My first tropical freshwater tank! :)

Does the new light have a K rating? Or does the package/website show a diagram of the spectrum? If it's just got blue and white LEDs it is not really good for plants. The light needs to have some red in there too.
When the original clip-on light on my betta's tank broke (the plug-transformer came apart as I was unplugging it to untangle the cables) the replacement had just blue and white with the option for both or just blue. The plants in the tank started to fail. I ended up buying another light which does have red LEDs in it, and a red peak in the spectrum on the package. The plants recovered slowly with the new light.

essjay said:

Does the new light have a K rating? Or does the package/website show a diagram of the spectrum? If it's just got blue and white LEDs it is not really good for plants. The light needs to have some red in there too.
When the original clip-on light on my betta's tank broke (the plug-transformer came apart as I was unplugging it to untangle the cables) the replacement had just blue and white with the option for both or just blue. The plants in the tank started to fail. I ended up buying another light which does have red LEDs in it, and a red peak in the spectrum on the package. The plants recovered slowly with the new light.

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Oh god I don’t know what to do because all the full spectrum LED lights were too big for my tank! It didn’t tell me the K rating on them, iv put two pics underneath here of all the details of the light see what ya think.. I can send it back but I’m really struggling on finding a full spec one suitable for my tank!

Iv ordered the 30-45cm 5w one that’s first on the table below and the other details are in the other pic.

@essjay he’s just messaged me back and said the K rating is 8000 on the one iv ordered is this enough!? And also said the CRI rating is 81.

First of all, don't use the blue only setting, use the blue & white setting. Ideally the K rating should be around 6500.

Try it and see. If the plants seem to be suffering, would it be possible to get a red light to supplement this one?

essjay said:

First of all, don't use the blue only setting, use the blue & white setting. Ideally the K rating should be around 6500.

Try it and see. If the plants seem to be suffering, would it be possible to get a red light to supplement this one?

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Would you say the K rating is too much then!? And yeah I suppose I could look for just a red LED or message him and ask him to tell me as soon as the full spectrum lights come for the measurement of my tank!

Update after 3 days!!

Things have been a bit mental so didn’t post after Wednesday! Anyway, woke up Thursday morning and did my water checks and the Ammo still hadn’t dropped back down to 0 (it’s always 0 once Iv done my water change) even after not feeding the previous night! These were the results:

19/03 -
Ammo: 0-0.2 (same as Wednesday)
Nitrite: between 0-0.25 (above Wednesdays result)
Nitrate: between 0-2.5 (below Wednesdays result)

Following these results I did a 75% water change and I also had to rinse the sponge in the filter out I’m the water from the tank because it seemed to be running slower on the spray bar but I think that’s more due to the spray bar needing to be cleaned! I need to get a thin wire brush from somewhere!! Anyway my new heater came in the post, I have ordered a smaller one (25w) because the 50w, with a guard on might I add, which is a bit pointless was unnecessarily big for my 25l. (another mistake of letting the shop sell it me) So I pulled out my old heater when I did the water change and put the new one in. I didn’t feed them Thursday night. Now what happened the next day totally shocked me!!! Results for Friday were:

Ammo: 0.5!!!! Shot up completely from Thursday! I was gutted considering I hadn’t even fed them or anything!
Nitrite: between 0-0.25 (same as a Thursday)
Nitrate: 2.5 (went up from Thursday!)

Now the only different things I did the previous day was put the new heater in and rinse out the filter sponge! Telling me that’s what caused the high increase of Ammo!? What on earth!? The temp hadn’t changed iv got a thermometer in there so always check it just incase! Anyway I didn’t dwell on it and just changed 75% of the water and siphoned the sand as well! Maybe because I hadn’t siphoned the sand since they eat Tuesday night!? Iv done water changes every day since then but not siphoned! God knows anyway did both those things and tested the Ammo straight after and it was 0 thank god. I fed this fish last night as this was only the 2nd time of me feeding them this week, fed them a very little amount!

