I just set up my 10 gallon tank, with some java fern, anubis nana, and anacharis, and my anacharis seems to be very light and thin like it's dying off. I put in 3 bunches, and they all look like this. My only thought is that my pH is a bit high at 7.6. Would this be affecting my anacharis?

I would look at your light. What type? How many watts? What kelvin rating?

Aquarium came with an incandescent Hood, but I replaced those bulbs with 2 x 10 Watt cfl 6700k

Cut the top half of the stems and replant them. Throw out the rest and see how they do. Try floating a strand or two and see how they do. They can be a PITA.

+1 with all the above.

FWIW And IMHO your question is "backwards" in that plants will affect pH much more then the pH affecting the plants. As the tank becomes more and more of a daily carbon dioxide consumer and oxygen producer the pH will rise due to less carbon dioxide. And be sure to measure pH just before lights off.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Both Sag and Val like high ph water. I don't think Java Fern cares. For most aquarium plants, plenty of light is much more important than ph. Extremes in ph should be avoided.

Hello Red...

I've found my plants prefer more acidic water or a pH below 7, but plants are very tolerant and easily adapt to most city water conditions. The last time I tested my water, the pH was 7.6 and in my heavily stocked tanks, the plants grow very well.

Anacharis likes strong light. If you have lighting close to 2 watts per gallon of tank volume, that should be enough. I like to float my Anacharis attached to a piece of floating driftwood. That gets it real close to the light source.

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

I had a ton of Anacharis when I started my 36g. It started out nice and thick, but the taller it grew and the more I cut it and replanted it, the thinner and thinner it became. It really does best when it's not planted... I even had some that "hovered" vertically juuuust above the gravel - held up by other plants - and it did just fine. It didn't matter how deep I planted it, it always up rooted itself at some point during the week. I eventually tossed it all.

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

Now that you mention it, I do remember having trouble with anach before. I want something I can plant as a background plant that will work in my conditions. 10 gallon with 2 wpg and Flora Max substrate. I don't want to have to use a lot of fertilizers. Thoughts?

Wisteria gets tall......most hygros will also get tall and are fairly low maint' plants.

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36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981