jamesbarr Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 (edited) In a previous post, I was having trouble with my pygmy swords yellowing. Thanks for the advice here on AA, my swords are in much better condition now. It was recommended to me that I add root fert tabs to the sub around my chains. I did this, along with my crypts and jungle swords. This has been yielding results, however not as nicely as I had hoped. Realising that the next thing to think about was light, I began to think of an economical way to get the par that I need for my tank. I found an led bar at my local hardware store that I thought would do the trick. I didnt end up with the led fixture as the one I found was too warm in spectrum . Didnt like the look of it. wound up buying an under cabinet mount t8 fixture, put a 18w daylight bulb (generally between 5500k and 6500k from what I can gather) in it and a 20w 18000k plant spectrum bulb in my previous t8 fixture. I now have 38 watts over my tank. I know the thumb rule says that I need more but I dont know how I could get to a medium level of par in my tank without having it appear too bright. My tank dimensions are 36x24x18. My lights are 3/4 inch over the glass and my surface agitation is what I would call medium. I know that I cant expect my chain swords to do really well in a low maintenance tank. I realise that I may eventually need to dose excel to get things really going but I just want to make sure that co2 is the only thing really missing. What are some recommendations that you guys have to get the lighting that I need and not break the bank. Or is what I have good enough? Can I accomplish what I have to with the equipment I have and only change bulbs? Edited February 15, 2013 by jamesbarr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperGuppyGirl Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 I have seen on here people having success with a T5 sunblaster used in green houses. Fairly decent price too.http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=38117&hl=sunblaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Znaika Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 (edited) For my 75 gal tank (48" x 18" x 21") I use two 48" fixtures, each holds two Philips 32W t8 daylight tubes (6500K). The plants grow like crazy; I trim them every second week. Because I have quite a few fish in there, I do not fertilize at all. Edited February 15, 2013 by Znaika Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 Carbon is more necessary than light. Start adding Excel/Metricide or CO2 an you will see a marked improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 If you go with the liquid carbon, I'd definitely go the Metricide route. It is soooo much cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted February 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 in you guys experience, how long is a good amount of time to determine if the carbon is effective? Im reading online that people are seeing results in a couple days all the way to a couple weeks. The other thing that I am reading is that yellowing in leaves is generally a iron deficiency, is this something that you guys would agree with? In particular I mean with my pygmy swords but for future reference as well. Ive started dosing seachems flourish supplement, which has iron in it, but maybe I should think about having more? I like being lowtech, but it seems that I will just not see the results I want without dosing something in my tank. I really want to see my tank sub carpetted in pygmy swords in the end. I say this because I think it may effect the answers I get. Thanks a bunch guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted February 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 If you go with the liquid carbon, I'd definitely go the Metricide route. It is soooo much cheaper. is there a source is edmonton, or is someone willing to sell some to me? I have a bit right now but if Im to start dosing this every other day I think Im going to need more. Plus I read in a previous thread that the shipping cost from calgary to edmonton is the same as the cost of the product itself. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 19, 2013 Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 I have a bunch. If you have an empty Excel bottle, I'll top it up for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted February 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 I have a bunch. If you have an empty Excel bottle, I'll top it up for you. Sweet. Next time Im in edmonton Ill see if you are available. If you want I can PM you or you can pm me your number and Ill get ahold of you that way. Thanks Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Just watch the dose as you can throw the tank into a mini cycle if you throw too much in @ a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted February 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Im currently using excel. I followed the bottle instructions when I got it this past weekend. Seachem recommends 5ml per 10gal for the initial dose. then 1ml per 10 gal daily or every second day there after. Ive been dosing it everyday at 5ml so far after the initial dose on Sunday night. So far things are looking only tiny bits better. Leaves are looking slightly greener and perkier. Im trying to make sure I dont fall into the placebo effect. My tank is 60gal but im too lazy to do the single thread measurement. Im thinking that if they are recommending everyday to every other day then Im not doing any damage by under dosing a ml per day. Im not sure if Im planning to continue doing this forever or not, I may change it to 6ml every other day instead once things get going nicely. Ive also increased my light. Im now running a double t5 (reg output) fixture with 2 daylight bulbs, along with my t8 with the 18000k bulb in it. Im thinking that Im good for light, maybe creeping into high light? Im not too sure how to tell when Im at each level of light. Hopefully Im not doing anything wrong. Im kind of venturing into unfamiliar territory with carbon.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 If you know your doses you'll be fine. I've tested with multi levels of dosing to see effects on plants and it would take multi level dosings to have a large negative effect. A quicker effect would be on nitrifying bacteria. The green will be richer and plants will seem perky. From what I've read glutaraldehyde leaves the WC in 24 hrs, so why people say everyday dosing. 18k imo is too high for plants...i'd use a combo of 67k and 10k. What i'll be doing when I need to replace t5-ho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted February 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 (edited) Im just curious, at what point will lighting begin to bleach plants? In my case is the K going to be the limiting factor or the wattage? If I have 6500k t5 bulbs and one t8 at 18000k is the par going to be stronger because of the kelvin or because of the wattage? Im having a hard time hashing this out. Edited February 24, 2013 by jamesbarr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Kelvin is only a measure of color - the intesity doesn't increase with color temp. Generally, the higher the wattage the more intense the light output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted February 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 thanks jason. I thought that the wpg rule was out tho? is there a way to apply this to t5? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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