# deepwater



## kennyman (Oct 19, 2005)

I have a 37g tank that is quite deep. It measures 20"x18"x24" The hood is custom made wood with a glass splash-gard 20" long and 10" wide. I built a lightbox lined with tinfoil and put three 30W PC spirals in it. I never seem to get any O2 bubbles forming on my plant leaves even after 14hrs of light. Is this a sure sign of insuficent light? 

thats 2ft tall incase your wondering about how I measured it


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## Dewmazz (Sep 6, 2005)

It depends what K rating the bulbs are. And pearling only occurs when the water is super-saturated with O2. Just because thre's no bubbles _doesn't _mean the plants aren't pumping (a lot) of O2. It also depends on CO2 availability to the plants. What are you using? DIY, Excel, or pressurized? None? There's a lot to deal with the nutrient availabilty, not only the lights.


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## kennyman (Oct 19, 2005)

im not using any C supliment in there. The filtration is an airstone/sponge filter so I figgure the O2 must be up there. I was using Kent K-Fe but had a hair algae spike so I stoped. I thought maybe the light wasnt drivng the plants hard enough to use the ferts; therefore the hair algae invasion. The bulbs did not have a k value, just a lux of around 1200 ea. They are yellow and not very attractive, but the whole box cost about $30 to build vs $200 for a coralite unit.
I am getting O2 bubbles in the hair algae in the top 10" This is a shot of the tank before the hair algae invasion.
http://www.tropicalfishgallery.com/photo-gallery/displayimage.php?album=174&pos=7


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I'm not real sure about the output of the spiral PC bulbs. If they where normal plant PC bulbs with a k rating you would have 2.43 wpg. In order to have continues pearling you will need to add C02. 

Hair algae is usually caused by a lack of nitrates in your tank. Looking at your tank pics you need to add a lot more plants. Which will also help to asorb nutrients that the algea also feeds on. 

If not using C02 then you will need to add Seachem Excel for a carbon source. 

If you want to get rid of the algae make a post in the algae forum. Include info on your tank setup, water parameters, ferts routine, lighting etc.


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

kennyman said:


> I have a 37g tank that is quite deep. It measures 20"x18"x24" The hood is custom made wood with a glass splash-gard 20" long and 10" wide. I built a lightbox lined with tinfoil and put three 30W PC spirals in it. I never seem to get any O2 bubbles forming on my plant leaves even after 14hrs of light. Is this a sure sign of insuficent light?
> 
> thats 2ft tall incase your wondering about how I measured it


None of my plants pearl and they are all doing fine . If you have the manufacturer and model of the bulb you may be able to call and check the kelvin rating or check it online. It's preferable they be in 5000 to 10,000 kelvin range. I have read many times that tinfoil is not a good reflector, that in fact it would be better to paint the area white than have tinfoil. I don't have personal experience with this. I think Rex Rigg talks about this on his website "rexrigg.com". If you want a really top notch reflector go to "ahsupply.com". You can buy the reflector without the rest of the kit.

Don't do lighting more than 12 hours. It only helps the algae not the plants. You probably ought to do some fertilizing especially if you upgrade the reflector. If you get a really good reflector you may have to do some type of carbon which is usually required once you pass 2 watts per gallon. The spirals are lower output because of "restrike" so it's hard to calculate exactly - you may have equivalent to 2 wpg especially without a good reflector so you may be ok. For fertilizing you could do a search under Estimative Index or PPS to get the basics of two approaches here on this site.

Bill


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Just for comparison:

I built a DIY hood for my 46 gallon bowfront (36" long, 20" high). I decided to use spiral fluoresents since the office of topbulb.com is in my back yard, they were dirt cheap, and I was able to choose the correct Kelvin rating. From your description your lights are probably in the 2000K range (this is what is available at most discount stores). I have 8x23W 5500K bulbs which supposedly gives me 4 wpg. I had a shop cut a small piece of mirror as my reflector ($5). I also put a fan in the thing to keep managing the tank temp easier. I think the bulbs will last a lot longer too.

Judging by the color at the tips of my plants (didiplis, rotundifola) I'd guess that I probably get a little less light than I would with a 'real' setup like the AH-Supply kits. I'm guessing I have something that acts like other people's 3wpg tanks.

I set the thing up and ran it with yeast CO2 for about a month. I never once saw pearling. Once I added pressurized CO2 the pearling started right away. I have a heavy fish load so the tank doesn't get saturated until the lights have been on for about 5 or 6 hours. By the end of my 11 photoperiod the tank looks like a big vat of Perrier.

So now I need to prune more often, still have algae all over, and am wondering what the next step should be. I really think my next tank will be set at about 2 wpg with AH supply kits (maybe a 'noon' 4wpg burst for a few hours). I'll also reduce the fish load and increase the water circulation. I am absolutely positive that I've never failed at a plant for lack of light.

BTW, 2 feet isn't that deep. Light probably doesn't really drop off until you get to the 3-4 foot range. Even then, I doubt most people would notice a difference.


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

Your tank isn't that deep. Your lighting is more than sufficient to penetrate. You will only run into problems on tanks deeper than 36 inches which very few of us have. The "problem" lies somewhere else.


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## kennyman (Oct 19, 2005)

Ok you all gave me some good info to work with. Thankyou. 

I'm going to try some Excel to boost the C and nix the hair algae. I will also shorten the the photoperiod to 11hrs. I took out the splashgard and noticed a huge difference in light on the substrate. I will have to brake down at some point and buy a proper fixture/canopy. But untill then I'll hope for the best with C and K:Fe. I dont want to do 50% weekly waterchanges. 25% every other week is about asmuch as I want to get into. 

This tank is tricky to grow plants in. Its got a salinity of 1.0025 and houses a Asian Red Claw Crab that has all 5 cribs mowed down to the crown.


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