My 65 Gallon Low Tech Planted Tank Journal

[dragonfisher33]

i feel like in order to have some more growth in the tank, it's better for me to have a Quad Lamp fixture. does anyone here have an opinion on the non-name brands fixtures on eBay? such as this one

T5 Quad 36" 6500K Aquarium Light Hood Freshwater Plant Tropical Fish LED 156W | eBay

I was told that the quality isn't as good. one person reported broken fixture within a few months. any takers on this?

 

[dragonfisher33]

and then there's also this one: 36" 156W Aquarium Light 6500K T5 HO Hood Reef Freshwater Plant Fish Lunar LEDs | eBay

i'm weighing all the options out there and doing all the necessary market research into all of these products before opening my wallet. i hope you guys don't mind

 

[dragonfisher33]

Home right and absolutely love the result from using poly fil. the water is so much better. i will change the way in which the water comes out of the spray bar and hopefully the polyfil will trap more dust particles. as of right now it's shooting across the tank. tonight i will aim so that it's shooting downward around 45 degrees

 

[dragonfisher33]

so here's a new question: WHAT:S THIS? it looks like hair algae but i would like a confirmation on it. when i had this driftwood in a sand substrate system, nothing grew on it, but as soon as i switched to a dirted tank, this thing started growing. It's certainly because of the excess nutrient and higher lighting. it's very slippery as well when touched. i hope the pictures are good enough for the proper ID of it.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Here's the latest full tank shot

 

[dragonfisher33]

i'm letting the anubia nana floating right now cuz i'm tired. will attach them to something later on

 

[dragonfisher33]

so, it's been exactly one month since the last update. here's full tank shot. ever since the start, i sorted the plants based on their respective placements(foreground, mid, background). i also try to envision what they're going to look like in the future. but the core strategy has been that i'm going to give them the steroid by providing enough light and nutrients from the substrate. once they reach some sort of "maturity", i will replant and regroup the plants

 

[dragonfisher33]

i know this is some sort of crypt, can someone ID him for me? the one in the middle

 

[Billbug68]

i know this is some sort of crypt, can someone ID him for me? the one in the middle

Looks like wendtii, maybe the bronze one.

 

[dragonfisher33]

also two problems i'm facing: 1, holes in plants. you can tell by looking at the leaves from my amazon swords and aponogeton. this is caused by nutrient deficiency but i thought the substrate i have should cover the nutrient side. what could be missing? the only thing i have not added according to the Walstad method is clay. but i figure by having Flourite as cap, that should take care of the clay issue. so what am i missing here?

 

[dragonfisher33]

problem #2: i have since taken out the dual T5HO fixture by ZooMed and replacced it with a Quad T5HO fixture. I understand that without CO2, algae will be problematic at same level of photoperiod (originally 8hrs), so i tuned down on the lighting to 5.5hrs, but i'm still getting this kind of algae in the picture. is this the "legendary" hair algae? i have only heard people complaining about it but never seen or dealt with before. other than peroxide, is there anything that will eat it? i want it to go away the natural way (another way i believe is by tuning down the light more but i don't think it's feasible since i only have it on 5.5hr/day)

 

[dragonfisher33]

time for some good news. i got this red tiger lotus about 2-3 weeks ago. it was just a bulb with one sorry looking leaf. but check out it's progress now. it's bigger than my hand and so FREAK RED without the requirements that those red stem plants need, namely CO2. it stands out amid the greens so beautifully

 

[dragonfisher33]

anyone with recommendations and advices are appreciated. help is especially needed for the hole on leaves problem

 

[Jkeating8]

Looks like Hair Algae to me. What are your Params? Do you dose liquid carbon?

The leaves look to be from a potassium deficiency. Are you dosing per EI or PPS-Pro?

Looks good overall. I love that driftwood!

 

[dragonfisher33]

Looks like Hair Algae to me. What are your Params? Do you dose liquid carbon?

The leaves look to be from a potassium deficiency. Are you dosing per EI or PPS-Pro?

Looks good overall. I love that driftwood!

no i don't use liquid carbon or any other ferts because this is supposed to be a low tech planted tank for my parents house with minimum requirements and maintenance. i thought the miracle grow organic mix has potassium, iron, etc. which is going to take care of the nutrient issue

 

[Billbug68]

no i don't use liquid carbon or any other ferts because this is supposed to be a low tech planted tank for my parents house with minimum requirements and maintenance. i thought the miracle grow organic mix has potassium, iron, etc. which is going to take care of the nutrient issue

Nutrients will eventually be exhausted from the substrate and need to be reintroduced by either root tabs or other means; fish poo, excess food, etc., dissolving in the substrate, which would be closer to the walstad method. If you're looking to stay closer to the walstad method, you should've downgraded your lights instead of adding more. IMO you'll have an algae factory on your hands and sad looking plants if you keep the quad fixture and don't dose ferts or co2. I'd say go back to the dual setup or even less than that for a walstad tank...

 

[Jkeating8]

Agree with bill!

 

[bud29]

i know this is some sort of crypt, can someone ID him for me? the one in the middle

Looks like a crypt lutea to me, the leaves of wentii bronze IME are more oval-shaped.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Nutrients will eventually be exhausted from the substrate and need to be reintroduced by either root tabs or other means; fish poo, excess food, etc., dissolving in the substrate, which would be closer to the walstad method. If you're looking to stay closer to the walstad method, you should've downgraded your lights instead of adding more. IMO you'll have an algae factory on your hands and sad looking plants if you keep the quad fixture and don't dose ferts or co2. I'd say go back to the dual setup or even less than that for a walstad tank...

Ok, it's a good thing that the quad light has the capability of turning off two of the lights. i understand the nutrient depletion overtime, but it's only been two months and there's already potassium depletion? i find that incredulous.

 

[Billbug68]

Looks like a crypt lutea to me, the leaves of wentii bronze IME are more oval-shaped.

Looks like a fairly young plant, the growth may still be too new to really tell... I'm sure you have more experience with crypts than me, but it looks exactly like the c. wendtii I used to have... looks nothing like lutea to me... agree to disagree, bud.