Ok Currently I got a 50-55 gallon tank and have it planted. I have some Java Fern, Valliseneri (I think thats how its spelled) and another plant (not sure what it is but I think a family of crypto) which is doing great. I want to add a couple of amazon swords and maybe 1-2 mosimo balls. I currently have 2 T5HO lighting but no Co2 and dont plan on buying CO2 kit. I might get rid of the Java Fern and Valliserni because I dont like how they look compared to Amazon Swords.
My question is what stuff should I dose my plants with to make them excel? Because I dont know much about dosing chemicals for plants nor the frequency to do it. So can someone show me some epecific products, etc I usually shop at Big Als, Petsmart but can also go to La Niche.
Amazon swords, crypts and vals are all root feeders. You need root tabs for them. As for water column dosing, you could dose Flourish and Flourish Trace. I think thats what some other low-tech planted folks have been using. Watch that the lighting isn't too much if you are not planning on dosing co2 ( there is the liquid option - Flourish Excel btw ) as that could lead to algae issues. You can raise the light higher it you get algae issues initially to see if that helps.
Ok I currently have the Fluorite Excel (liquid) and I keep getting algea on my glass is that the reason?
What does water column dosing mean?
So would I need root tabs and Flourite Excel (thats it?) How long should my lights be on for? How about frequency of dosing?
As a bit of a backround to those who are reading this, there's another thread involving this guy's aquarium:
http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=54675.0
If you have algae issues then yes that could mean that there is too much light since you dont dose fertilizer nor co2. The liquid Flourish Excel is a co2 substitute but are you following the directions? Water column dosing is what you referred to as "dosing chemicals for plants" - its dosing the water with ferts. If you are going the low-tech route, perhaps try raising the lights higher and keep your photo-period to 6-8 hours maybe? Start with 6 first and then increase the photo period if you don't see algae. If you are keeping the Java Fern, i'd recommend the Flourish Comprehensive and Flourish Trace since that plant gets nutrients from the water column, not the substrate - Java Fern is not planted into the substrate.
There may be others who'll chime in with their personal experiences but I followed the directions on the bottles pretty much and did fine - then I made a jump to high-tech.
How much does hi-tech cost you?
Quote from: masoud100 on October 03, 2012, 03:01:54 PM
How much does hi-tech cost you?
Masud, high tech can be more problems if you don`t have a firm understanding of the relationship of light ,Plants & Nutrients, not trying to deter you but it`s a harder balance than a low tech. set up.
My advise to you is continue researchig the relationship of Light,Plants & Nutrients while mastering a low tech tank before going that route, you will be much happier in the long run.
Regards
This sticky is a good starting point for research,
http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=35307.0
Regards
Quote from: masoud100 on October 03, 2012, 02:23:21 PM
... I currently have 2 T5HO lighting but no Co2 and dont plan on buying CO2 kit...
Like Rah and Errol are saying you can dose tabs and liquid fertilizer. The best liquid fert available imo is the seachem flourish comp. But your lighting is definitely too strong for your setup. You can raise the fixture above the tank maybe 12 inches but I think you'll find the algae issues will persist. If you don't want to invest in CO2 then I'd recommend reducing the fixture from two to one bulb for now, and fertilize once a week.
Quote from: exv152 on October 03, 2012, 05:57:01 PMyour lighting is definitely too strong for your setup. You can raise the fixture above the tank maybe 12 inches but I think you'll find the algae issues will persist.
Interesting! Don't want to thread jack here, but I also have a T5HO fixture. It's a quad lamp but I only have 2 in it. I was planning on using it on a 50 gal, and assumed 78w (1.56 wpg) would be fine.
What about placing a layer of fiberglass window screen between the lamp and tank (or between the lamp and reflector)?
Ok after looking at the sticky and reading aabout lighting it says I should strive for 2WPG. Well I cant remember how many wats my light produce but I got two bulbs and I believe for my 50 gallon there is like close to 100Watts which make it 2WPG?
But say I have my both lights on for 4 hours a day and then later only keep 1 light on for another 3 hours should it be good. Should I get the Siamese and Chinease Algae eaters now in order to clean all my algae. I see my Red Tail Shark cleaning my tank.
The only thing about the WPG measurement is it's really easy to do, but it is not an accurate measurement of light intensity because of the different types of light bulbs out there. T8, T12, T5NO, T5HO, PC, etc are all different. Lighting is not like fertilizers where you can measure it by watts. PAR is the only way to properly measure light.
@exv152 I just looked at your gallery and I see a picture of a 75 gallon planted tank with angelfish. Is that a co2 tank or just regular low planted tank. Because if its not a Co2 tank I want you to build my tank for me ASAP
Thanks, but that was a high tech tank with tons of co2, PC light and daily ferts. If you want to do low tech, check this guy's article out, it works well, I've used something similar on a 125g.http://www.sudeepmandal.com/hobbies/planted-aquarium/low-tech-planted-tank-guide/ (http://www.sudeepmandal.com/hobbies/planted-aquarium/low-tech-planted-tank-guide/)
@exv152- Out of my whole time on this forum you have given me the best advice by showing me that link. I have learned a lot from reading that article. So now I am going to just use my 1 bulb from now on, and just a question. In the pictures on the article one of the plants that is short but looks like grass and is everywhere. What is that called I want it ASAP
just checked my bulbs and they each are 54 watts. when I removed one from the fixture it would not light up winless I had both what tks do
In that situation, some people hide the second bulb with foil over the plexi shield. Just be careful of flammability!
