SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hello,
I'm finding myself wanting/needing more information about the planted tank. I suppose it's a natural progression.
I have read most of the articles and stickies on the science behind it all and I find I'm a bit overwhelmed to say the least.
My first question is about lighting and calculating what you have. I have what is sold as a 29 gallon tank which I added a 55 watt cf fixture to. I understand that cf's put out more light than no lamps do, but I'm not understanding how to calculate the conversion. I see a 29 gallon tank with a 55 watt lamp = ~1.8 watts/gallon. Is it that simple?
I have a few plants now:
6 stalks of cabomba
6 stalks of anacharis (spelling?)
one sward that I have been told is a brazilian.
and four clumps of a "grassy" plant. I can provide photos if needed.
When I figured out that I needed to change out the stock lamp with the cf I also started dosing Excel. following the label instructions. The problem with doing both of these at one time, I don't know if one or both is helping but the plants seem to be doing quite well.
I guess my question here is do I need to be doing more with ferts? How about testing for phosphate?
This a relatively new tank that is cycled (fishless) and has a nitrate of <20 at last test.
Sorry about the length of this post. I'm afraid I'm going to need a little hand holding here.
Thanks for any info / advice.
I'm finding myself wanting/needing more information about the planted tank. I suppose it's a natural progression.
I have read most of the articles and stickies on the science behind it all and I find I'm a bit overwhelmed to say the least.
My first question is about lighting and calculating what you have. I have what is sold as a 29 gallon tank which I added a 55 watt cf fixture to. I understand that cf's put out more light than no lamps do, but I'm not understanding how to calculate the conversion. I see a 29 gallon tank with a 55 watt lamp = ~1.8 watts/gallon. Is it that simple?
I have a few plants now:
6 stalks of cabomba
6 stalks of anacharis (spelling?)
one sward that I have been told is a brazilian.
and four clumps of a "grassy" plant. I can provide photos if needed.
When I figured out that I needed to change out the stock lamp with the cf I also started dosing Excel. following the label instructions. The problem with doing both of these at one time, I don't know if one or both is helping but the plants seem to be doing quite well.
I guess my question here is do I need to be doing more with ferts? How about testing for phosphate?
This a relatively new tank that is cycled (fishless) and has a nitrate of <20 at last test.
Sorry about the length of this post. I'm afraid I'm going to need a little hand holding here.
Thanks for any info / advice.