phin
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I've had my planted tank for 3 or so years and only tended to it minimally. Its a 18 gallon show tank, dimensions are 10" wide by 20" tall by 20" long. Its just like a 20 extra tall, but only 10 inches wide instead of 12.
Flora is several various cryptocoryne species (C. pontederiifolia, C. wendtii "green", C. wendtii "Red", C. albida, and a couple other I'm not sure of. There are a couple different annubias in there too - variations of A. barteri (nana & coffeefolia). There's java fern in there thats been in since day one and some java moss that is barely hanging on. I noted in another post about how I'm planning a substrate change. At that time I plan on adding a few more plants, maybe a sword, but the C. pontederiifolia is about 16" tall and has reddish brown leaves and really fills in some vertical space. I don't know that a sword is necessary here. I'm also thinking watersprite, which I'm pretty sure I can pick up without ordering from my LFS.
My current lighting is a 10w CFL 6500k, 12w CFL 6500k, and a 15W T8 5000K. The CFLs are less than 6 months old, but the T8 is over a year old and needs to be changed.
Question: should I go with the zoo-med Flora Sun, which is a 5,000K bulb with spikes in the red spectrum, or the zoo-med ocean sun which is a 10,000k bulb with less red spikes, but higher wavelenths in the blue and yellow spectrum? I have a 20% off coupon for zoo-med, which is why I'm asking about this brand.
My water has a slight tea-stain color to it due to peat filtration, so any light that might enhance the color of the water I think I'd like to try and avoid, but foremost I want my plants to thrive. The water color doesn't bother me, but I don't want it to stand out to an observer; it currently isn't very noticable.
My other question is about phosphates & algae. My current phosphate reading is anywhere from 1.5 to 2.0, probably closer to 2.0. I have some algae issues, some diatomes and green hair algae, but my main source of scourage is black brush algae.
BBA has pretty much consumed my driftwood and is all over my plants. The annubias and crypts grow in spite of it, but it dooms my java ferns and chokes out my java moss.
When I do my substrate change I'm going to soak my driftwood and all plants in a water and KMnO4 solution.
Question: assuming my potassium permanganate soak removes the algae, will controlling phosphates, help in keeping future algae at bay? I'm thinking about placing a phosphate removing filter pad in my canister. I've heard good things about it, but can't remeber the brand right now. Its about $10, but can be cut to size. I'm guessing in a fw tank with 2.0ppm phosphates that I won't even have to use very much.
Thanks.
Flora is several various cryptocoryne species (C. pontederiifolia, C. wendtii "green", C. wendtii "Red", C. albida, and a couple other I'm not sure of. There are a couple different annubias in there too - variations of A. barteri (nana & coffeefolia). There's java fern in there thats been in since day one and some java moss that is barely hanging on. I noted in another post about how I'm planning a substrate change. At that time I plan on adding a few more plants, maybe a sword, but the C. pontederiifolia is about 16" tall and has reddish brown leaves and really fills in some vertical space. I don't know that a sword is necessary here. I'm also thinking watersprite, which I'm pretty sure I can pick up without ordering from my LFS.
My current lighting is a 10w CFL 6500k, 12w CFL 6500k, and a 15W T8 5000K. The CFLs are less than 6 months old, but the T8 is over a year old and needs to be changed.
Question: should I go with the zoo-med Flora Sun, which is a 5,000K bulb with spikes in the red spectrum, or the zoo-med ocean sun which is a 10,000k bulb with less red spikes, but higher wavelenths in the blue and yellow spectrum? I have a 20% off coupon for zoo-med, which is why I'm asking about this brand.
My water has a slight tea-stain color to it due to peat filtration, so any light that might enhance the color of the water I think I'd like to try and avoid, but foremost I want my plants to thrive. The water color doesn't bother me, but I don't want it to stand out to an observer; it currently isn't very noticable.
My other question is about phosphates & algae. My current phosphate reading is anywhere from 1.5 to 2.0, probably closer to 2.0. I have some algae issues, some diatomes and green hair algae, but my main source of scourage is black brush algae.
BBA has pretty much consumed my driftwood and is all over my plants. The annubias and crypts grow in spite of it, but it dooms my java ferns and chokes out my java moss.When I do my substrate change I'm going to soak my driftwood and all plants in a water and KMnO4 solution.
-A good source of potassium permanganate is Kent's Poly-Ox, which I can get in town for $6. (Try calling around town asking for potassium permanganate and good luck)
The solution will oxidize any organics, and it is my hope kills off all the algae. It will also kill any snails, snail eggs, and melt and decaying plant matter off the plants. A mild solution should leave any healthy plants unscathed.
Question: assuming my potassium permanganate soak removes the algae, will controlling phosphates, help in keeping future algae at bay? I'm thinking about placing a phosphate removing filter pad in my canister. I've heard good things about it, but can't remeber the brand right now. Its about $10, but can be cut to size. I'm guessing in a fw tank with 2.0ppm phosphates that I won't even have to use very much.
Thanks.
