Diary of the 75G planted tank.... New pics 6/26/06

[kaz]

[quote="Lonewolfblue
The 4 round things on the bottom in the last picture, those are 4 blue LED's. And yes, it's a lot of light, lol. But apparently not enough, the Ludwigia repens are losing their red, which means not enough light. Going to have another fixture on there soon. Then I can gage how much light I need to run, lol.

quote]

very nice I see them now, one question when you say not enough light and all that sentance do you mean moonlight or general light?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I'm talking about the main lights. 260W in the 75G doesn't seem to be quite enough to keep the ludwigia repens a nice red. Also, the moonlights aren't really bright either, not like some that you see in the tank where they light up the whole tank blue, lol. But they are a nice feature. And the fisture with bulbs, moonlights, and legs was only $100.00.

Also, the vals are growing like weeds, lol. When I planted them, they were an inch or more from the surface, and now some of them have 2-3 inches on the surface. lol. The CO2 really does the trick. I adjusted my CO2 up just a little more tonight. Going to see tomorrow what the ph is.Hoping for 6.6-6.7 as today my ph was 6.8.

 

[kaz]

where did you get that fixture so cheap?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Ebay

 

[PrettyFishies]

For a 20G high, probably 2, maybe 3 to be on the safe side. I have 8 in the 75G. I've never used the Hagen, but if you can place the output of the CO2 system under the powerhead intake, it will help. And you really don't need too big a powerhead for a 20G.

How many GPH should I get for the PH? Can you reccomend a brand? And where does it go in teh tank in relation to the filter intake?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I'm not sure on the Hagen system. I have my output of the glass diffuser directly under my filter intake, I don't use a powerhead. Maybe someone else can answer your question better than I can.

 

[czcz]

260W in the 75G doesn't seem to be quite enough to keep the ludwigia repens a nice red.

FWIW, the older growth of L. repens on the right of this pic looks like emersed growth to me. It can be hard to get more than an orange from the top of the leaf in submerged form, but I think you have enough light for it. (Easy to get a deep blood red from the bottom of the leaf of L. repens. L. repens "Rubin" is easy to get red all over, and once you get trading you can probably pick up a couple stems from Barter/Trade, if you want it.) I think your current equipment is excellent, and means you can focus on nutrients to get color.

I've not seen it in person, but the red plants in the front look like L. repens x arcuata (aka L. repens "narrow leaf"). Did you get it as such or as L. repens? Just curious. Pretty plant.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

They were listed as Ludwigia, Narrowleaf (Ludwigia repens x. "Arcuata")

I have 1 more plant to add to the tank when it comes in. They didn't have it in stock when they shipped the shipment. They gave me the choice of cancelling and crediting my card, or keeping the order and they will send it at no charge. This is the plant I will be getting in a couple weeks, as they should be getting their shipment from Thailand this week. This was the ad.

Anubias nana "Variegated" (Anubias barteri v. nana x. variegated) White marbled Anubias nana plants. Extremely rare! Like seeing a dancing bear on the subway. Not that many left. HURRY.

 

[nitrous]

is there a reason that the lighting system is elevated?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

is there a reason that the lighting system is elevated?

Just for the look, and I've been running the tank with no glass during the day, and putting the glass on during the night so there's no condensation on the fixture itself. There's also the heat factor, even with the fans running, there's still a bit of heat thrown down to the glass. Having it 3 inches above the glass helps the heat escape easier.

One thing I have noticed. All the Ludwigia are sending down shoots. Especially the ones in my 26G. Looks like those ones are going to thrive. Also, the Red Foxtails are doing the same. I take it this is how they propagate? Then there's my vals, lol. About 3 inches of vals on the top of the water, lol. Those guys are cruising along.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

New Update....

Plants are growing like crazy, lol. Some of the vals now have about 4 inches on the surface, lol. The ludwigia is doing great, and so is the creeping mint. The water sprite is doing awsome as well, and so are the amazon swords. The only thing that looks shameful is the java moss, lol. The java moss in my 26G looks awsome, but in my 75G, full of the yucky grey stuff like was in my 26G some time ago. But now there's no yucky stuff on the moss in the 26G. I got to play some more....

ph 6.6
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 10ppm
phosphate 1ppm
All other tests not checked.

Will be adding some fish soon. Going to see if my lfs can order me some otos. Not sure if I want a pleco just yet, some of the plants are still loosely planted. So I think I'll go for a group of about 6 otos. Will also get the cories as well. I know I'll do julii's for sure, then maybe pandas, as I saw them at the lfs today, in stock. 6 of each. That will take care of the bottom cleaners.

Added about 1ppm ammonia again tonight to keep things going....

 

[azn_fishy55]

ammonia...is this regular cleaning ammonia?

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Not cleaning ammonia, it must be pure ammonia and cleaning has detergents.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Clear ammonia. Can find it in the cleaning section of most grocery stores. Just make sure it says no detergents or scents. Also, if you shake it and it bubbles or foams, you don't want it.

 

[PrettyFishies]

How do you calculate PPM for ammonia? I want to do the fishless, but was leaning towards the raw shrimp method....

Also - how do you adjust KH and GH? My tap water is KH=2, GH=5/6 ...

 

[rich311k]

To raise KH you can add crushed coral to your filter or add Calcium Carbonate with your water changes.

 

[PrettyFishies]

How will that affect other parameters such as PH? I used crushed coral in my cichlid tank to keep the PH elevated.... I don't want to fix one and break another.....

 

[Lonewolfblue]

In a planted tank, no need to raise the ph. Better to keep the ph stable. My ph is 6.6 after injecting CO2, which pushes the ph down. Normally my ph is 7.2 or so. As for measuring ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, you need a Freshwater Master Test Kit by AP. Then if you go planted, you should also get test kits for Potassium, phosphate, gh, and kh.

How do you calculate PPM for ammonia? I want to do the fishless, but was leaning towards the raw shrimp method....

Also - how do you adjust KH and GH? My tap water is KH=2, GH=5/6 ...

With a kh of 2, your ph goal if you are injecting CO2 is 6.4, to get your CO2 level to where it should be.

The ammonia test kit tells you what the ppm is. Just test the water and it tells you where your ppm is.

I got my new fixture today. I have 2 260W fixtures (520W) on my 75G now. I upped the CO2 just a bit more today, and in less than 30 minutes after adding the 2nd fixture, everything is pearling, including the banana plants, lol. And the java moss is pearling now. The water sprite is pearling, and the red foxtails are pearling. The amazon swords isn't though. For pruning, do I prune the copper colored leaves on the amazon swords? Are those leaves dying if they are an amber (brownish gold) color?

Another update:

Now all the plants are pearling, even the amazon swords.

 

[Japola44]

take pictures i would love to see all the plants

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I'll try to get some tomorrow. My camera is going on the fritz. I knew I shouldn't have gotten it from a liquidation store, lol.