I did my usual tests today and the results were:

Ammo: between 0-0.2 (still not 0!!! So frustrating! Only had one 0 result after the next morning of water changes and that was the 10th of March !)
Nitrite: between 0-0.25 (same as Thursday and hasn’t been 0 since the 18th where it was zero for four days in a row!)
Nitrate: between 0-2.5 (much better than yesterday!)

I was much happier with these results but just wish my Ammo and Nitrites would reach 0 again! After this I did a 75% water change and siphoned the sand because of feeding last night! I have also rinsed the new little filter and filter sponge in my tank water. I have purchased the new little filter to put in my tank so it can build up beneficial bacteria ready for the quarantine tank for my shrimp and I’m hoping this extra filter helps to cycle the bloody tank quicker! I know I maybe being impatient but getting slightly frustrated now!

On a brighter note my new LED light came today! Iv had to get a light that just sits on top of the tank instead of clips because of the wall thickness of my tank! Nightmare, anyway I haven’t been able to find a fill spectrum one other than paying an arm and leg for one! I did find one suitable for my tank but it was out of stock! Instead of not buying anything, I decided on a white and blue LED with 6500k, 5w and 650 lumens for my 25l. I’m hoping this does the job for my tank until I get my full spectrum LED! Hoping it makes my frogbit grow like mad at the top now and il be planting my amazon swords and pennywort tomorrow once iv put my tropica nutrition capsules in my sand! the iron test kit is working a treat as well so I know when to dose my iron liquid fertiliser!

I now also have an open tank after removing the lid to put the new light on, which is what I plan on having throughout the house as I LOVE the open tank look! Iv purchased 1000l of distilled water to top up any evaporation that happens inbetween water changes and can only see what the results are tomorrow now! I won’t be feeding them tonight and will test the water parameters tomorrow hoping for 0 Ammo and Nitrites but will see!

Posted a pic and video below of my fishes they seem to love the new light and I love how much the blue brings out thier Neon stripes! p.s excuse my step son burping! Lol

Looks fabulous!
Persevere with the testing and results. Minimal feeding and water changes is the most effective way of avoiding a toxic build up of ammonia and nitrite but remember the fish also produce some nitrogen just through respiration. The only way to properly stop this accumulating is by completing the cycle so that there are enough beneficial bacteria to deal with it. This means you must leave the filter alone for now.

Naughts said:

Looks fabulous!
Persevere with the testing and results. Minimal feeding and water changes is the most effective way of avoiding a toxic build up of ammonia and nitrite but remember the fish also produce some nitrogen just through respiration. The only way to properly stop this accumulating is by completing the cycle so that there are enough beneficial bacteria to deal with it. This means you must leave the filter alone for now.

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Thanks for your advice! I know it’s just frustrating isn’t it! And I know I need to leave the filter alone now I need to get a thin wire brush for the spray bar so it doesn’t affect the water agitation! just done my results and it’s the same as yesterday...

Ammo: between 0-0.2
Nitrite: between 0-0.25
Nitrate: between 0-2.5

Going to do a 50% water change in a min and put my my plants in!

Absolutely LOVE my new jungle! Can I just say it was a pain in the bum to do though!! Took me nearly an hour and a half in total with the water change as well! But the fish seem to love it! Loads of new hiding places and exploring! Just hoping the blue and white lights are enough for them to thrive for now! I popped the capsules in the sand before planting so hoping that helps a lot! Cant wait to see the swords start growing out of my tank!

Urgent help needed please!!!
Ok so since my LIVE plants have gone in my tank and iv put an extra filter in there my Ammo is through the roof!! Yes as in between 1.0-2.0!!! My Ammo hasn’t been that high since having the tank!! I’m absolutely shocked and astounded! Yes iv been doing 50%-75% EVERY DAY water changes and siphoning the sand the morning after feeding and I only fed them twice last week! A very very tiny amount!! I’m ready to rip all the plants out I’m so angry!! Can’t believe what’s happened!! Any help or advice would be really appreciated!! At my wits end considering I was nearing the end of my cycle! (Was 5 weeks at the weekend)

My nitrites are 0 and nitrate is between 0-2.5