A few questions regarding planted aquarium

[uranumo]

My Dennerle 20 L Nano is around 8 months old and it has a 11W Fluorescent lamps with 6000K and a reflector. I have got a few plants, the type of which i have forgotten. I know, I am to blame for that . I have fertilizer substrate below the soil and I do add Easylife Profito and Carbo on a weekly and daily schedule respectively. The general parameters are normal except the fact that the water supply here has low iron and phosphorous as they do mention on their website, specifically for aquariums . So I do get iron added through the Profito to atleast 0.4ppm and phosphorous is presently very low at 0.02 or less.

My doubts are :
1) My plants seem to not grow tall, especially the long foreground plants as seen in the pictures. And the other plants in the background grow but they wilt as soon as they reach a height from below and do not seem to look healthy as it was when i bought them
....So do i need to add Phosphorous as an extra?

2)If I was to add in more plants such as Java Moss and also a hardy carpenting plant like S.repens, would I have to increase the iron dosing?

3)Should I be upgrading my lighting to an LED one such as the one I have an eye on -- Aquael Smart LED 6W with 8000K or should I upgrade to a higher Watt fluorescent lighting? I would like to start with some light aquascaping. Or should i stick to the same.

I have attacked some pictures of the aquarium and also the requirement parameters of my aquarium and lighting parameters in the next post.

If I have to post this somewhere else then do tell me.

Thanks guys.

 

[uranumo]

The requirement and Parameters

So these are screenshots of requirement and lighting parameters from rotalabutterfly.com. Pretty neat site though its in beta version still.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Don't go over board with the iron. If it gets over 1.6ppm it will become toxic and restrict your plants. I'd say you just need a little more light. Don't go too bright or you will need co2. Dimmable lights are best if you ask me. Then u can set it to a level that works best. Just flourish and excel should be fine for your setup.

 

[uranumo]

Don't go over board with the iron. If it gets over 1.6ppm it will become toxic and restrict your plants. I'd say you just need a little more light. Don't go too bright or you will need co2. Dimmable lights are best if you ask me. Then u can set it to a level that works best. Just flourish and excel should be fine for your setup.

Thanks for the reply. Id love to put in more plants. But since I have 11W fluorescent right and its 6000K, if i go for an LED such as this -
http://www.aquael.com.pl/en/products/akwarystyka/oswietlenie/175-leddy-smart...would it be smarter? though its only 6W but 8000K?

 

[Bert2oo1]

Thanks for the reply. Id love to put in more plants. But since I have 11W fluorescent right and its 6000K, if i go for an LED such as this -
http://www.aquael.com.pl/en/products/akwarystyka/oswietlenie/175-leddy-smart...would it be smarter? though its only 6W but 8000K?

The links not working for me . I'd say just go a stronger bulb if u can, the k rating isn't overly important. Your going to want something pretty bright as it looks like your tank is pretty deep?
How long has the fluro been on the tank?

 

[Bert2oo1]

The links not working for me . I'd say just go a stronger bulb if u can, the k rating isn't overly important. Your going to want something pretty bright as it looks like your tank is pretty deep?
How long has the fluro been on the tank?

Does the tank look brighter in person than in the pictures? If rotala is right and u have 67par at the substrate then that is enough to grow high light plants

 

[uranumo]

Does the tank look brighter in person than in the pictures? If rotala is right and u have 67par at the substrate then that is enough to grow high light plants

It is usually slightly brighter...its darker probably because of the Tannins from the driftwood i suppose. I would have to do a water change to see if it is actually dimming down these days. Sorry the link doesnt work. Id post the three lights I have kept in mind , below -

1) LEDDY SMART

2) AquaLighter Nano Светодиодный светильник для освещения пресноводных нано аквариумов 8225 - AquaLighter Nano - Aqualighter

3) and a particular one called chihiros Serie-A

I wonder if it would be too much though.

 

[Bert2oo1]

I've heard really good things about the chihiros, caliban07 uses one and he said there great. It all depends what u want to do with your tank though. Just remember the more light u add the more ferts and more co2 you will have to add. Most high light plants need a high level of co2

 

[uranumo]

I've heard really good things about the chihiros, caliban07 uses one and he said there great. It all depends what u want to do with your tank though. Just remember the more light u add the more ferts and more co2 you will have to add. Most high light plants need a high level of co2

Ok. Im glad I heard something good about Chihiros. So many say they are chinese made etc etc. i was wondering - arent even the greatest products assembled in China .

Thanks a lot pal. Lemme think about it hard now. Btw do you have any idea about the dark green plants thats in the foreground, all the way in front of my aquarium?

 

[Bert2oo1]

Ok. Im glad I heard something good about Chihiros. So many say they are chinese made etc etc. i was wondering - arent even the greatest products assembled in China .



