Flourish Excel and Tabs

[Rocketman]

I just bought some at my LFS - it's going out of business and I had 18 bucks store credit.

Without going into details on the effectivness of their appplication in my tank, what is the general opinion here of the Flourish Excel and Fertilizer tabs?

[Slappy*McFish]

Flourish Excel is a decent source of carbon for moderately lit tanks, tanks with low pH and very little kH(as it doesn't cause pH crashes)..and for tanks on the small/med size range. The cost of flourish excel would make it expensive to use on large tanks, and it isn't nearly as good as using CO2 injection for high light tanks. I use it as a DIY CO2 suppliment on my tanks..mainly on my 10 gallon that has 3wpg of lighting that I can't seem to achieve high enough CO2 levels with the DIY CO2 and HOB filter.

Root tabs are great for swords, crypts, anubias, and other "rooted" type plants..especially when first added to a "virgin" substrate. They aren't absolutely neccessary, however, in mature flourite/onyx sand containing substrates with a good amount of fish mulm present within. I no longer use root tabs in my substrates for this very reason. However, if I purchase a "new" rooted-plant, I might add a root tab near it's base to help it get established.

[Rocketman]

Alright, I'm running on gravel and have swords and a bogota, as well as others.

I assume I can use these two products, (Flourish Excel and Flourish Root Tabs) together? I dont plan on adding the Excel any more than just once every 2-3 days.

[Slappy*McFish]

Yes, you can use them together. You might even want to add the "regular" Flourish to the water as well. It will provide most of the needed trace elements to the water column. Depending on your water source and fish load, you might need to add macro nutrients as well...ie: nitrate, phosphorus, and potassium. Most of the time, with a well stocked fish population, you'll have plenty of nitrate and phosphate available..you can supply potassium from "nosalt/nusalt" at your grocery store.

[Rocketman]

Ok, Here is a stocking list:

5 Giant Danios,
5 Small-Medium Bala's
4 Cories
4 Fancy Guppies
7 Scissor Tail Tetras
6 Otos
Bout 13 Feeder Guppies, (who may be soon departing)
1 Feeder Minnow (Who I couldn't net, so I left in)

I am using an Eheim Canister, (low surface agitation.)
Just some regular red gravel.
I'll be replacing the lighting soon, (suggestions? I have two 18" fixtures, and can't find anything close to 60 watts.)
All on a 60 Gallon Tank, with

1 Amazon Sword (rescued from another tank - fighting death now, although looking much better.)
2-3 Stems of "Egeria Densia", or Anacharis
1 Bacopa, (maybe 20 inches high and well grown - see links below.)
6-8 Stems of Ludwigia, (I think narrow leaf variety)
Hornwart - The main plant here, (something I may change,) because of its speedy growth. Enough that if you were to bunch it all together, it may equal maybe 2-3 Softballs.

You will probably get some pictures soon, although I keep saying this. Below are links to two pictures of the Bacopa.

www.smithbridges.com/Reid/5-20-01.JPG
www.smithbridges.com/Reid/5-20-02.JPG

[Slappy*McFish]

I'm guessing that 60g is 48x13x24"? You could fit 2, or up to 4, 48" lights on that tank. Regular T12 40w bulbs. I have just two 40w bulbs on my 55 and my low-med light plants are doing excellent. I'm also assuming that your tank has two hoods, one for either side of the tank?..If so, then do away with them and get one 48" hood/canopy or use no hood at all. I don't use any hood or cover glass on my tanks..my lights sit right on the tank rim. Kind of risky, but I'm careful;)..no cats or children to knock them in the tank.

[Rocketman]

I can't get rid of the hoods - there is a center brace that would get in the way of one hood only. I don't want to spend too much (keep it at low-med light) and it is the kind of lighting system, (I think they are called ballasts?) that accept lights with two pins on either end.

[Slappy*McFish]

I have the same thing on my 55..it came with two hoods as well, with a center brace too...but 30 watts of light just wasn't going to cut it for a planted tank...so I did away with the 2 lights(put them on the 10 gallon tank) and went out and bought two 48"/40w light fixtures.

[Slappy*McFish]

You might be able to find a compact fluorescent light to fit your fixture, but you'll need to upgrade the ballast as well.

[Rocketman]

How much will that cost?

[Slappy*McFish]

You'll have to make some modifications...not sure how handy you are, but here is a link that explains what you'll need to do.
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/apr/features/2/default.asp

you can order lights and kits here..
http://ahsupply.com/

[Rocketman]

I can probably get it done, although I haven't yet looked at that page, I am about to but want to catch you before you leave...

Since I really know nothing about lighting, and can't seem to, what kind of Compacts do I want? I mean, how many 'K's'? Is that K measurement, (I.E., '10,000K') the same as the spectrum? How often will the lights need to be replaced, assuming I keep the on a 13-hour timer, (as I do now)

[Rocketman]

(Don't do what I did, and remember I posted something above this too.)

Would it be possible to use, say, 4 20 Watt Bulbs? This way, I could still operate on the 2-lamp per hood configuration, I assume this would mean more even lighting and I would not have to make as many mods.

[Rocketman]

Alright alright, I've finished the first article and am wondering if this is a plausable idea.

I like my two hoods. Neither have any fans or anything, just vents. I was wondering - should I just buy a new "inside" for each of the hoods? Would it line up with "push-in thingy" I use to turn the lights on now? Obviously, as you can already tell, those are pretty cheap hoods. How much would it cost for new "insides"? Also, since I use a timer, I wouldn't need to manually turn those things on but once - so if I have to go on deep to turn them on, that would still work.

[Rocketman]

Ok. I think I've got it now. How would this work? This is the 36 Watt Kit - 2 of them.

2 x 36 watt Bright Kit Item # 30362 $62.99
Just like the 2 x 55 watt Bright Kit except that, instead of two 22" reflectors, this kit includes the option of one 34.5"L x 4"W MIRO 4 reflector with five facets or one 17.5"L x 7"W MIRO 4 reflector with eight facets. Two 36w bulbs will fit nicely end-to-end under the 34.5"L x 4"W reflector or side-by-side under the 17.5"L x 7"W reflector. Bulbs must be ordered separately. Note that the 17.5"L x 7"W reflector will fit over a standard 10 or 15XH gallon aquarium for great mini-reef lighting.

I would then get which of the following bulbs?
36 16.3" 5300K 11365 $19.99
36 16.75" 6700K 11366 $13.99
36 16.4" Medium Blue 11367 $17.99
36 16.5" 10000K/Dark Blue Combo 13617 $17.99

Then, how long would each bulb last until it's effectiveness was reduced too far to be useful? The entire thing would be about $100. Is this worth it? I'm begining to think not. Is there a cheaper alternative?

[Slappy*McFish]

I would get the 1x55w kit w/ 22"x4" reflector...you'll need two kits..one for each hood....this will give you 110 total watts and about 2wpg. Either the 5300k or the 6700k would be fine for the plants...but if I were to choose between the two, I would get the 5300k bulbs. 55w/21.2".

cost..
2x "5300k 55w/21.2 inch" bulbs = $44
2x "1x55w bright kit" = $82
-------------------------------
$126

not bad:)

[Rocketman]

Maybe if I get a job...I'm applying to my local Pet Store today.
Would those kits fit in a 23 inch hood?

I've also talked to a dude from Aquatic-Store.com about a cheap CO2 setup, if neccesary. Would a setup be possible for less than $100? You will have to see my tank, (go to my website on Tuesday, www.geocities.com/rocketman4874 ) to see if I even have enough plants to warrant such a large expenditure of capital.