# Revision to 'Ecology of the Planted Aquarium'



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

With the popularity--and my own recent conversion--to LED lighting, I felt compelled to update the lighting section of my book. As a courtesy to readers, below is a 5 page PDF containing the changes. Otherwise, the 3rd Edition (2013) of 'Ecology of the Planted Aquarium' is EXACTLY the same. Here, I would like to acknowledge invaluable help from aquarium plant gurus Roberto Allegra (www.acquariofiliafacile.it), Karen Randall, and Neil Frank.

https://dianawalstad.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/revisions-announcement.pdf


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## Tsin21 (Oct 12, 2017)

Thanks Miss Diana!


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## SPadalino (Jul 25, 2018)

Thank you, Diana. Much appreciated!

Steve


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## tiger15 (Apr 9, 2017)

dwalstad said:


> With the popularity--and my own recent conversion--to LED lighting, I felt compelled to update the lighting section of my book. As a courtesy to readers, below is a 5 page PDF containing the changes. Otherwise, the 3rd Edition (2013) of 'Ecology of the Planted Aquarium' is EXACTLY the same. Here, I would like to acknowledge invaluable help from aquarium plant gurus Roberto Allegra (www.acquariofiliafacile.it), Karen Randall, and Neil Frank.
> 
> https://dianawalstad.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/revisions-announcement.pdf


I read two plant books, your 3rd edition Ecology Kindle version, and Karen Randal's Sunken Graden when I started my first planted tank a year ago. It's good revision on led light as it is the future, replacing even once popular cfl. I have replaced all my lights, not just fish tanks, but household lights to leds. The discussion on photo and siasta periods is informative too as it remains a hotly debated issue.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Thank you for your thoughtful comments. For me, the conversion to LEDs was easy; making a revision to the book was not.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Thank you, Diana! For years my only reservation in recommending your book was that the section on lighting technology was out-of-date. Now you have fixed that.

As my CFLs burn out or dim, I am replacing them with LEDs. The commecial fixtures I am most familiar with are Finnex and they work well. Based on your recommendation I will look at the Beamswork. I've also found that screw-in LED replacements for incandescent bulbs (remember those?) also work well. And I am going to experiment with an outdoor LED floodlight fixture.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Michael said:


> Thank you, Diana! For years my only reservation in recommending your book was that the section on lighting technology was out-of-date. Now you have fixed that.


Good feedback. I know that many people would like to say my book is ancient history, but increasing book sales tell me a different story. Apparently, there's a whole bunch of ordinary hobbyists out there who have embraced the NPT concept. Last month, I sold a record 165 print books and 239 eBooks. (I was especially pleased that 18 eBooks went to India.) This is encouragement, indeed!


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## tiger15 (Apr 9, 2017)

Any plant books published 3 year or older are outdated with respect to lighting. 3 years ago, 80% of the light bulbs sold in home centers were CFL. Today, 80% are LED and CFL are following the diminishing pathway of incandescent.


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## zolteeC (Dec 26, 2017)

dwalstad said:


> Good feedback. I know that many people would like to say my book is ancient history, but increasing book sales tell me a different story. Apparently, there's a whole bunch of ordinary hobbyists out there who have embraced the NPT concept. Last month, I sold a record 165 print books and 239 eBooks. (I was especially pleased that 18 eBooks went to India.) This is encouragement, indeed!


I would say it is also a very good reading even if one has a CO2 dosed high tech tank! Many chapters contain good information for such an environment (i.e toxicity of various stuff, water chemistry etc).

Some fancy pictures would definitely tune up the looks of the book and maybe it could make it more "consumable" for some folks.


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## terryna (Mar 16, 2018)

nice thread


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## Octofish (Aug 29, 2018)

Do I understand right? In low CO2 concentrations, algae can establish because plants are competing so intensely with each other for available CO2, and because algae are better adapted to utilize low CO2?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Octofish said:


> Do I understand right? In low CO2 concentrations, algae can establish because plants are competing so intensely with each other for available CO2, and because algae are better adapted to utilize low CO2?


No, I don't think that is correct. I think a better summary is that healthy plant tissue is not attractive to algae, while unhealthy tissue is. Adequate CO2 leads to healthy plants, while a shortage of CO2 leads to unhealthy plants, attracting algae. I think it is more complicated than that, but it does reflect reality fairly well.


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## Octofish (Aug 29, 2018)

This is what I was referring to in the revision: 

“Siestas help control algae, especially in tanks without CO2 injection. For with continuous intense light, plant photosynthesis depletes most of the CO2 by late morning. This means that during the afternoon, plants are competing for an ever dwindling supply of CO2. Algae, which is much more adept than plants in taking up CO2, gains an advantage over plants.”


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Octofish said:


> This is what I was referring to in the revision:
> 
> "Siestas help control algae, especially in tanks without CO2 injection. For with continuous intense light, plant photosynthesis depletes most of the CO2 by late morning. This means that during the afternoon, plants are competing for an ever dwindling supply of CO2. Algae, which is much more adept than plants in taking up CO2, gains an advantage over plants."


The way I would explain why the siesta works is: The substrate is barely able to supply enough CO2 for the plants' needs. During the photoperiod the plants use up most of the surplus CO2 from the substrate, leaving the plants struggling to continue to grow. The siesta gives the substrate time to catch up with the plants' CO2 needs, and the shorter photoperiod segments prevent the plants from using up all of the CO2 before the end of the photoperiod.

As I recall this is what Ms Walstad said on a forum a few years ago.


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## gkai (May 14, 2018)

Nice revision. I guess nothing but led will be sold very soon, at least for new tanks, CFL will be limited to replacement market. 
Most of my light is from 6000K led flood lamps, which can be found really cheap online and look nice...Even more impressive, you can buy bare led arrays chips with integrated driver (a 50w one for 3 euro, just checked on eBay). Fix it in a smooth aluminium profile and you have incredible cheap, efficient light source...it can even look better than flood light if you get nice profiles: I'm thinking about going this way...
Commercial aquarium led fixture should also get cheaper fast, given how DIY solution is easy...
Only problem with those cheap leds is that you are never sure about color rendition and high freq flicker when you buy....


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

gkai said:


> Nice revision. I guess nothing but led will be sold very soon, at least for new tanks, CFL will be limited to replacement market.
> Most of my light is from 6000K led flood lamps, which can be found really cheap online and look nice...Even more impressive, you can buy bare led arrays chips with integrated driver (a 50w one for 3 euro, just checked on eBay). Fix it in a smooth aluminium profile and you have incredible cheap, efficient light source...it can even look better than flood light if you get nice profiles: I'm thinking about going this way...
> Commercial aquarium led fixture should also get cheaper fast, given how DIY solution is easy...
> Only problem with those cheap leds is that you are never sure about color rendition and high freq flicker when you buy....


You can make a very usable, cheap LED light using the tape mounted LEDs, http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...1917-diy-led-light-coralife-biocube-32-a.html This works pretty well for low to medium light tanks, but not for high light, unless the tank is only 12 inches high.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Octofish said:


> Do I understand right? In low CO2 concentrations, algae can establish because plants are competing so intensely with each other for available CO2, and because algae are better adapted to utilize low CO2?


That is exactly what I meant. (Thanks you for repeating this important concept.  ) Also, algae is not burdened with having to grow roots and stems. So when CO2 is tight and lights are still on, algae gains a major advantage.


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