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Subject: AGA-Member Digest, Vol 16, Issue 1
Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 06:54:34 -0700
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Low-light tanks & CO2 (Heather J Gladney)
2. Re: Low-light tanks & CO2 (Heather J Gladney)
3. Re: Low-light tanks & CO2 (Heather J Gladney)
4. Re: Low-light tanks & CO2 (Heather J Gladney)
5. Re: Low-light tanks & CO2 (S. Hieber)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:57:20 -0700
From: Heather J Gladney <hgladney@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2
To: Aquatic Gardeners Association Member Chat <aga-member@thekrib.com>
Message-ID: <433DFB10.3070300@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
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
>>_______________________________________________
>>AGA-Member mailing list
>>AGA-Member@thekrib.com
>>http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-member
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>AGA-Member mailing list
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>
>
>_______________________________________________
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>http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-member
>
>
>
>
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:58:29 -0700
From: Heather J Gladney <hgladney@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2
To: Aquatic Gardeners Association Member Chat <aga-member@thekrib.com>
Message-ID: <433DFB55.8030703@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Don Smolev wrote:
>>From my experience keeping discus for many years (I don't anymore -they
>just get too large for my 90 gallon tanks and look out of proportion to
>my eye as well as wrecking havoc on the substrate while they forage
>when they become adults) you should change the water at least twice a
>week- 40% or so each time. Vacuum the tank well when you do so. I don't
>know how often or how much you feed your discus but they produce mulm at
>a prodigious rate. I've never read a satisfactorty explanation of what
>conditions contribute to an outbreak of the blue-green algae. I've only
>had a few outbreaks of the putrid stuff (not really algae but a form of
>cyanbacteria) all within a few months time. But once I started to keep
>the tank as clean as possible with frequent water changes it never
>recurred. Plus I also discovered a mention of a product in one of the
>plant treatises that reccomended Seachem's Healthguard for treating
>blue-green. The author states that it does not affect plants at all.
>Healthguard is a product that is used to treat ponds to rid them of
>certain bacteria.
>
That would make sense, when BGA is a bacteria that can photosynthesize.
Thanks! Lots of great suggestions!
> I bought it and tried it (about a capful to every 15
>gallons). It dissapates after a day and you need to treat the tank about
>3 or 4 days in a row and lo and behold the stuff dissappears. The tank
>smells sweet again (which it should always do). Healthguard, I can
>happily report, has no effect on plants negative or otherwise. The
>author also stated that Healthguard inhibits certain other algaes. I
>have since been in the habit of adding a few capfuls to my tanks when I
>do a water change. I can't tell you that it is the reason that I have no
>algae problems of any kind (I do have the usual algae eaters) but I
>suspect that it at least contributes. I know that many purists will
>frown on the practise of adding chemicals to control algae but my tanks
>have lush growth, my fish live long beyond their expected life spans and
>my panda cats are breeding in one tank.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: aga-member-bounces@thekrib.com
>[mailto:aga-member-bounces@thekrib.com] On Behalf Of Adam Michels
>Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 7:15 PM
>To: Aquatic Gardeners Association Member Chat
>Subject: RE: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2
>
>Heather, how does one get blue-green algae? Is it from too much light
>and not enough CO2? or too many phosphates in the water (because we feed
>our discus too much) and not enough plants that absorb nutrients
>quickly?
> I've heard that bunched plants absorb nutrients faster than most
>others. But it seems no one keeps bunched plants in low-light,
>discus-style tanks; mostly Anubias, Java Ferns, Mosses, Grasses and
>Swords. My planted discus tank seems to get dirty and overwhelmed with
>dissolved organics quickly. Because of this I clean my canister more
>often, every two weeks or so. I even considered doing it every
>week...discus, ugh.
> Also, if your substrate is real deep, like more than 3 or 4
>inches, I think adding more Sword plants might improve conditions. Their
>roots spread out fast, and I bet they do a great job, comparatively, of
>keeping the substrate free of anaerobic conditions. I'm speculating,
>though, and really have no evidence of such.
> If you're serious about wanting to learn more about keeping
>discus in planted tanks, I can offer a few tips I've learned from
>painful experiences.