Alternatively, a different light. Aquatic life fixtures work with only one bulb in. (That's what I have)
Hello Masoud, as a beginner in planted tanks you have taken the right steps by asking questions, especially on this forum, as you have discovered there are a lot of folks in the planted tank niche who is willing to help, some will help on line & others are gracious to actually show you their tanks & guide you, i highly encourage you to grab the opportunity of seeing as much tanks in person & chat with the owners, if you are like me you will learn a lot more that way & have a better tool box to decide what type of planted tank you would like try.
BTW i`m one such person that can show you my set ups & have a good chat one on one.
Welcome to OVAS you are in good company
Regards
Thank you charlie. The article that was posted on this thread regarding low tech plant setups it says to fill your aquarium with fast growing low tech stem plants. Can you please show me what plants to get and from where. So I can go and buy the plants. As I would like to have my tank plant setup done by Tuesday latest and also before that buy a T5H0 bulb with lower wats in the 25 and under range.
Quote from: masoud100 on October 04, 2012, 02:46:00 PMThank you charlie. The article that was posted on this thread regarding low tech plant setups it says to fill your aquarium with fast growing low tech stem plants. Can you please show me what plants to get and from where. So I can go and buy the plants...
Hygrophila is a really easy plant to grow and doesn't demand a lot of light. If you call around the local stores they may have some in stock. I started with this plant a few years back and I still use it today, great beginner plant.
Asian/dwarf ambulia, anacharis, cabomba are also other plants that I find are fast-growing and good beginner plants as alternatives.
Quote from: masoud100 on October 04, 2012, 02:46:00 PM
Thank you charlie. The article that was posted on this thread regarding low tech plant setups it says to fill your aquarium with fast growing low tech stem plants. Can you please show me what plants to get and from where. So I can go and buy the plants. As I would like to have my tank plant setup done by Tuesday latest and also before that buy a T5H0 bulb with lower wats in the 25 and under range.
I could be wrong, but I don't think you can buy lower wattage T5HO bulbs. A 36" is 39 watts, a 48" is 54 watts, etc... it's just the nature of the beast. Standard T5 (non-HO) bulbs will work in the T5HO ballast, and they are a lower wattage, but they will run at a higher output, "overclocked" if you will, thus their lifespan will be reduced.
I'm faced with the same problem as you, I have T5HO as well and I've decided to use fiberglass window screen to go in between the lamps and the tank to cut down on the light. I cut it to the right size and just lay it on top of the clear acrylic splash shield inside the light fixture. Maybe my fixture is different than yours, but you should be able to find a way to do this with a little creativity. I'm not sure if this cuts it down enough, nobody answered my question, but it's what I'm doing and seems to be doing well so far.
As for easy, fast growing plants, have a look at the plant profiles on plantedtank and on aquatic plant central. Most of them are easily available at local shops, or someone in the club might sell you some when they do some pruning. Buy a membership and put a call out in the classifieds for the ones that strike your fancy.
Here are the links to the sites mentioned above...
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myPlants.php
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/index.php
Well I just bought a T5 bulb/lamp from PetsMart and it is I believe 28 Watts Colour Enhancing. So now instead of the two 54 T5HO Bulbs on I got one 54watt T5H0 and one 28watt T5 Colour Enhancing. So now my lighting should be good. How is the wisteria plant I saw them today and liked it but waiting for forum members before buying.
I also realized I have Hygrophilia as it was my first plant I bought and it has grown alot and I like it. I will also be posting pictures of my tank sometime after Friday Night around 1-2am. Maybe after seeing the pic forum members can help me with my aquascaping.
Quote from: masoud100 on October 05, 2012, 12:25:31 AM
Well I just bought a T5 bulb/lamp from PetsMart and it is I believe 28 Watts Colour Enhancing. So now instead of the two 54 T5HO Bulbs on I got one 54watt T5H0 and one 28watt T5 Colour Enhancing. So now my lighting should be good. How is the wisteria plant I saw them today and liked it but waiting for forum members before buying.
As I said in my previous post, you can use the regular T5 bulb in a T5HO ballast but it will run at a HIGHER output and a reduced lifespan. I don't think you accomplished what you needed to there, but it's your money. From what I've been learning, the watt rating of the bulb isn't the only determining factor when it comes to T5HO. The light output of a 28 watt T5HO is much more intense than a normal 28 watt bulb. You still have too much light I think, but I'm not an expert.
For your question about the water wisteria plant, did you not look at the 2 links I posted? It's listed there.
Thanks 76biran just read it again and yes Wisteria if good for my tank. I am going to be getting a lot of plants by Wednesday from PetsMart or Big Als and kind of want opinions on which plants I should get.
