Live plants vs plastic plants

[NickNaylor]

That last tank is beautiful. Love all the color.

 

[Caliban07]

His garage tanks used a $90 4ft 4 bulb fixture from a local hydroponic supply store. His show tank uses an 8 bulb fixture.

He mixes the bulbs to achieve a spectrum that will grow Red and Green plants.
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All his tanks get Aquasoil and CO2. Indoor tanks get ferts and water changes. Garage get leaner conditions and grow slower.

He has 2 Kessil Tuna Suns over his Cypress tank.
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I'll see if I can find a picture of the Buce tank

His tanks are custom and tend towards wide and shallow so easier to get decent PAR at substrate level.

He did say he had LEDs over a tank, but his red plants weren't coloring up so he went back to fluorescent.

Thanks. I noticed my LED tends to wash out the colours a tad too but they are all white LEDs.

That 8 tube fixture is hung pretty high. Quite a distance from the substrate. Still I am referring to a post he made 11 years ago so he may have higher PAR now. I know he used to target about 40 micromols at substrate. I'd say the colours are just to accentuate the natural colours of the plants they would grow just fine without that array of bulbs.

I wish I had the time to even attempt this kind of thing. The placement of the plants are genius. Gotta keep on top of trimming though to keep those stems down.

 

[Coursair]

Thanks. I noticed my LED tends to wash out the colours a tad too but they are all white LEDs.

That 8 tube fixture is hung pretty high. Quite a distance from the substrate. Still I am referring to a post he made 11 years ago so he may have higher PAR now. I know he used to target about 40 micromols at substrate. I'd say the colours are just to accentuate the natural colours of the plants they would grow just fine without that array of bulbs.

I wish I had the time to even attempt this kind of thing. The placement of the plants are genius. Gotta keep on top of trimming though to keep those stems down.

He trims every week I'm sure. His trimmings sell. His Manzanita wood pile was tempting, but I didn't buy any this visit.