# Need advice and comments...



## PapaLoc (Mar 5, 2006)

So im not exactly a newbie in the exact sense of the word as I have been growing plants in my aqaurium for over a year now. However, im not doing too good, so I guess im am actually a newbie.

Its been a long process so far, of slowly learning and making mistakes. Like all newbies I started with the wrong substrate, the wrong lights, the wrong plants, no fertilizers ect ect.

I am actually getting some growth out of my plants now, im not satsified though. They don't look very lush and healthy to me.

The setup: 

54 Litres (about 14-15 Gallons)
55w T5 lighting(6000 kelvin)
25% water changes every week
Fertilizing with a brand named Tropica
Temperature 22-24 degrees celsius
DIY Co2
pH 7,5'sh
KH is a whooping 21
GH is 14
Light is on 8 hours
Substrate is peat moss mixed with a bit of clay, on top of that is some garden soil. Topped off with gravel (0.8mm-1mm sized).

Initially I thought that the plants might lack N or P(from advice on this forum) but using a fertilizer that contained this resulted in advanced growth of thread algae, and no visible change in my plant growth.

My next thought is that my lighting isn't up to par. Im thinking of changing the lighting to 72Watts with a celvin of 12000, would that make any sense?

Im sorry I don't have any pics of my current setup, my camera is on vacation. I'll try to post some later, but it could be several days.

The stem plants don't really branch out. They look long and gangly and some times lose the lower leaves.

My Lilaeopis brasiliensis doens't grow very high, and won't spread much, plus it has algae growing between the leaves.

My Rotala rotundafolia doesn't really get the reddish-pink coloration that I have seen in other aqauriums.

My java moss grows really bad, and also has algae mixed in with it.

I had some Riccia Fluitans that did really well, but also had algae mixed up with it. I ended up tossing it out because I couldn't seperate the algae from the Riccia.

My Ludwigia sp. loses most of its lower leaves, wich makes it look very ganlgy and not very lush 

I have som dwarf hairgrass that is doing pretty well. Its pretty much taking over the tank, but it gets very long, which spoils any hope of a the lawn effect I was hoping for. My tank is only 30 centimeters tall, and some of them almost reaches the surface.

Sorry for the long post. My main question was actually whether 12000 kelvin was suitable for my Aqaurium lights.

P.S. im attaching a pic of my tank during an algeae outbreak of hair algae. Adding CO2 took care of that though. Not really relevant, but we all love pics right?  

Edit*Well I couldn't attach the pic, if anyone knows how feel free to tell me...


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

IMO, you have plenty of lighting and the spectrum's fine. I would look elsewhere for your problems. My first thought is your diy CO2 is not providing steady enough high levels of CO2. You have a fairly high light tank there. Secondly, do you have any idea where your nitrate and phosphate levels are at? I would suggest getting some kits (make sure your calibrate them) and getting a feel for your levels. You want to be in the range of 10-20ppm NO3 and 2-4ppm PO4. Are you fertilizing with any micro nutrient mixture?


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## PapaLoc (Mar 5, 2006)

Nitrates are 0, but I don't have a test kit for phosphate. But when I dosed N and P, the algae bloomed.

The fertilizer im using should contain all the micronutrients.

The pH in my tap water is above 8, so the 7'ish in my tank is due to my DIY CO2. There ought to be enough CO2 in the water, otherwise the pH should be higher(right?).


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

If your nitrates are truly zero, you need to dose them. It's possible that when you added the NP, it caused a drop in another nutrient. Look here for basic info on planted tank needs. According to the pH/kh table you're around 20ppm CO2, with the lighting you have, I would recommend going higher if you can do it with the diy. Take a sample of your tank water and let it sit out 24-36 hours. Measure its pH. You want your tank to be 1.0pH unit below your measurement for approx 30ppm CO2.


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## PapaLoc (Mar 5, 2006)

Sorry for not replying sooner, been a bit hectic.

First let me thank you for taking the time to reply here Bert, I appreciate it.

I did what you said and the pH says 8,5. Which is good I guess since my tank pH is 7'ish. (I got a colour card to reference the test with, not very precise).

I just read through a long post here about algae vs plants(so why does new school = no algae), and why algae don't do too well when plants thrive.

Im thinking I have fertilizing problems and light problems.

My Elodea canadensis has about 1 cm stem between the leaves until it hits the surface. Up there the leaves come in quick succession with 4 set of leaves in 1 cm of stem. To me it looks like it strives to get up into the light, and once there, it sets alot of leaves. 

Im going to try to get a phosphate test kit, and continue to dose the fertilizer that includes N and P. 

My light fixture is homemade and im no handyman, so the lighting isn't very homogenic in the tank, so even though on paper it looks like alot of light, im still doubting.


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