Bowfront 180 Litres

[Biulu]

So, the plants made it more or less well. They are a bit damaged, but I think they will pick up. As I had said before I only left my T5s on during my absence. On the left hand side is a 6500K and on the right hand side a 10000K. I love the colour of this combination, as you can see in the following picture. Sorry for the mess but this is right after coming home and I have not yet done the maintenance...

However, the right hand side has considerable more algae. The leaves of the reineckii and also the cryptocoryne have BBA?

There is also some algae on the anubia, but I think I can sort that out with the java fern I bought, so I can shade it.

So, what I am thinking of doing now is to look for 2 T8s 9 - 10000 K for the back and put 2 T5 6500 K in the middle. The reason I am looking for T8s is that I know I can only get easily T5 of 6500 K. I think this will be better and avoid algae. What do you experts say?

 

[ian]

What is the flow like in the tank? Is the liquid c getting the the affected areas?

I think the tank looks awesome! Very natural jungle like.

 

[Biulu]

Thank you ianho! I think you might be right about the flow. Although, as there is little flow, it is easier for me to spot dose... I have been thinking though to buy a power head. Especially since I bought a bolbitis and I understood that they only thrive in tanks with sufficient current. Can you confirm this?

 

[Biulu]

A quick update, pictures follow later.

So I planted the plants I brought from Europe. Unfortunately the lindernia and the limnophila didn't survive the trip... From the lindernia I still have the stalks, but without leaves. I will leave them in for the moment and see if they recover...

That leaves me though again with 2 open spaces: one on the left hand side in the back for which I will probably by H. polisperma again and in the middle behind the wood where the hydrocotyle didn't thrive. I am not sure though what to put there.

I think the java fern on the wood looks good and will shade the anubia enough to avoid algae. The bolbitis doesn't look too good, but hope it will recover as the rhizome looks very healthy and green. I will install the powerhead soon.

The alternanthera is growing, but I still have the algae problem. I am dosing liquid carbon every day and hope it will go away.

The only plant I am really satisfied with at the moment is my tigerlotus. It is growing nicely and steadily though staying low, which I want.

 

[Biulu]

So here are the pics. First a full tank shot. As you can see I pruned the cabomba quite a lot. As I said before, I find it too messy and would like to get rid of it, but my hope is vanishing now the limnophilia died on me...

As you can see here, I am putting small plantlets of java fern on the wood. I hope it will slowly cover it while still showing some of the wood. You can also see my tiger lotus (my pride):

In this picture you can see the new java fern and the bolbitis on the wood. I am afraid the bolbitis will not survive. Tomorrow I will be putting a power head in to make sure I have more current which they seem to like.

And this is the empty space left by the lindernia that died. I plan to try the H. polisperma again. Last time it got eaten, but I think I have put my automatic feeder now on more generous portions,so maybe it will be ok this time.

What do you think? Comments are welcome...

 

[ian]

you have a lot of GDA on the glass and BBA on the leaves, Lu. How long have you been dosing the liquid c? I think (i know you haven't put the wattage on the forum) you may have to either lower the lighting or go pressurised. Both algaes are indicative of low C02. I'm not sure the liquid C alone can handle the light coming into the tank.

 

[SuperColey1]

you have a lot of GDA on the glass and BBA on the leaves, Lu. How long have you been dosing the liquid c? I think (i know you haven't put the wattage on the forum) you may have to either lower the lighting or go pressurised. Both algaes are indicative of low C02. I'm not sure the liquid C alone can handle the light coming into the tank.

I think its a flow problem although I wouldn't dose liquid C on a tank that size. Liquid C is no match for actual C of any kind.

You shouldn't need Anubias to be shaded to avoid algae on them. Low light plants doesn't mean they need low light. Mine are out in the open with no shade.

As for the lighting I am pretty confused as to what you have at the moment. Seems you have made quite a few changes.

I wonder why you don't use standard T5s if you can get them easier. No point using T5HO if they aren't needed especially if they are harder to source.

Also with you spending so much on different tubes here and there I would've though just buying a ballast to rung a couple of full length T8 or T5 (standard) would be more cost effective.

Bolbitis is a strange plant It seems to die without CO2 and thrive with CO2. I have a rhizome in my main tank which has been back and forth over the past year or so. No leaves on it. Didn't work in non CO2, didn't work in liquid C added. however it is sprouting leaves in the DIY setup.

Ignore the 'high flow/low flow suggestions for plants. High flow removes detritus from the leaves but the plant isn't bothered. If it were people wouldn't be able to grow Bolbitus close to the substrate with standard low filter turnover.

Also what are you dosing at the moment. The staghorn does suggest too much light for the CO2 level but it may be just under that one super high light on the right (if it is still the T5HO there)

AC

 

[ian]

I think its a flow problem although I wouldn't dose liquid C on a tank that size. Liquid C is no match for actual C of any kind.