>
>1. Preferably, buy your discus all at once. That way you don't have to
>worry about territorial issues, which can prove disastrous. After
>quarantining your new discus, you put it with the others. They have a
>pecking order. Either the new one get picked on until it turns black,
>hides, gets sick and infects the rest of your fish potentially, or it
>fights with the others until one of them gets sick. Juveniles are
>considerably less hardy than the adults and even sub-adults.
>2. Keeping discus in a planted tank poses some problems: their
>temperature requirements and the FACT that they are very temperamental
>and can easily contract diseases from other organisms in the aquarium.
>In a bare-bottom tank you can boost your temperature to 90+ degrees F or
>drop your pH under 5 to kill off most diseases, but you can't do either
>in a plant tank. No one wants to ever medicate their planted tank, but
>discus have the potential for getting sick any and every time you add
>anything new to the tank: new fish, new plants, etc. Depends on the
>discus, some are curious, while others are fearful.
>3. I hate to say it, but you may have to medicate your planted tank.
>With discus, it's hard to avoid. Discus carry so many latent diseases:
>internal worms (tapeworms and Hexamita), gill flukes and bacterial
>infections are the three I feel I'm at constant war with. I will only
>treat my planted tank with PraziPro for flukes and tapeworms or Kordon's
>RidIck for an occasional white spot. Medicating for internal worms or
>bacterial infections definitely requires a hospital tank, because of the
>damage the medications can do to the biological filter or the high
>temperatures required to help the medicines work. Plants don't like salt
>either. To fight Hexamita, Epsom salt makes the fish drink more water,
>and the idea is that they will drink up some of the metronidazole
>medication, which doesn't dissolve in water very well, if the discus are
>refusing food.
>4. Some of your discus will eventually refuse to eat. In the wild they
>can go for quite some time without food. You will learn this and wait
>for them to start eating again. Then you notice the white, diaphanous
>feces trailing from them. Internal worms. Luckily you can remove the
>single fish and treat in a hospital tank. They all probably have some
>internal worms, but any minor changes, however slight, can cause the
>worms to overpopulate and affect one discus more than another.
>5. Bacterial infections are the scariest, for me, because I once watched
>five of my ten discus rot away to nothing over a period of two months
>(it takes a long time for them to die) and seemingly could do nothing to
>stop it. Frequent water changes are the best way to prevent bacterial
>infections from taking hold, but if you have to treat using
>tetracycline, nitrofurazone or erythromycin, use a hospital tank. Note:
>this disease is contagious, and all your discus have the potential of
>developing a bad bacterial infection, especially once one of them gets
>it bad.
>6. If you keep them clean, fat and happy, some of your discus should
>eventually start pairing up. You'll get some runts too. Wait until a
>pair lays eggs and you see them hatch (or at least develop) before you
>move them to a bare 30-gallon tank for breeding. Some discus can be
>sterile (very few); more likely, if they're laying eggs but the eggs
>aren't developing, you have two females. Breeding discus takes a lot of
>leg work, but you'll never see anything else like it.
>
>Sorry about writing so much; there's so much to say, and I only got to
>touch on the potential of discus getting sick in a planted tank before I
>became apprehensive about the length of this e-mail.
>
>Adam
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: aga-member-bounces@thekrib.com
>[mailto:aga-member-bounces@thekrib.com] On Behalf Of Heather J Gladney
>Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 6:34 PM
>To: Aquatic Gardeners Association Member Chat
>Subject: Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2
>
>Adam Michels wrote:
>
>
>
>>Medium light? That's good too. I'm sure the swords and some of the
>>Aponogetons appreciate the stronger light (not the laces). As for the
>>Aponogetons liking cooler water, I've had the two Madagascar Lace
>>
>>
>Plants
>
>
>>for more than eight months, even through what I figured was a dormant
>>period. They're in the background, behind one of the bogwood stumps and
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>get less light. Now they send out shoots every few days. I heard the
>>Lace plants like cool temps like you've said, but the A. crispus and A.
>>boivinarius (spelling?) are not supposed to mind the higher temps,
>>right?. And they're big; taller than my 75-gallon. One of my smaller
>>Aponogetons has produced six flowers consecutively.