Thanks a lot pal. Lemme think about it hard now. Btw do you have any idea about the dark green plants thats in the foreground, all the way in front of my aquarium?

Have no idea sorry they look like the non aquatic ones they sell at my lfs tho keep an eye on them they may die

 

[Caliban07]

From the look of your pictures I'd say you have a variety of cabomba and valisnaria spiralis.

Cabomba is an extremely fast growing aquatic weed and the vals may not respond well to the active ingredient in the easycarbo - glutaradehyde.

You can see that the internodal spacing on the cabomba is quite large. I'm not sure what causes this but I think these should be smaller. Etiolation is vividly observed in this plant in my experience. How long are your lights on for.

That fact that it grows so quickly and you have multiple stems could mean that the nutrients are being used up more quickly. You need phosphorus and nitrogen indefinitely.

Maybe trimming and replanting the tops more often whilst discarding the bottoms will help the plant appear more bushy and less leggy.

I'd leave the light for now and play around with easycarbo dosing and a more comprehensive fertilising regime. If nothing improves you can then consider a light. The A series is a good light that is dimmable and could be too strong for your tank on maximum settings which may promote algae. The colours tend to be more white too which dulls down the illuminance of the plants but for the price they are excellent value for money.

 

[uranumo]

From the look of your pictures I'd say you have a variety of cabomba and valisnaria spiralis.

Cabomba is an extremely fast growing aquatic weed and the vals may not respond well to the active ingredient in the easycarbo - glutaradehyde.

You can see that the internodal spacing on the cabomba is quite large. I'm not sure what causes this but I think these should be smaller. Etiolation is vividly observed in this plant in my experience. How long are your lights on for.

That fact that it grows so quickly and you have multiple stems could mean that the nutrients are being used up more quickly. You need phosphorus and nitrogen indefinitely.

Maybe trimming and replanting the tops more often whilst discarding the bottoms will help the plant appear more bushy and less leggy.

I'd leave the light for now and play around with easycarbo dosing and a more comprehensive fertilising regime. If nothing improves you can then consider a light. The A series is a good light that is dimmable and could be too strong for your tank on maximum settings which may promote algae. The colours tend to be more white too which dulls down the illuminance of the plants but for the price they are excellent value for money.

Hey, thanks a lot for the advice. Now I do know ill let the light take the second priority for now. I have been reading everywhere that the val is supposed to be very easy to grow in very low tech aquariums. So why would it be such a serious issue to grow here. Because it hasnt grown even an inch. A few die away and most stay the same. Could it be the way i planted it? the white or the root crown doesnt stick out..mabye that is the issue?

 

[Caliban07]

Hey, thanks a lot for the advice. Now I do know ill let the light take the second priority for now. I have been reading everywhere that the val is supposed to be very easy to grow in very low tech aquariums. So why would it be such a serious issue to grow here. Because it hasnt grown even an inch. A few die away and most stay the same. Could it be the way i planted it? the white or the root crown doesnt stick out..mabye that is the issue?

Easycarbo contains a product or product similar to glutaradehyde which is know to cause negative issues with Vals which may include melting and stunting. For this reason I wouldn't use the the vals as a gauge for how well your plants are doing as the easy carbo could be destroying them.

 

[uranumo]

Easycarbo contains a product or product similar to glutaradehyde which is know to cause negative issues with Vals which may include melting and stunting. For this reason I wouldn't use the the vals as a gauge for how well your plants are doing as the easy carbo could be destroying them.

Ok, I understand. You have been pretty informative. Thanks a lot.

 

[uranumo]

Easycarbo contains a product or product similar to glutaradehyde which is know to cause negative issues with Vals which may include melting and stunting. For this reason I wouldn't use the the vals as a gauge for how well your plants are doing as the easy carbo could be destroying them.

I have got one final question - How long should i keep the lights on? Presently u keep them on for around 12 hours. Is that too much?. I leave home at 5am and am back at 5pm. So its on for that long. Is it absolutely fine if it is switched on at 5pm and kept switched on up until 10 or 11pm..for 6 hours?..considering my light.

 

[Caliban07]

I have got one final question - How long should i keep the lights on? Presently u keep them on for around 12 hours. Is that too much?. I leave home at 5am and am back at 5pm. So its on for that long. Is it absolutely fine if it is switched on at 5pm and kept switched on up until 10 or 11pm..for 6 hours?..considering my light.

I would do 8 hours. Just remember the plants need time to respond to changes to their environment so give them a number of days before you decide to make further changes.

 

[uranumo]

I would do 8 hours. Just remember the plants need time to respond to changes to their environment so give them a number of days before you decide to make further changes.

Hey Caliban07,
I guess I will go slow on the developments needed in my aquarium. My only trouble is to grow carpet plants. But I think I found out something - the plants that seems to be a val could just be a Sagittaria, right?