I still think theres to much light over the tank, as i say we don't know the wattage, but 2xT5 and 2xT8 at whatever wattage over a 180l tank is alot of light, just to be dosing liquid c. I did suggest to up the flow earlier in the thread, however i don't believe the GSA will be affected by flow. I was looking at a tank on UKAPS the other day with 30+ turnover an hour and there was still GSA on the glass.

Lu, did say earlier in the thread that she goes away for a month or two at a time so she didn't really want to be dealing with C02.

 

[SuperColey1]

Gsa can be affected indirectly by the flow. In that the flow doesn't spread the C/CO2 round properly and therefore etc.

I don't think the lights are that big to be honest If I am thinking correctly the T8s and T5s are not full length. They meet in the middle or are much shorter than the full length at least.

It is also quite a tall tank. Also has it got a glass top inbetween the lights? That would knock PAR down by 50%!!!

AC

 

[Biulu]

Thanks for the help ianho and Andy! First of all, it is an acrylic tank, which is open. It only has a piece of acrylic in the middle to reinforce the tank. For the wattage: I have 2 x 15 W T8 (4100 K) and I have 2 x 14 W T5 (one 6500 and the other 10000 K). Now I know I have to make some changes there. Either I go with a 2 T5s 6500 or I go with 2 T5s 10000. Where the alternanthera is on the right is where I have the 10000.

While I am there I am dosing every day 5 ml of liquid carbon (Azoo, is more concentrated than Seachem) and it is supposed to be for 200 litres (mine is 180). My main problem is that I go away regularly for work (next week for another 3 weeks) so dosing is irregular. While I am there I dose 2x a week potassium and nitrogen. While away I only leave the 2 T8s on for 8 hrs a day. When I am there the full lights are on for 8 hrs a day.

i mainly dose the liquid carbon to help getting the plants grow in the beginning. I do not plan on doing this forever...

I have a Marineland C 220, which means I have only 6x turnover. That is one of the reasons why I want to add a powerhead.

My current stocking: 3 angels (mid size, not yet fully grown), 9 cherry barbs, 3 rams, 2 yoyo loaches, 6 congos (not yet fully grown) and 2 cories. The latter I need to up the numbers, but every time I buy new ones, the new ones die on me (partly during the long trip). So I am not sure what to do here.

So my main question is: what should I change my T5 for? And should I be installing the powerhead? What about the liquid carbon?

 

[Biulu]

Unfortunately, I didn't get any replies on my questions...
So this is what I did: I reduced the photo period to 6 hours (from 8), I added 1 otoclincus, I installed the powerhead and I cleaned my filter. I have also reduced the feeding portions. Plus that from tomorrow onwards, I will only be using the T8.

I would still like to know though what to do with my T5s: should I take 2 10000 o 2 6500 K? In the back I have 2 4100K...

 

[ian]

hey Lu, plants don't really care about the K rating of a bulb. Its more the PAR of the bulb. I was lucky when i bought my bulbs, they had the PAR on the side of the packaging. Its more about how it looks aesthetically to you. I have had a chat about the with Andy before. I had a 4000k and a 9000k in my tank and have recently changed them over to 2x 9000k and to me it looks so much better. Andy prefers a lower K rating over his tank. I think plants look better with a higher K rating. Nothing higher than a 9000k though.

 

[Biulu]

I was not able to get a 9000, only 10000 K. What about the PAR? How does that work?

 

[ian]

Andy will probably explain PAR better than me, i'm gonna reference this description actually lol, its about the light spectrum, and PAR stands for Photosynthetically Active Radiation.

In the same way fat provides the most efficient calories for humans, red light provides the most efficient food for plants. However, a plant illuminated only with red or orange light will fail to develop sufficient bulk. Leafy growth (vegetative growth) and bulk also require blue light. Many other complex processes are triggered by light required from different regions of the spectrum. The correct portion of the spectrum varies from species to species. However, the quantity of light needed for plant growth and health can be measured, assuming that all portions of the spectrum are adequately covered. Light for plants cannot, however, be measured with the same standards used to measure light for humans. Some basic definitions and distinctions follow that are useful in determining appropriate ways to measure the quantity of light for hydroponic plant growth (Venture lighting, 2010).

the info on the packaging i was talking about look like this...

 

[Biulu]

Mine have that too apart from the 10000 K. I have been reading up a bit about it, but it still confuses me how to determine PAR.

The 2 T8 I have are Dennerle 4000 K with UV-Block (against algae). The T5s are bought locally and don't have the info required. I understand though that you need lamps in the range of 4000 to 10000 to have a good PAR, especially the 4000, 6500 and 9000-1000.

In that sense I would be doing ok...