>> As for the discus, I don't know why people keep them in
>>
>>
>bare-bottom
>
>
>>species tanks, other than for breeding, because they look absolutely
>>beautiful in planted tanks, and the larger ones don't seem
>>
>>
>as
>
>
>>sensitive as the juveniles (and they don't get sick as much!).
>>
>>
>>
>>
>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.
>
>
>
>> I guess there aren't any major problems with my tank, but my C02
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>levels are pretty low. Maybe when such plants are grown in less strong
>>lighting, compared with my 4WPG tank where I keep all my bunch plants
>>and glosso, they don't need as much CO2. Plus, of course, the discus
>>
>>
>eat
>
>
>>a lot of frozen foods, and the additional build up of dissolved
>>
>>
>organics
>
>
>>may help my CO2 levels. However, I do 33% water changes at least 2-3
>>times a week.
>> For a couple days no members were chatting, so I thought I'd
>>
>>
>bring up
>
>
>>a subject I've had trouble finding information about. And I regard
>>highly all of your experience and expertise and figured you
>>
>>
>could
>
>
>>offer some tips to optimize light levels, temp, CO2 and water chemistry
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>in what I consider my low-light tank.
>> I still have one question regarding DIY CO2 yeast reactors: more
>>
>>
>yeast
>
>
>>= more CO2?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>Nope. They reproduce so rapidly they fill to capacity, as I understand
>it, within a few hours. Also, they can only ferment so long before they
>
>poison themselves to death with their own wastes; there's discussion
>whether the wine yeasts make much difference, being resistant to higher
>alcohol content--can't help you on that one, I only used baker's yeast.
> There was a rather nice article on it some months back in the AGA
>magazine which mentioned using protein powder to supply traces and using
>
>baking soda to counter the increased acidity, so your final (and
>unavoidable) limit was that alcohol content. Also, don't bother raising
>
>the sugar content way high, about 1 cup in a 2-liter bottle or so as
>best I recall--the yeast can't survive the alcohol it would produce in
>any more. I *did* find both the protein and soda very helpful tips to
>extend useful bottle life.
>I found it extremely helpful to run a whole gang of bottles into
>auirline check valves, then into several reasonably good airline gang
>valves (not great) and fron there to single airstones, or up to those
>CO2 yeast ladders (your yeast bubble counters!). I used to swap out a
>quarter - third of the bottles every week, to keep a more stable level
>of CO2 going, because it does ramp up and down (mostly down!). I used
>the big 3-liter bottles, I think I had about 15 to 19 of them (varied,
>depending on what cap was leaking that week or not...) going for a
>nominally 90 gallon tank. For a 3 liter pop bottle, I used about 1 1/2
>cups of sugar.
>
>
>
>>Thank you,
>>Adam
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
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>
>
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>
>
>
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 20:14:07 -0700
From: Heather J Gladney <hgladney@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2
To: Aquatic Gardeners Association Member Chat <aga-member@thekrib.com>
Message-ID: <433DFEFF.8040804@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
S. Hieber wrote:
>It sounds like your nitrates are high but don't error on
>the other side of caution and get them too low.
>
>I would try to keep the nitrates around about 10 ppm and
>the phosphate around 1 -2 ppm. For potassium, I'd aim for
>about 10 but if the potassium is high, it doesn't seem to
>present problems. If you dose with potassium phosphate and
>potatssium nitrate, you probably have enough potassium.
>
>You can add plants (see previous note on floating water
>sprite)
>
Yes, water sprite sounds like a good idea. I remember someone on list
mentioned an idicator plant they liked to show iron/traces were low,
can't remember now what it was. (Don't think that's the problem in this
tank, unles my test kit is wonky.)
Sometimes stem plants will just take off, get huge & happy, and then
fall apart. There for awhile Shinnersia was going nuts, and Bacopa
before that, and then they start to deteriorate. They don't like trying
to grow back from foot-long cuttings from the bottom. I do have a
surface hog--forgot to mention the happy red-leaf water lily. Didn't
think that was the problem, as I got the same results in winter (when
red tiger was dormant) vs. now, when it's trying to hog the entire water
surface (and could be shading things out) and I whack off 6-7 floating
leaves every water change. For awhile, I dosed fairly strongly with
majors and traces, thinking that it might be chewing up too *much* of
the nutrients, and with those test numbers, then I was hoping that would
soak up some nutrients--maybe it *is*!
