Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

It seems that light reflectds back into the tank off of the
glas under water. so height doesn't seem to matter as much
in an aquarium as with a terresterial garden.

Next time you do a large water change, check out how much
light escapes the tank when the wter is low vs when the
tank is full of water.

Also, if you're using tube, like fluorescent lighting,
distance has less effect than when using a point source.

sh

--- Heather J Gladney <hgladney@comcast.net> wrote:

> Thankyou--that's good to know!  I was fretting a bit
> about spending 
> money on lights.  Not just now, when things are tight for
> everybody!
> 
> Adam Michels wrote:
> 
> >Heather, I've heard from an experienced source that as
> long as you have
> >strong lighting to begin with, like you do (I run two
> 96W 6700K PCs on
> >my 55G and they're strong!), a 24" depth shouldn't be
> any different than
> >an 18" depth. I know a lot of people say otherwise, but
> the source
> >assured me that depth only becomes an issue when it much
> deeper; he
> >exaggerated and said "30 feet."
> >	Because my lights are 36" and my tank is 48" I place
> plants like
> >Hygrophila, Bacopa caroliniana, Rotala repens, Mayaca,
> Anubias,
> >Aponogetons, Sagittaria etc. in areas like the corners
> where the light
> >is less intense. I place my light-demanding plants
> directly under the
> >lighting, where it is most intense. You probably don't
> need more
> >lighting, unless you want it. It's like with reef tanks;
> you can get
> >away with keeping more light-demanding corals by keeping
> them closer to
> >the lights. The bunch plants will grow upward and then
> the 24" depth
> >will be more like 6" to their tips. Plant the
> shade-loving or
> >less-demanding plants in the corners. I know making the
> tank look well
> >designed is important but making the plants strong and
> healthy comes
> >first, right? My tank could definitely use a woman's
> touch; what a
> >jungle!
> >
> >
> >Adam
> > 
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: aga-member-bounces@thekrib.com
> >[mailto:aga-member-bounces@thekrib.com] On Behalf Of
> Heather J Gladney
> >Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 7:10 PM
> >To: Aquatic Gardeners Association Member Chat
> >Subject: Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2
> >
> >S. Hieber wrote:
> >
> >  
> >
> >>--- Heather J Gladney <hgladney@comcast.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> 
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >>>>I'd like to hear more about how to keep them, too. 
> >>>>     
> >>>>
> >>>>        
> >>>>
> >>>Currently got BGA in 
> >>>my tank (bleahh!) and yet fairly high N going, so I
> >>>suspect that I let 
> >>>my tank's TDS get too high, not enough water changes,
> for
> >>>discus.
> >>>   
> >>>
> >>>      
> >>>
> >>How high is high? Also, what are the phoshpate levels?
> >> 
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >At the risk of hijacking the thread here--file it in a
> new category?
> >I've been meaning to ask about this for awhile
> anyway...with your 
> >indulgence, please...
> >I think this one's called, "not enough water changes",
> in spite of the 
> >fact there's folks out there who insist you don't have
> to.
> >Last testing batch I did:
> > pH 6.7 (down from 7.0 over a month, using solenoid on
> pressurized CO2 
> >system.)
> >KH 5 (up from 3 over the month)
> >GH 13- 16 (down from 15-18--I think this was Mg, it shot
> way up when I 
> >added Epsom + Seachem Equilibrium.)
> >nitrate about .3 mg/l steadily,
> >nitrate about 50-60 mg/l (this is down from prior 100
> mg/l--when I added
> >
> >no ferts, it ran about 12 mg/l routinely).
> >phosphate 1.5 - 2.0 mg/l, probably closer to 2 (up from
> prior .5 - .67
> >mg/l)
> >iron test showed over 1 mg/l, more like 2 mg/l, which I
> understand is
> >high.
> >I found tap was running GH 4-5, generally around pH 7.0
> -7.2.
> >Before this test, as I saw the BGA, I had been adding
> some extra 
> >nitrates +  traces, and stopped when I got these
> results.
> >In the last month, at water changes I just added some
> dolomitic lime to 
> >tapwater to maintain CO2/hardness, and stopped adding
> anything in the 
> >last couple of weeks.
> >Also had to drop the light levels, as one of my fixtures
> ground-faulted 
> >(bye-bye!)
> >So now I'm running two 92 watt CF 36" bulbs, on
> estimated 78 gallons 
> >actual (at a guess, as it's both deep and a
> corner-diamond shape, and I 
> >didn't measure on first fill, dummy me--90 gallons
> nominal) so that puts
> >
> >it in that awkward 2 watts per gallon range,  I find the
> high-light 
> >plants don't like it.
> >I'm debating about how to punch more light down into the
> 24" depth with 
> >some sort of fixture in less than 24" width.
> >
> >As always, thanks for everybody's help!!
> >Heather
> >
> >  
> >
> >>If the nitrates are high but the phosphates are
> remaining
> >>at about 1 ppm, continue dosing the phosphates but let
> lay
> >>off on the nitrates until the level gets down closer to
> >>about 10 ppm. Each 50% water change should cut the
> nitrate
> >>level in half. It might then build or decline between
> water
> >>changes depending on feeding and dosing.
> >>
> >>Some have said bga occurs due to nitrate limitation.
> I've
> >>seen it when the nitrates are very high. This could be
> due
> >>to a combination of related factors, such as not enough
> >>other nutrients for the plants to be able to use up the
> >>nitrates.
> >>
> >>Anyhow, try to aim for the targets and see if things
> don't
> >>clear up that way. OF course, physcally remove what bga
> or
> >>algae you can before a water change is always a big
> help.
> >>
> >>
> >>good luck, good fun,
> >>sh
> >>
> >>* * * * * * * * * * *
> >>Coming Soon in November, the winners and all the other
> beautiful
> >>    
> >>
> >entries in the 6th Annual International Aquascaping
> Contest. Every
> >continent is represented -- except Antarctica. Maybe
> next year
> >Antarctica, too ;-)
> >  
> >
> >>http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org
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> >>
> >> 
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >
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