If you can't change your light, just reduce the number of hours. It works the same. If you tinkering with the wattage, you will do more harm than good for your fixture in the long run.
I have been following this thread and like charlie said, it is all about balance. All I can add is patient. When you buy new stem plants from LFS, they usually need a few weeks to adapt to your low tech tank. There is no need to buy a bunch at the same time. On the fish side...don't buy Chinese algae eater, SAE is better only when they are young and in a group. SAE will be less productive and become aggresive as they grow older. Oto cat and BN plecos is your other choice for algae clean up crew.
happy planting
Ok so your saying it is better for me to have both 54 watt (combined 108 watts) on for a brief amount of time than to have one 54 watt and one 28 watt (combined 82 watt)? Also by me having a T5 28 watt in a T5H0 fixture will it ruin my fixture or just reduce the light expectency of the 28 watt bulb from a yr to like 6 months? Also I already got a Golden Algae Eater before I saw the post.
If having both 54watt is the better option how many hours should I keep it on for? I will them exchange the light (28 watt) for a 36 inch light and put it on my normal fixture that came with the tank and use it as a display light when my T5H0 lights are off.
Also it was said to buy very little plants and not a lot at once? why is that? Because most places have deals like buy 3 get 1 free, etc
PS. I am trying to upload my picture of the tank but my file is too big what should I do
overdriving a bulb means extra heat. overheating an electronic device is never a good thing. Since the different is only 26 watts, why not just use the original bulbs. The amount of hours is depends on your setup. If it a low tech, should start very low and increase gradually. Remember preventing algae is a lot better you trying to clean them off.
If you buy a lot of plants at the same time, you need to feed them. They also may die off and create organic waste thus affecting your cycle. There is also a chance that they might carry some parasites. You are dealing with too many variables early in the game.
Well, I've got a Coralife High output 96W = 6400K on a 36gal tank. Yes, I've my foot on the pedal like Charlie says. But my lights are still on for 8hrs a day on a timer. Then I've got air flow going in during the night to help with oxygenation.
What I did to reduce the intensity is to spray a frost paint on the top of the glass. This helped quite a bit as my plants were looking spindly from growing too fast. And not enough nutrients especially that the tank was only put together last november. It took several months, almost 6 months to get the hand of fertz and the right plants.
Like you I wanted it to look full, with a lawn in the forefront. Well I still don't have my lawn because I haven't found a low light version yet but the plants that helped filling in the tank and grew very fast was the Water sprite, it will grow as tall as the tank is, same thing as hygrophilia.
Give yourself a chance to understand all the relations, me too, things were growing well for the first few weeks then all of a sudden the plants started dying. Then you have to diagnose what the problem is and that takes time.
BTW - to make you photo smaller either reduce the resolution to 72dpi or make the size smaller to 800x600 pixels. The size is probably easier to do by using windows photo editing tool. Or post them on a photo site and link to it.
So your saying I should keep my lights on for about 8 hours? The combined 108watt? Also I have uploaded a pic of my tank and would like opinions
Quote from: masoud100 on October 07, 2012, 03:57:43 PM
So your saying I should keep my lights on for about 8 hours?
No, what people are saying is you need to find the balance for your lighting on your tank. Start with 3-4 hours a day and see how the plants do. If its not enough, add and hour. If you get to the point where the plants are doing well and the algae is also doing well cut back a little bit so the algae stops growing, but the plants are still doing well.
I have an 8 light fixture over my 125 gallon tank and I only run two bulbs running for 8 hours a day. 4 lights on for the same amount of time makes the algae take over the tank in less than a week. It took me a month to figure out that this was the right formula for MY tank and MY light fixture.
So how will I know whether to add more hours or decrease more hours? Also I was going to use the 28 watt as my viewing light on my original normal fixture. Is it okay will it increase algae if say I got my T5H0's on for like 5 hours and then later in the day have my regular 28 watt on for 4 hours?
Do you have java fern planted in substrate? The roots of the java fern need to be exposed to the water column by being tied to driftwood or rocks
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
yes last night I tied my Java Fern to my driftwood and some to my rock
Quote from: masoud100 on October 07, 2012, 03:57:43 PM
So your saying I should keep my lights on for about 8 hours? The combined 108watt? Also I have uploaded a pic of my tank and would like opinions
Masoud, my advice is for you to get a firm inderstanding of lights in the planted aquarium & how it relates to everything else such as plants - co2 - fertlizer, once you have a good understanding of these ( tools in your tool box) you can then begin a road to happy planted aquariums, even if you encounter a few bumps in the road it will be much easier to steady the ride ;)
Regards
Hi Charlie my tank's algae control is good now as I believe I have my lights on for 5-6 hours 2 T5HO. I have my golden algae eaters, snails, eating up all the algae everytime I see them. My glass is shining now compared to before. Just need to fill my tank completely with plants maybe sometime in a couple days
Thanks to SaZaBaZy for giving me some water wisteria my tank looks pretty good to me for now. Also knows alot about plants, etc and I learned alot from him when going to pick up the plants.
Here is a pic of my new tank look...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89001056@N03/8118056390/in/photostream