the perfect temp for most plants.

cheers mate... i've got it running at 75-76 right now.

3x20 watt over a 34 is like 1.75/gal. That is not really high light. Depending on the types of plants you have in there your not going to see explosive growth. It will be a lower maintance tank though. Which is not a bad thing.

You said your nitrate is 5-10ppm. What is your PO4? Are you dosing K?

My experience agrees with that of RobertH. My crypts melted away at 84F (buggy heater), and the hygro and vals didn't seem to like much either. Mid-high 70'sF seems best for most plants.