Water temp question?

[Prediscus23]

My water temp is around 81-82 degrees because of my lighting. Could this temp keep my plants from growing or cause them to melt?

 

[trkchezz]

Not sure on all plants, but most plants love warmer water.

 

[BillD]

A lot of plants, maybe even most, do better in cooler water. Discus keepers have a limited number of plants that will do well in the higher temps that discus are normally kept at. Perhaps, look for plants that are known to tolerate higher temps.

 

[Prediscus23]

Well the reason I'm asking is because (maybe because I'm being impatient) my plants aren't doing great. Given my tank is only about a month old and I was told it was normal for them to go through an acclimation process but I'm jus worried I'm not doing something right.

I dose PPS-pro daily
I ran out of co2, so I've been dosing co2 booster.

 

[aqua_chem]

It varies from plant to plant, but some really don't like warmer temps. 81-82 is on the cusp of what a lot of plants can tolerate.


That being said, going from CO2 to Excel can cause plants to blanch, as they're not used to being starved for carbon.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Pre...

Most of the aquatic plants we can get for our tanks are tropical and will tolerate warmer water. Your tank water temp is fine, but I wouldn't let it get much higher. I cycled a tank at 86 degrees one time and my floating plants didn't do very well.

B

 

[Prediscus23]

It varies from plant to plant, but some really don't like warmer temps. 81-82 is on the cusp of what a lot of plants can tolerate.

That being said, going from CO2 to Excel can cause plants to blanch, as they're not used to being starved for carbon.

Yea I was worried about if there would be any kind of shock due to the switch from co2 to booster. I had a problem with my diffuser, the glass ones you but from eBay are cheaply made and it broke and my co2 tank drained. But, I just ordered an inline diffuser from GLA so that problem will be resolved soon.

 

[Prediscus23]

Hello Pre...

Most of the aquatic plants we can get for our tanks are tropical and will tolerate warmer water. Your tank water temp is fine, but I wouldn't let it get much higher. I cycled a tank at 86 degrees one time and my floating plants didn't do very well.

B

Wow! That's warm! I think I am going to build a canopy to raise my lights a little higher from the water surface. I have my heater turned all the way and I'm still running a little too warm.

What do y'all think would be good to coat the inside of the good with for reflective purposes? I don't want to use tin foil because for one, its kind of tacky and two it refracts the light instead of reflecting it.

 

[aqua_chem]

Tin foil (actually aluminum foil) is actually very similar to what they use in aquarium reflectors. It reflects light quite well. Depending on your setup, you can buy quality reflectors from many marine suppliers in their retrofit sections.

 

[Prediscus23]

Tin foil (actually aluminum foil) is actually very similar to what they use in aquarium reflectors. It reflects light quite well. Depending on your setup, you can buy quality reflectors from many marine suppliers in their retrofit sections.

I was thinking about using that chrome tape. You typically see it used along side of people's cars or trucks to add "flair" lol. Do you think that would work?

 

[aqua_chem]

I'm not familiar with the stuff, but it sounds reasonable to me.

 

[Prediscus23]

I'm not familiar with the stuff, but it sounds reasonable to me.

This is a pic of the tape and how people use it (for future reference) on the car's front bumper.

 

[Mijo51380]

Flat white paint reflects more light than the chrome tape and would look better I used flat white on my old hydro systems works great

 

[Mijo51380]

A lot of people try to use foil or mirrors but these don't work we'll at all if you use foil or tape you could run into mold

 

[aqua_chem]

Foil works better than white paint by a long shot. The mold thing with the tape might be an issue, but you won't know that until you try it. I've used duct tape on fixtures before without much problem.

 

[Mijo51380]

You would think that foil would work better but it doesn't it can trap water behind it and cause mold and if you hold a light up to it you can see it does a poor job at reflecting light just type it up online tried it in the past and didn't work well been there done that plus would be a Hugh pain in the butt

 

[Prediscus23]

You would think that foil would work better but it doesn't it can trap water behind it and cause mold and if you hold a light up to it you can see it does a poor job at reflecting light just type it up online tried it in the past and didn't work well been there done that plus would be a Hugh pain in the butt

Yea, you have a point there, I think I'm going to use the paint method. I don't want to have to worry about mold and I think it will be easier to do rather than covering every little cranny with tape.

 

[aqua_chem]

You would think that foil would work better but it doesn't it can trap water behind it and cause mold and if you hold a light up to it you can see it does a poor job at reflecting light just type it up online tried it in the past and didn't work well been there done that plus would be a Hugh pain in the butt

That's not what happens. I've used aluminum foil on T8s without trouble, and many light fixture reflectors are basically thicker aluminum foil, eg Hagen's Glo fixture that I've used for two years. Mold also needs something to feed on, usually organic in origin like wood or fabrics. It can't grow with just plastic and aluminum foil.

 

[Prediscus23]

Oh so what would be best? The tape or white paint?