I've ordered lots! Advice Please

CharlieV

CharlieV

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Feb 16, 2005
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Hi All,

I have just started adding plants to my aquarium as i felt the plastic ones were looking well a bit plasticy!!!

I have juts ordered from my LFS
10 x Cabomba
1 x Echnidorous Belheri (Sp?!)
4 x clump fo Java Moss

My LFS said that all of these were relatively undemanding as far as lighting is concerened.
I know the moss will be ok in my set up but what about the others?

I have been running my tank now for 6 weeks and have had 6 danios in there for 2 weeks. I have 1 x 18w and 1 x 20w light in my hood

Can anyone give me some decent advice / tips on cultivating these plants as I especially want the Cabomba to make a "curtain" at the rear of my tank.

Any advice would be greatly apreciated

CHaz
 
I certainly wouldn't peg the Cabomba as "undemanding" as far as light went.

It is definitely a high light plant, IMO.

With 36 w over a 30 g, your Moss is probably the only plant that will really thrive, the others might not do so well (the Cabomba will be the first to bite the dust, most likely).

If you really want to grow Cabomba, you'd need to upgrade your lighting, look into CO2 (probably DIY CO2 if you don't want pressurized), and have some kind of additional ferts (PMDD, Fluorish, etc)
 
Thanks Darkblade

My lighting currently is maiing my Nassea Crasillicus grow extremely quickly and my ludwiga rupens is getting pretty big to - when I get paid i will post some pics with my new camera!
Ok so Cabomba needs good light
Could you recommend how much? ie. should i just buy 2 x 40w aquaglos or something like that?

Chaz
 
I'm growing some cabomba in my 20g at 1.5wpg. It's ok but a bit leggy and grows slow. The stuff in my 75g with 3.5wpg is way better. No comparison really.
 
Cabomba

I added 3 grouping of cabomba to my 29 g (just one flourescent bulb) on the advice of a PetSmart employee who told me it would do fine under lower light, but would just grow slowly and eventually get a bit leggy at which point I could cut off the tops and replant.

Now I'm wondering if this was really the case, or if the plants are destined to die on me. I'll be reading the responses you get to your question with interest since I'm new to planted tanks and interested in what I can grow in my current light conditions as well!
 
If it's just one standard fluorescent on a 29g then you will be at <1wpg. For cabomba (and just about most other plants), that's probably not going to work.

For your lighting, I'd get some twiggy branches and put some java fern on them closer to the light.
 
Co2

Hi All who have responded

The LFS seem to offer some what different advice! might be me being synical but the advice here is actually worth listening to!

I have a freind who has been in the hobby for about 10 years now and he recommended for my tank (Rio 125) to get the official Juwel reflectors as they claim to double the light output.
I can see how it would increase it but can they really double it?
if it doubles then that would mean 2wpg based on what i have heard on this forum - will that be sufficient?

Another question...... Will my lighting unit be able to support any lamp i buy that fits or will i need to replace starter etc??

and one last question - CO2 - anyone able to recommend a good syustem that's relatively easy to use / set up that would supply enough for 125 litres?

thanks for all of your advice so far
Chaz
 
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A good reflector will always help. A good reflector makes the difference between a good lighting system and a great lighting system. However, I don't think that I'd go so far as to make estimates about equilavant wpg effects, although there's some logic to it. Besides, the wpg "rule" does assume a reasonable reflector.

Here's a link worth checking out:
www.ahsupply.com

If you're looking for ways to improve your lighting situation without building a whole new canopy I've heard great things about their retrofit kits.

Your lighting fixture is made to run a specific size of bulb. I'm guessing from the wattages that you've listed that you've got 2x2ft fixtures, you're pretty much stuck with 20w bulbs. I'm guessing that the 18w is one of those slightly narower (T10) bulbs from the lfs with a name something like XXX-Glo.

For CO2, if you've got money to spend, go pressurized. But for a tank your size, very similar to mine, you can have great success with a 2x2L bottle DIY setup. It just takes a little more work on a regular basis. Pressurized is more along the lines of spend a chunk of money, set it up, tune it and forget it for a while, well, keep an eye on tank pressure but otherwise, pretty hands off.
 
great info happychem thanks
I think i will prob spend the money and get a decent CO2 sys have been looking at Dennerle - any good?
honestly couldn't tell you about the bulbs but they are about 2ft long. The tubes are the same diameter but one is a yellow bulb and one is more blue (looks like our Daylight bulbs at work)

thanks very much for you advice it's been a great help
Chaz
 
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