[GSAS-Member] How would you guys recommend adjusting my setup?

[Matt Staroscik <matt@wrongcrowd.com>]

I would appreciate it if any of you planted tank geniuses could check out my
setup and let me know if you think any adjustments are in order. Sorry for
all the posts lately, but seriously trying to have a nice planted tank
instead of settling for low-light weeds is a new thing for me.

*Hardware
*
Tank: 90 gallons, Eco-Complete substrate

Lighting: 4 55W T5 HO tubes with individual reflectors, in 2 separate banks.


Filtration: Fluval 404 w/ sponge filters, floss, ceramic rings, and
cuttlebone

CO2: Pressurized, with solenoid. If you have seen my other posts I am still
fiddling with how much to inject to get to 25-30 ppm. Diffuser is a mini
powerhead<http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/diy-aquarium-projects/44053-tiny-super-efficient-co2-reactor.html>.


*Water parameters, settings & chemicals
*
Tank is 6 dKH, 6 dGH (from cuttlebone), pH from 6.8 to 7.2 with CO2
injection, 78F.

Photoperiod: 10 hours of 1/2 power (110W T5 HO) with a mid-day burst of 4
hours at 100%.

CO2: Starts 1 hr before the lights come on, and turns off 1 hour before the
light turn off. 4-5 bubbles per sec. (According to the ph-KH-CO2 chart the
tank should be 25-30 ppm CO2. The drop checker color seems to agree but I
cannot be sure my CO2 instruments are all working properly yet.)

Ferts: I am planning on dosing on the schedule from Shango's Tom Barr link
earlier today but that won't happen til the weekend at best.

*Plants*

Well, they ... exist. They include dwarf and giant hairgrass, some kind of
val, some kind of sword, a bronze wendtii, elodea, java fern & moss, and a
few others that I can't name because I didn't write them down. :)

*Observations:

*CO2 has been running for about 4 days.
*
*No plant pearling has been observed. Of course, I have no macros in there,
and the CO2 may also be too low still.

No algae explosion... yet?

One plant IS growing like a weed, though.

[image: 93642439425882520562.jpg]

*Changes?
*
10 or 12 hours of light?

>From some things I just read, the mid-day light burst may be over twice as
long as it should be. Some advised starting at just one hour. (I don't want
to get into a split photoperiod, at least not yet.)

It would also be possible for me to run 3x55W tubes for the entire
photoperiod, if not the full bank.

Ideas?

Many thanks!

MS
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