Will I be in good shape with this setup?

echoofformless

echoofformless

Peat Advocate & Defender Of Snails
Oct 1, 2005
2,142
0
36
51
Phil Uh Del Feeya
www.myspace.com
I'm rocking a 65w power compact over a 20gallon long with wisteria, water sprite, rotala indica, crypts, java fern and java moss. The lower light plants are in the front, and the light is over the back of the tank.

It's only been on for two days so I don't know how effective it's going to be. I'm assuming that 3.25 wpg of power compact lighting should give me very nice growth. I'm dosing Flourish and Flourish Excel.

Does it sound like it will give me a nice little jungle?

I hope so. If not, I was considering adding one standard fluorescent strip light to the front of the tank. Do you think this would be necessary, or am I already getting all the light I need?
 
IMO, you really dont need that much light for those plants. Most of those are really lower light plants. Is there a way you could really diffuse the light (or better reduce watts)?

While they will grow very well, at 3.25WPG, more than Excel may be needed (DIY CO2...???) because they will go through it very quickly (not to mention being expensive for you). Also, with that much light, you will have to make sure ALL your nutrients are balanced (Macros and Micros) or a disaster could happen.

My biggest concern is algae. With that much light and not a large plant load (I am guessing), it could spell algae bloom if not careful.

Just my thoughts

Aries
 
I have the lower light plants at the front of the tank, in a semi-shaded area. The light is shining on the rear, over the wisteria and the rotala.

Algae is definitely a concern for me, as I have started getting some hair algae (but that was actually found before I put the 65w on, it started growing under my 15w fluorescent.) I'm not sure what defines a large plant load, so here are some pics of my tank:







I just pruned the wisteria in the back and planted all of the cuttings, so there's a bit more in there than you can see behind the driftwood.

I'm planning on some DIY co2.

Where can I get more info on the nutrients?
 
Last edited:
I would seriously think about getting the tank heavily planted with some fast growing stems. Since you plan on creating the jungle look, you are in a good position to do this from the outset. But as mentioned, macro nutrients will have to be supplemented because the plants will be sucking them out of your water column. Make sure you have test kits for NO3 and PO4 and monitor the uptake. You may have to provide additional K, Ca and Mg depending on your source water.

When you get the plants established, you can start removing some of the stems and replace them with more desirable plants. With your lighting you will have a wide selection of really nice plants to choose from, but first get the feel of how things are working inside the tank.

For your nutrients I'll always recommend gregwatson.com for cheap and good stuff. He also does the Seachem range nowadays.
 
Greg watson is a GREAT source for DIY nurtrients. Cheap reasonable prices and shipping. For traces, I have been using Tropica Master Grow and others like Flourish Trace (and some even like just plain Flourish).

It looks to me you would have a low'ish plant load. With that much light, you will have higher chances of algae outbreak.

reiverix said:
I would seriously think about getting the tank heavily planted with some fast growing stems.
Click to expand...
Agreed! This will help you learn how to dose ferts and compete with the algae so it doesnt grow.

There is a sticky here on nutrients FAQ. Get that DIY CO2 up and running ASAP - it will help a great deal. At one of my LFS, they have 3.2WPG and no CO2 or ferts and it looks like a jungle. Mind you, the jungle is from all the BBA, Hair and green algae in the tank. It looks HORRIBLE, but that is what I expect from them.

In general I dose KNO3 for Nitrates (stump remover), K2SO4 for Potassium (Greg Watson), KH2PO4 for Phosphate (Fleet Enima), Flourish Iron, MgSO4-7H2O for Magnessium (Epsom Salt) and Tropica Master Grow (for traces).

Alot of what you dose is dependant on your source. My source water is good for only one thing - high KH. THis allows me to pump alot of CO2 without worrying to much.


Good Luck

Aries
 
You guys are awesome. Thanks for the tips. I'm thinking I'll buy up a few more bunches of wisteria and water sprite. I want those plants in there anyway, since I'm sticking with a loosely Asian pseudo-tope. I just put in two otos (okay, so I'm bending the rules of the Asian theme a little bit lol) to hopefully stave off any significant green or brown algae issues while I get regulated. (Man those guys are busy! They have already devoured almost every bit of the stuff in less than 24 hours!) I do have a little bit of hair algae, but I figure I'll just keep up with getting it by the toothbrush method until all is in balance.

Seachem claims that Flourish Excel is about 60-70% as good as CO2. I'm a little skeptical about such claims, so I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion to chime in regarding that stuff.

Thanks again for all the help!
 
Last edited:
Those claims are accurate IME. I did at one time dose Excel until I learned it killed Anacharis and Vals. It is good stuff, especially for smaller tanks. But get too expensive for large tanks.

However, CO2 Gas (DIY and pressurized) is better and cheaper in the long run.

Wisteria and water sprite will grow real quick under good conditions. It can even grow so fast that it chokes itself (blocks light to lower leaves), so be sure to trim back when you get it the way you want.

Otos are real good maintenance fish. Very little demands and clean thoroughly. But that is not the means to an end. CO2 will really clean up the algae as it allow the plants to take the nutrients from the water more quickly, thus starving the algae.

Good Luck - planted tanks are great. Expensive, but great. At least for me they are expensive because I keep changing and adding differing plants. I seem to never be satisfied. :Angel:

Aries
 
echoofformless said:
I'm thinking I'll buy up a few more bunches of wisteria and water sprite.
Click to expand...
Don't skimp on plants though. Get a tankfull. Even if they don't fit in the long range plan, they can always be taken out later. Getting the tank stable is the first target.
 
reiverix said:
Don't skimp on plants though. Get a tankfull. Even if they don't fit in the long range plan, they can always be taken out later. Getting the tank stable is the first target.
Click to expand...

Agreed, if you're looking for a jungle, start with one and then cut back after everything looks like their growing. And with wisteria and water sprite, that shouldn't take very long.

Nothing does a better job at preventing algae than a heavily planted tank.
 
My wisteria actually doesn't seem too happy. It keeps losing leaves and has even begun to "melt" like a crypt. All of the other plants are thriving.

It's quite confusing, as I have read nothing at all regarding wisteria being weak in any way. It's growing, but looks ugly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom