26g Bow Front - My First Dutch Inspired Scape Journal

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Don't think I forgot about you post on my thread! Looking for another reason for another Finnex ;)

I agree with Bill here though. It's much cheaper to try and increase some Iron. Try that for a bit and see if anything changes. If not, then I'd go for a light addition :D
 
Resist the urge to over correct though. Gradually increase your micronutrient levels. Also, considering increasing your phosphates a little bit, and decreasing your nitrate if water testing indicates that your have excessive levels.


As far as an alternate hypothesis, it might be that the intensity of light isn't necessarily the issue, but rather the spectrum. Giesemann T5HO put out similar amounts of light compared to other brands, but cause more color changes. Their unique blue-rich spectrum is often credited for this. Do you have a spectrum for the Finnex light?
 
Brian in the 220g I found that lowering the nitrate to 10ppm and not letting it get any higher then at the same time upping the phosphate to 1.5ppm and dosing alittle extra micro's daily I am seeing the best coloring. I think I would get the best coloring honestly if I would just bite the bullet and go with CO2 but not ready for that yet. I'm still testing this nutrient issue out. I was talking to a woman who was big into chemistry and plants and she said that it is actually phosphates that make the biggest impact on color (I could never explain it the technical way she did) and that is was actually more important than iron. I had been trying to up iron in the tank but once I finally got on the low nitrates- high phosphates and alittle extra micros that I started seeing a real difference. I can also tell you my color gets better the closer they get to the light and I don't know how or if the LED's play any factor in your tank. The plants should start coloring up the closer to the light they get.
 
When I switched from Flourite to Eco Complete some of my red plants started to loose a little color from what I assume was an initial lack of iron. My tap water is very high in phosphates so I can't say from experience if it helps to bump it up or not (my tanks run 1.75 minimum so it's never a limiting factor). I have seen that iron additions to the substrate have improved the color. It could be that both iron and phosphates need to be available for good coloration. I also agree with Rivercat's assertion that high nitrates aren't best for color. When nitrates run high I also see more green on new leaves than red. These are only personal observations.
 
I am speechless...I never have seen such a great transformation. Your journal just showed me how much I don't know. Beautiful tank!
 
Thought about putting pictures of my tank on here...think I will pass now. :lol:
 
@Predfan - I've been toying with that idea... like putting a 24" FugeRay next to the Ray 2.. not quite 'double' the light, but just an extra nudge in PAR. Plus I'll have the moonlights built in to the fixture and I can use the Truelumen Lunars on something else.

@Aqua_Chem - I searched everywhere for a spectral analysis graph to no avail. All I know is PAR data (which was recorded through open air) and color temp = 7000K. I emailed Finnex about that to see if they can send me the spectrum makeup.

@Rivercats - I suppose you convinced me... I NEED a Phosphate test! I have no clue what's in the tank.

@Brian & Bill - thanks for the input!

@nivluke18 - Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad that my thread was able to help you in some way.

@EVERYONE - Okay... I'll try to increase the micronutrients. All I know is PPS-Pro dosing. So in order to push the phosphates more, do I need to make a seperate solution with just the Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2P04)? If so, how do I mix it and how much do I dose? :confused:

As for Iron, what's the best iron rich root tab? Or do I need to use the iron nail thing? If so, are all nails made of iron? Or are they specific? :confused:

So if the Phosphate and Iron suggestions do little, back to this adding extra light thing - "IF" I added another light, what do you guys think of the Aqueon T5 NO? The 24" is only $50 and comes with a daylight bulb and a colormax (pink) bulb. This might make the colors "pop" more? Also it will give me a nice mix of spectrums I think with the Ray2.
 
Do you already have your phosphate-potassium mixed together in a dosing bottle? Or did you mix phosphate-potassium-nitrate all in one dosing bottle? I have one bottle for just phosphates-potassium mix, one bottle for nitrates, and one bottle for micros. This allows for custom dosing with PPS-Pro. Then once you have your test kit you can monitor your phosphate readings and figure out how much you need to dose daily to keep levels where you want them. I have to dose 60ml of phosphate daily since I have so many colored plants. Nitrates I dose a couple times a week. Then I add about 10ml extra of micros daily. (I know these levels are way too high for your tank but it gives you an idea how I've customized still using PPS-Pro. Then one day a week I dose no dry ferts (usually mid-week) and dose Flourish Iron only. It just seems to give the plants a boost. I dose it according to the bottle.

So if you need to make a new mix add phosphates-potassium together, can't remember off the top of my head what the relationship between the two are but I know phosphates need potassium to help plants utilize the phosphates. I'll see if I can find the article.

Don't do the nail thing. If you want true iron root tabs that are only iron AquariumPlants.com makes them. It's what I use and am very satisfied with them. Just be sure to place them deep enough cause if you disturb them you get rust colored true iron floating in your tank (been there done that).
 
FugeRay and Ray2?

Brian_Nano12g said:
@Predfan - I've been toying with that idea... like putting a 24" FugeRay next to the Ray 2.. not quite 'double' the light, but just an extra nudge in PAR. Plus I'll have the moonlights built in to the fixture and I can use the Truelumen Lunars on something else.


Did you wind up getting both for your 26. I'm still planning...

Thank you,

Mary

:thanks:
Click to expand...
 
Yeah... Because the way it stands, if i added more light with the addition of a second fixture, Id have to buy a glass versa top for $30+. Then, if i got the Aqueon t5, that's another $60. I'm not sure if its worth it. Plants are growing well, just not with intense shades of red. Everything is mostly green with a splash of red from my Alt. Reinekii and Ludwigia sp. Red.

As shown here:


ForumRunner_20130222_120508.jpg
 
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Brian_Nano12g said:
Why yes it is Adam. There's also on Cyprus Helferi behind that... Lol
Click to expand...

I love the Willow Hygro. Those suckers are darn near indestructible! I had it in my Polypterus tank awhile back, sand, no real ferts, stock lighting. Flourished.

The tank looks great! I do agree with you though, I wish some more of the reds would shine through. Did you ever figure out if it was the iron or the lighting?
 
Predfan27 said:
The tank looks great! I do agree with you though, I wish some more of the reds would shine through. Did you ever figure out if it was the iron or the lighting?
Click to expand...

I had talked to Brain about the nitrate/phosphate levels and red plants but I have to tell you a couple weeks ago I changed out my T5HO bulbs to Geisemann 6000K Midday bulbs and those combined with my 6000K HID metal halide bulbs are bringing out some of the best coloring I've seen yet. I'm planning on getting pic's later but my Limnophila hippuroides literally has intense hot pink growth on the top 3-4 inches. I haven't seen that intense of color since I removed the 10K HID MH bulbs. From all my various testings I'm finding that the bulbs/lighting combined with the low nitrates/high phosphates is the key.
 
I think its the lighting but i have yet to implement any comprehensive iron and phosphate supplementation. The reason why i think its the lighting is because the rotala rotundifolia that got tall close to the light started to change color at the tips. But it was at the surface of the water before i trimmed it. I do dose api leaf zone with my dry ferts occasionally.
 
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I'll first try the extra phosphates and iron... But if that fails to achieve the desired coloration, now I'm thinking of adding more light again. Since the Ray2 is suppose to be 7000k, which to me looks a little closer to something higher like 8000 to 10,000k. Do you think the Aqueon t5no would be enough to nudge me in the high lighting range, along side the ray 2, with the added benefit of more color spectrum via the 6,500k and colormax pink bulb that comes with it? I think a t5ho with my Ray 2 would be too much light. And i thought about adding another Finnex (ray2 or fugeray), buy that might leave my spectrum too one dimensional.

Thoughts?
 
I wouldn't go with T5HO for sure with the Finnex as I think you definitely would be way too high light. I think the regular T5NO would be good BUT I've used two different brands of bulbs in my T5HO fixture, one brand was coralife 6700K with a pink bulb, and I can't remember the other brand bulbs but I didn't like the light mix using one pink bulb to one 6700K and I didn't see any better color. Now using the more expensive Geisemann 6000K Midday bulbs with no pink bulbs my color is improved in just 2 weeks. I'm finding not all bulbs are created equal. So like me I think you are going to have to do some trial and error testing to get the results you want. My camera battery is charging but I will post pic's of the Cabomba which has gotten rusty orange leaf growth with rusty red tops and the Limnophila hippuroides with the intense hot pink. I just put in the Rotala Magenta yesterday and it looked pretty bad but today it's already coloring up a dark pink even as rough as the stems are. I really think it's finding the right combination of light/ferts/and CO2 or liquid carbon that gets the intense color. My real test is going to be the Rotala Macrandra going from it's nice pink color from before to a deeper pink or even red. It's taking alot of time to figure out the right combination but I think I'm getting real close.
 
Does Geisemann make T5NO bulbs or just the HO variety? Or did i just show how newb i am and T5 are all the same, its just the reflectors in the fixture that make it HO?

If i go the Geisemann route, what's the cheapest T5NO fixture that would work?
 
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