George's Journal

[George Farmer]

sorry to follow your lead but i've also just ordered 8 pots of hairgrass (for the front of the 40G) and a tiger lotus lily.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery - I wish you every success my friend. Where have you ordered from?

Not too sure about your lighting. Have you thought of Hagen Life-Glo at 6700K? Possibly Interpet Daylight Plus - I think they're 6500K and are 4-band (rather then the usual 3). If you can get hold of Dennerle Amazon tubes they're 6000K with UV block to minimise algae. You could always squeeze an extra tube in - I have two in front of my Juwel unit as well as one behind making 5 in total.

 

[jimbooo]

Imitation is the highest form of flattery - I wish you every success my friend. Where have you ordered from?

my lfs (the aquatic warehouse) order their stock direct from holland and i've befriended one of the managers so pulled in a favour and added to their trade order. i said nice lush green ones please no half dead stuff.... we'll see fingers crossed.

as to the tubes i've got a jbl catalogue at home, i'll post a link to the tube i'm thinking of tomorrow really am lost in the science now.

i could add another tube but it's a bit precarious already with only a 2 inch feeding hole along the front. if i add another it'll be totally closed and i have my "arm in" every night at some point. (see the reflector burn marks on my arm!!) so not too keen to add another.

 

[George Farmer]

my lfs (the aquatic warehouse) order their stock direct from holland and i've befriended one of the managers so pulled in a favour and added to their trade order. i said nice lush green ones please no half dead stuff.... we'll see fingers crossed.

I'm jealous!

Furthur to your lighting - I would defnitely ditch the OTs (I assume Arcadia Original Tropicals). These are old technology with relatively low intensity. If you like the hue then Tritons are similar but have a much higher output and longer effective life.

 

[jimbooo]

I would defnitely ditch the OTs

great i hate them, horrible colour i thought they were the best for the plants when i started out, not knowing about full spectrum etc..

i am thinking of getting one of these JBL Solar Tropic and one of these JBL Solar Natur

should i replace the ot's with these?

i will then have one each of the above, a 5500K and an arcadia Fresh water.

how does that sound or should i ditch the lot and put 2 each of the JBL tubes?

thanks for all your help by the way.

sorry that link doesn't seem to get you to the product page, it's in technic, lighting, then select product from the drop down list.

 

[George Farmer]

Jimbooo - I don't know anyone or have any personal experience with JBL lighting. I would probably avoid the 9000K totally as it is more suited for marine - the higher blue content may trigger algae growth. The 4000K sounds ok and the spectral curve suits photosynthesis. The warm light would be balanced by your cooler 7500K Arcadia Freshwater.

Personally I would keep your FW and 5500K and replace your 2 OTs with another one or two 5500K or possibly a 4000K JBL.

It is widely acknowledged that 5500K to 6700K is the best colour temp for plants. In my experience though one can have success with many temps. My best tubes are 3000K (I have 3) - Balanced with 1 x 6700K and 1 x 7500K. As long as there isn't too much blue and the tubes are high-output then it more down to personal taste than anything.

Good luck.

Algae update - It is slowly dying off. Looks like my reduced lighting has done the trick. I bought some Dennerle TR7 Peat Bark Extract to help things. Dennerle claim it prevents algae build-up on plants - especially slow growers. It contains humic acids and tannins which create a "tropical" environment for the fish (it doesn't stain the water) and they say it helps to induce spawning. Not that I'm breeding fish, I just want to keep algae away.

 

[jimbooo]

thanks gf225, i've ordered 2x 4000K tubes. should be here in a couple of weeks (special order) i'll keep you updated as to the effect.

 

[George Farmer]

Just received my 5 new pots of hairgrass - superb condition too. I'll be planting them tomorrow so I'll post a photo soon.

My algae has virtually gone now so I can increase the lighting to 2 WPG. If there's no sign of algae return then it'll go back up to 3 WPG and 10 hours.

 

[George Farmer]

All the hairgrass has now been planted. Hopefully it will spread ok with my 2 WPG (3 x Dennerle 3000K tubes). If there’s no sign of algae return in the next couple of weeks then I’ll up my lighting to 3 WPG and possibly start adding fertilisers again.



Where there’s life there hope. This is the only part of the Lily that’s still alive – the leaves are only about 15mm. I’m hoping it will grow into a good size although its growth rate is very low at the moment.



Here’s an overview shot. I would have liked to split the hairgrass into smaller “sprigs” but time is very limited (despite what my signature says).

 

[houndour]

Wow, looks fantastic.

The hairgrass looks in excellent condition, very green and lush.

I know this stuff is new, but how do you maintain it? I have a few brown bits. Should I cut these individual strands of grass out?

 

[Yenko]

I like the aquascape, but there seems to be a lack of color variation. Mabye once your lily grows in...

Anyway, I think it would be interesting to try using a background that fades from blue into white for a change, with the blue at the bottom. It would go well with the more open, airy look of your tank.

 

[George Farmer]

Houndour – Thanks. I can only assume you hairgrass is going brown due to some form of deficiency. How much light do you have? Do you have a nutrient-rich substrate? Sorry if you’ve posted these answers before, I can’t remember your tank spec (sleep deprivation – new baby!) If the browning is limited to a few strands then I would just trim them off. How have you planted the hairgrass?

Yenko – I like the idea of a blue background. I used to have one that graduated from a light blue down to a darker blue, I assume to simulate shallow to deeper water. It is printed on the other side of my black background. I will swap it over and observe the difference. I think you are right that it will be more effective with the open space I have. I’m not too keen on the blue to white idea though, I think that will be too much contrast (and a nightmare to keep clean).

 

[houndour]

Houndour – Thanks. I can only assume you hairgrass is going brown due to some form of deficiency. How much light do you have? Do you have a nutrient-rich substrate? Sorry if you’ve posted these answers before, I can’t remember your tank spec (sleep deprivation – new baby!) If the browning is limited to a few strands then I would just trim them off. How have you planted the hairgrass?

It's only a few strands. I didnt know if I should leave it or trim them out. From a distance you can't notice them at all.

I have laterite and sand. I have 55 watts of an interpet light (t5) that's supposed to be for plants. And my tank is 19 UK gallons. Also have CO2. Just one of those hagen kits.

I did have the hair grass as one clump, but then I saw Mikes (is it mike?) post and he had a picture of his tank where he'd split them up like you have. So I changed it a couple of weeks ago so that I have about 6 small clumps. They seem to be doing better like that. I also gave it a trim 2 nights ago.

Congratulations on the baby by the way.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

looking great it really is!!!!

 

[mike5531]

your tank is looking great as usual!

my hairgrass is growing upwards but not spreading iv just given it a trim so hopefully that mite help

i only use pea gravel for my substrate would it make a major diffrence to my plants if i added florite or latarite (sorry about spelling)?

p.s. keep posting pics of your tank when u get time as i love seeing it

 

[jimbooo]

sorry to butt in mike but the answer is yes it will make a huge difference.

get hold of some first layer laterite from your LFS and mix with your gravel after a good rinsing.

major pain in the behind but you wont believe the improvement after a few weeks.

(the tank in my sig has pea gravel and first layer laterite, laterite added about 2 months ago)