Tank Circulation

[fishclubgirl]

Hmmm, my way of getting rid of algae is add more plants. Vince, even Dave H. agreed with me on this :smokey: there's only so many nutrients in the water and the plants will take them away from the algae. There's plenty of plants that are for "dummies"(like me, don't need CO2, etc). Just a low tech thought from a low tech person(who doesn't clean algae either!!)

[heff]

Yeah, that's my other option. I keep waiting for them to grow and "get more" that way. I should probably just get some more.

The ground is about 60% covered but it's only about half height in the tank, so I'd have to say that my tank is 25-30% full of plants.

Any other easy, fast grower suggestions than what I've already got? I've some hygro, crypt, moneywort, xmas moss, a tiny java fern sprout, some type of broad leaf sword, and a floating chunk of what i think is a limnophila sessiliflora. I REALLY don't want to try another hornwort since my last one made a hell of a mess.

[fishclubgirl]

There's always vals, I've got a lovely 8' one that would take up the whole tank and then some. Also, there's the plant that we dareth not speak it's name......... duckweed.

[heff]

I kid you not, when I planted my one and only val, my crypt seemed to spread out and shade it. Then when I moved it, the crypt grew even more. It was like it became sentient!

By the time I got aggressive and removed half of the crypt, the val had entirely died off. Maybe I could get a bigger one.

[ubr0ke]

yup

Edited November 19, 2010 by ubr0ke

[jvision]

If you can find a few Vals to start, it'd be a lot easier than trying to get just 1 to grow. There are a bunch of Anubias species that are easy to grow, and many other swords, Crypts, etc.

[heff]

My only concern with swords was that I thought most of them were mid to high light. However, I do have one that seems to be putting out new leaves relatively frequently, thought they are kinda reddish (I'm leaning toward it being an Echinodorus ozelot).

I do want to replace the glass in my hood since it's a bit old, etched and stained. Cleaning it has done nothing to help. I figure that I can probably spend $10 at crystal glass and they'll be able to do it for me.

Edited November 19, 2010 by heff

[EDGE]

The lower you go in Kelvin, 3000k, the more red spectrum the bulb produce. You can go with Philips T8 bulbs from Home depot. Look for a bulb close to 5000k. Anything from 4100k and down will throw off the color in the tank. The tank will look orange. If you do go with 1 - 3000k to 4100k bulb, add 1 to 2 6500k (daylight bulb) to balance out the color.

Echinodorus Parviflorus 'Tropica' is low to medium light and is one of the dwarf sword variety.

Edited November 21, 2010 by EDGE

[heff]

Thx for the suggestions Edge.

[heff]

While doing a glass scrub, 20-30% water change and replanting some cuttings from growing plants, I had the lid off my tank and decided on a whim to scrub the glass plate separating my light from my tank with a little vinegar I had sitting around.

Not 30 minutes after having everything back together do I notice tons of air bubbles under the leaves of my sword, hygro and even my xmas moss.

I'll post in a little while if this seemingly obvious part of tank maintenance does anything...

[heff]

This is turning into a journal (btw, how do I get one of those?)...

Because I'm lucky enough to work nine hours a day about two feet from my tank, I can watch what happens as it happens.

The O2 bubbles produced after doing the water change must have been a direct result of the plants consuming the CO2 from the water change, not necessarily from the light-glass scrub. A day afterward, the oxygen bubbles have dropped off completely.

Back to considering CO2 with my 1.4 wpg...

[jvision]

The bubbles may also have been gases dissolved in the water coming out of solution. You can get a journal by sending a PM to Tanker.