Web Site Correction
Hello:
Regarding your references on this page:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/cryptocoryne.htm
The name of our magazine is misspelled. It is "The Aquatic Gardener," not
"The Aquarium Gardener" Will you please correct this?
<Yes, will do>
If it would be appropriate to add a link to our site, it is at
www.aquatic-gardeners.org. While these particular issues are no longer
available, new issues are published four times per year.
Thanks,
Cheryl
<Thank you for this notice. Bob Fenner>

An Affinity for C. affinis
>Hello there,
>>Hello there.
>I am a 66 year old Scottish plant grower.
>>I'll be 40 in February, and I spend so much time at this computer I think my bum is growing roots.. does that count?
>For some time now, I have been trying to grow the Affinis Crypt, as I grew it many years ago. I am afraid that the continuing messing about with the water supplies, make this more difficult.
>>Are you messing, or is your municipality messing?
>Our soft Scottish water did not appear to suit the plant. Taking advice from the web, the plant appeared to prefer harder water and in fact the PH used in some cases was 8 to 8.5. I would wish to see this plant flourish again, but there appears to be too many variations in how this can be achieved. Do you have any advice on this ?
>>If I understand you correctly, you wish to "harden" the water (raise alkalinity/buffering capacity as well as mineral content), as well as raise the pH (which buffering would do), yes?  If so, there are commercially available additives, SeaChem makes a whole slew of GREAT products.  Another way to handle this is to get some crushed coral or dolomite (calcareous substrate is the idea here), put it in a bit of pantyhose and either bury it in the gravel, or place it where it will get water being forced through it.  I STRONGLY suggest you also visit a site called ThePlantedTank - http://www.plantedtank.net/ and join their forums (or simply peruse).  Their information is excellent (though I still disagree strongly with medicating a display system).  
>Many Thanks, Jim Davidson
>>You're welcome.  Marina

Plant trouble
Hi Sabrina,
Thank you very much for your answer, I was really happy to receive it had to get so much personal attention, it was amazing, thank you again.  
<No problem - that's what we're here for ;) >
Well, I realized that I have a Cryptocoryne plant (I think I spelled it right)  
<'y' instead of 'I' - Cryptocoryne - but hey, close enough!>
and it usually dies off (this is what I have been told)  I am supposed to wait for it to regenerate later or clip all its leaves off and then see what happens.  
<Umm, this is common practice with some Aponogeton species, but I've not heard of this being done with any Cryptocoryne species.  Perhaps you can find more about them here:  http://users.bart.nl/~crypts/index.html - there's more info on Crypts there than you can shake a stick at!>
And the CO2 generator seemed to be too complicated to set all by myself, so I went to the store and bought a pretty cheap one, I thought though, I will make my own solution instead of buying theirs and may be hook it to my own bottle.  
<Sounds like a plan.>
So if it is possible I will save money on refills.  
<Yup.>
(thanks for giving me the website though, I am not much of a technical person I even do not know where is a powerhead, so there was no way I could have hooked up my own (I have a tank for maybe 4 months and have never had one before).  
<Well, welcome to the hobby, then!>
I still wondered how can I improve my light situation, yes, I have a black lid hood with one strip of light on it.  If I can do that by buying the hood with glass lid and then put 4 strips of light instead of 2, then I would do it, I don't think they are expensive.  
<A lot of this depends on what size tank you have, and what kind of plants you wish to keep....>
And then I have one more question: what ph level should I keep in my tank with added CO2 so it does not kill the fish
<Again, depends on what plants and fish you have/wish to have.  A good plant book will help you in the plant hunt, and here's a nice website to browse:  http://www.tropica.com/default.asp .  You can find out pH tolerances of your fish (and so much more info) at: http://www.fishbase.org/ .>
and how do  I regulate it because my generator does not have any control switches?  
<My approach to this was to use two such systems, and alternate when I change out the yeast mix, so when one's petering out, the other's going strong.  Otherwise, test your pH in the evening right before you turn off the light, then again in the morning right before you turn the light on again.  You're aiming for stability, here, so if the two readings are the same or very close, you're okay.  If the readings are significantly different, you may want to disable your CO2 at night.>
Well thank you for your answers in advance and I really appreciate you taking your time.  Lina
<You bet, Lina.  Any time.  Wishing you well,  -Sabrina>