I had talked to someone quite awhile ago about using vallisneria in back
areas as another nutrient sponge. Simply have not been out in search of
new plants since then!
> to help suck up excess nutrients. Or do more or
>larger water changes to hold down the nitrate levels.
>
>In trying to push down your nitrates, you might depress
>your phosphates also, so keep an eye on the phosphate
>levels and dose if you need.
>
>
Will do--thanks!
>As for light and depth. there are only two ways to easily
>get more light to the bottom, add more lights or narrow the
>angle of the reflectors. The latter has only limited
>utility because, you can only go so far and fluorescents
>tend to scatter light a lot anyway.
>
>Don't worry about whether you are figuring 2 wpg based on
>nominal or actual water volume. 2wpg for a medium level of
>light is just a rule of thumb not a precise recipe. There
>is no precise recipe since each tank can be set up and
>behave a bit diff than another -- what plants you have,
>which might be shading which, nutrient levels, CO2 etc. can all impact
the overall activity of your plants. Wpg rulesare just a guide but now that
you have your tank set up you
>can watch how the plants that you grow in that tank behave
>and adjust accordingly, either with more lights or
>adjusting the lighting period for some or all of the
>lights.
>
>sh
>
>
>
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 20:15:45 -0700
From: Heather J Gladney <hgladney@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2
To: Aquatic Gardeners Association Member Chat <aga-member@thekrib.com>
Message-ID: <433DFF61.3030902@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
S. Hieber wrote:
>One thing you can do for an aquarium where you don't want
>to have a lot of light but you do a lot of fish feeding is
>add some watersprite (Ceratopteris cornuta) as a floating
>plant.
>
I love the way this plant looks, too. Nice contrast with everything else.
> Because it is floating it will be up close to the
>lights, taking maximum advantage of them while providing
>some shade for the water column below. Plus, because it is
>at the surface, ity can get plenty of CO2. So it can behave
>like fast growing plants, soaking up a lot of nutrients
>fromthe water column even in a relatvely low-light
>aquarium.
>
>As a bonus, trimming is very easy, so you can control the
>amount with barely any effort at all. You can tear, divide,
>snip pretty much any way you want and the plant just keeps
>growing back and it seems to accept a pretty wide range of
>water conditions and temps.
>
>For the sake of swords, you might want to avoid shading
>them, but the ferns and anubias won't mind the shade.
>
>have plants, have solutions,
>
>
Always!! And as always, thanks.
Heather
>sh
>
>--- Adam Michels <amichels@trafficleader.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>>. . .
>> I've heard that bunched plants absorb nutrients
>>faster
>>than most
>>others. But it seems no one keeps bunched plants in
>>low-light,
>>discus-style tanks; mostly Anubias, Java Ferns, Mosses,
>>Grasses and
>>Swords. My planted discus tank seems to get dirty and
>>overwhelmed with
>>dissolved organics quickly. Because of this I clean my
>>canister more
>>often, every two weeks or so. I even considered doing it
>>every
>>week...discus, ugh.
>> Also, if your substrate is real deep, like more than 3
>>or 4
>>inches, I think adding more Sword plants might improve
>>conditions. Their
>>roots spread out fast, and I bet they do a great job,
>>comparatively, of
>>keeping the substrate free of anaerobic conditions. I'm
>>speculating,
>>though, and really have no evidence of such.
>>
>>
>
>
>* * * * * * * * * * *
>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
>_______________________________________________
>AGA-Member mailing list
>AGA-Member@thekrib.com
>http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-member
>
>
>
>
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 06:43:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: "S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2
To: Aquatic Gardeners Association Member Chat <aga-member@thekrib.com>
Message-ID: <20051001134302.8572.qmail@web51706.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
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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> >>AGA-Member@thekrib.com
> >>http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-member
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
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> >
> >
> >
>
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