Lighting and CO2 ??

[Grey Legion]

Just switched over to a 46 Gallon bow front and moved all my plants lace java fern, jungle val and another I don't know the name..the tank has horrible lighting single 30watt tube I plan on upgrading to a 92watt PC in the near future ( end of this week ) this give me 2watts per gallon...will co2 be needed ?? or should I try it without...

 

[malkore]

Well, normally I'd suggest CO2 at that lighting level. However lace java fern isn't a fast grower. Vals can be, but I have no idea how densely planted they are.

Regardless, at that light leve, the plants would benefit, and the algae would suffer. If you've been thinking of adding some more plants, I'd add them and start some CO2 injection after the lighting upgrade. You could try DIY for now. It'll be a bit annoying, but you'll get to try it out before you decide if a pressurized setup is something you want and can afford.

 

[Grey Legion]

I take it your talking about when I upgrade my lighting...

as it stands I only have one val it is sending off a shoot though
I have used the DIY CO2 in the past in my smaller tank and it worked well lots of pearling but I have like 9 watts per gallon as well.

I think I will upgrade the lighting and wait a bit before adding CO2 and then monitor my PH weekly..

I do lots of small water changes and my tank always seems to be stable
so hopefully the new light will make things brighter in the future..

Thanks for the tips

 

[black udder]

I have a 46 bowfront with 96w of light - quite a few plants and I'm starting to get some algae. There could be other reasons, but I haven't had the algae problem until after the new light fixture.

I have DIY CO2, but I don't know that it's working well (producing much). Of course, I can't say that I'm much of a CO2 expert either.

Just my 2 cents.

Oh, I wouldn't go back either I'm just looking to get rid of the algae - perhaps add pressurized CO2 since it's simpler to maintain.

 

[Grey Legion]

Well I am sure that adding more light will effect algae growth a bit, but more importantly is water quality IMO, I plan on trying a few things before I go back to my DIY CO2..I may add some FLouish excel and see what results I have...I actually think my plants are doing ok with the low light I see new growth everyday..the biggest problem is the tank does not look as good as it could be...the tank has shadowy spots and the light look drab ( it's a new bulb )...

I want to do some experiments and see what gives me the best results..
so I guess I'll be hitting the forums and the FAQ's on plant care and such..

Thanks for the reply !!

 

[malkore]

SeaChem reports that anachris and Valisneria sp. may be adversely affected by the use of Excel. I can vouch for excel killing anachris and making it weak and brittle. I've not used it in a tank with vals, but if SeaChem admits to the problem, I'm sure it exists.

http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3736