100litre tank

In my opinion, the best root tabs are Seachem Flourish. I also use Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement as a liquid fertiliser.

NannaLou has answered the sand question - Argos play sand. Play sand does tend to be dusty so it needs a good wash.


Superfish data is tricky to find as it's on the website of the parent company, Aquadistri. The info is in various pdfs which have to downloaded to view. They include one for aquariums and one for lighting.

The Superfish Start 100 has a retrofit Bright LED. According to the lighting pdf this has
10290 Lux
167 Par
12390 Kelvin

which is not suitable for plants, I'm afraid. But they do make two other LED tubes - Colour, with a K rating of 5990 and Combi with a K rating of 7680. @Byron should be able to tell you which is the better replacement.


Edit to add screenshot from the lighting pdf

Lighting pdf.jpg
 
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In my opinion, the best root tabs are Seachem Flourish. I also use Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement as a liquid fertiliser.

NannaLou has answered the sand question - Argos play sand. Play sand does tend to be dusty so it needs a good wash.


Superfish data is tricky to find as it's on the website of the parent company, Aquadistri. The info is in various pdfs which have to downloaded to view. They include one for aquariums and one for lighting.

The Superfish Start 100 has a retrofit Bright LED. According to the lighting pdf this has


which is not suitable for plants, I'm afraid. But they do make two other LED tubes - Colour, with a K rating of 5990 and Combi with a K rating of 7680. @Byron should be able to tell you which is the better replacement.


Edit to add screenshot from the lighting pdf

Thank you very much I couldn't find any info on it
 

This is a good website (not necessarily for buying from) but they have very good descriptions of care needs.View attachment 156165

EDIT: to add correct link
That will be very helpful thank you
 
which is not suitable for plants, I'm afraid. But they do make two other LED tubes - Colour, with a K rating of 5990 and Combi with a K rating of 7680. @Byron should be able to tell you which is the better replacement.
I will wait to see if @Byron has any advice.
In my opinion that starter kit was my first tank and the light has grown the plants very well
 
Concerning the three lights. I hope you do not have the LED Bright because with a colour temperature (expressed by the K number) of over 12000K you will have plant issues and problem algae. The best is the LED Colour with 5990K. The LED Combi might work but I would not choose it over the LED Colour.

I'll briefly explain the Kelvin numbers and why they matter. This is the colour temperature of light. White light is made up of wavelengths that are colours; think of light shining through a prism, or a rainbow; those bands of colour are what makes the white light. The K number indicates the colour mix. The lower the number, the "warmer" the white light because it is higher in red; the higher the number, the "cooler" the white light because it is higher in blue. Mid-day sun is in the 5500K-6500K range. This is high in the red, blue and green, and that is important for plants.

Plant photosynthesis is driven by red and blue light, and primarily red. Adding green to this mix does improve plant growth, though not because of photosynthesis. It is close to the sun and plants after all have evolved to grow under the sunlight, so this should not be a surprise.

Much LED is high in the blue because this light penetrates water better than red and green. This is why marine tanks with corals have high blue light, "cool" white. That is what corals have evolved to use. But freshwater plants do not grow at such depths; most are in streams and creeks that are shallow, or many of them are amphibious and spend half the year emersed. Red light is able to get to the leaves, and this is the prime driver of photosynthesis.

Another benefit of light in the 5000K to 6500K is a true rendition of colours of fish and plants.

This is very general but it should get the issue across. Algae can take advantage of any light, so if the plants cannot use it because of the colour, algae will. This is why tanks with high blue (cool white) lighting often have algae issues.
 
You mean algae problems like that.
I'm annoyed with myself that it got like this but it happened over about 2 days.
I also ran out of water conditioner so I'm currently waiting for that to arrive.
I would cut it out but it is helping to keep the water clean until I can get the water conditioner then I'll cut it all out and do a big water change.
By the way it is having no negative affect on the fish they are just as healthy as they where before.
You can't see any at the minute because they are hiding cause I just turned the lights on.
I'm sorry I let it get like this.
 

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The bright led light came with the tank.
I'll replace it as soon as possible or as I said earlier would I be able to take the lid and rim of the tank and put another light on it
 
I don't know the tank design, but if you can get a LED Colour to fit the existing cover, that should be fine. I don't have much experience with LED so I won't suggest other brands.
 

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