ODNO for 29 gallon

[FMJnaX]

Its not the ammonia I'm concerned with, nor the goldfish eating the plants. If you have a healthy planted tank, you'll never detect ammonia. The plants will consume it. I have'nt tested for ammonia on my planted tanks in well over a year. Phos and nitra I test every couple of days. Those are the problem causers for planted tanks.

What concerns me is Phosphates. In general goldfish are messy eaters and overfeed. Not to mention they poo like crazy. Which algae is it that thrives in high light, high Phos??? I can't recall.

Somehow I missed this post, so I apologize for the double post.

Anyway, I never said I had any ammonia detected. See my numbers and you'll see that I'm at 0 ppm. I haven't detected any for months (even after adding a new fish). I'm not sure where you get that goldies overfeed. They can't go open the food and feed themselves... I feed lightly and have more than healthy fish. I also have just over 10x filtration rate. The extra mess that the goldies make is quickly picked up. This is evident in my need to clean my filters at least once a week; sometimes more, sometimes less. I also gravel vac every week. I'm very proud to say that when I do gravel vac, most of the time the water is nearly clean enough to drink (not that I would. lol).

To make a long story short, you need to quit stereotyping. Until you start keeping goldies and attempt what I am attempting, you don't know much about it. You only know what you've read/heard/seen. I could be wrong. Perhaps you are a goldie with plants expert... but from the sounds of it, I doubt it. It's like, say, the pirahna. To an unexperienced aquariast, you may have an image of frenzy and losing a hand and you may start to advise against them. However, most of us [experienced] know that this is false.

Again, I appreciate your planting advise and chemistry advise, but the rest of it is bogus in my situation.

 

[TankGirl]

This thread is about the lighting and the tips and challenges for modifying a hood, and I am sure if algae problems, or goldfish versus plants becomes a problem a separate thread will be started. (BTW, jsoong has a lovely planted goldfish tank)

The thread is a great one and can be used for others down the line to refer to when attempting a similar retrofit, so lets not get bogged down on OT differences of opinion.

 

[Guest]

As stated in my very first post on this thread. I commend you on your efforts.

2.5 wpg is a lot of light, be careful how you use it. It'll be a great learning experience, thats for sure :?

 

[FMJnaX]

This thread is about the lighting and the tips and challenges for modifying a hood, and I am sure if algae problems, or goldfish versus plants becomes a problem a separate thread will be started. (BTW, jsoong has a lovely planted goldfish tank)

The thread is a great one and can be used for others down the line to refer to when attempting a similar retrofit, so lets not get bogged down on OT differences of opinion.

For sure, another thread WILL be created. I expecting problems in the future that will need help (like what ferts to dose... that's getting close), but you are correct: This thread is about my lighting (and CO2) and cheap ways to overcome it; namely for the smaller 30" hoods on our 29 gal tanks.

Does jsoong have any pictures? If so, how can I find them? I would LOVE to see it.

Thanks for your comments TG. Greatly appreciated!

 

[FMJnaX]

As stated in my very first post on this thread. I commend you on your efforts.

2.5 wpg is a lot of light, be careful how you use it. It'll be a great learning experience, thats for sure :?

I apologize for the double post (again) but I felt this needed to be handled on its own:

Mojo Troll, I appreciate your support for the project. I also apologize for getting heated about your concerns. They are/were valid concerns, but I felt that they came across incorrectly, almost as if I was inferior because I'm going for a planted goldfish tank. Had they have been structured better, then I feel we wouldn't have gone off topic this far.

I hope that with this thread (and the one split/created by greenmagi) will shed some light on goldfish keeping and the potential they have aside from in a pond or bowl kept by a child or beginner.

 

[TankGirl]

jsoong has no gallery pics but he has posted pics in threads before. I have not seen him around much lately but you can try to PM him to weigh in on this topic and post pics of his planted goldie tank - he is extremely knowledgeable.

 

[greenmaji]

I will be looking into ODing a four foot strip for my tank...once I find it and do the modifications would it be of interest to post any results in this thread?

 

[FMJnaX]

I'm always up for ODNO results, no matter the size. We can then compare if the larger bulbs drive better than 2 of 1/2 the size in series.

 

[greenmaji]

Well, I was right about the "glue" not being up to the task on my DIY CO2. Luckily my wife was out at Wal-Mart so I had her pick up a tube of silicone. All is good now. CO2 is injecting nicely. I need a better method of getting it in the water, but right now I've got it running up my Penguin intake. Water level is higher than the outlets so I'm not getting surface agitation. I'm not running an air pump, but I've got one on standby if needed.

I didn't get around to finishing my reflector, but that's next on my list. Thus far, I've spend $48 and some change on my ODNO, reflector material, and DIY CO2; saving over $200 easily I'm sure. It's not professional or anything, but I'm pleased.

I was wondering if you were able to find T-8's in your area that had a good color temp.. like 5000-6500K and if you got any for this project yet? Have you worked on the reflector, did you plan on using the design I was suggesting? I think after looking around it might be a modified spider reflector design.. ie. someone is selling it for MH use, one bulb though.. I was also looking into how it is wired and you can connect all of the out leads together and jump them across the bulb.. steve has a link somewhere where he did this.. the wires going to the remote location could be just two if you run all the out going colors together, having one wire from the outgoing wires go to the bulb and jumping the connection with another wire and connect the two yellows that are coming back.. that might look cleaner having just a second cord going to your remote location.. just a thought.. looks like your doing well in this project.. makes me think I need to get going on mine... ack!
I need to diy a intake and a spraybar for my fluval and get some heaters.. not to mention the lighting project.. Double ACK!

 

[FMJnaX]

I didn't find any T8's at the store I visited that had the rating on them so I didn't get any. Still using the T12's strong. I'm not convinced with the GE Plant & Aquarium bulb. It gives off a very dull yellow and, in all honestly, the 2 plant bunches I have under the stock bulb is growing much better than the other plant bunches under the P&A bulb. If I can't find good T8's, then the P&A bulb is at least going to be switched out.

For the reflector, I did get some high gloss industrial white paint and painted the hood. I saw signification increase of light in the tank. When I went to Lowes, they didn't have any thin polished aluminum sheets. I haven't been back since. I'm preparing for my 4 week long vacation (Yee Haw!!!!! Going to Yellowstone and back to Texas) starting July 12th. New additions are falling off of my priority list quite quickly.

You are correct that I am doing well. Very well in fact. My aquarium is doing pretty good. I did drop my photoperiod down from 12-13 hours to just 10 hours. Still no algae, but I haven't noticed and difference in plant growth between 8 hours and 12 hours. I'll bump it back up once I get more plants. I have noticed minimal pearling on select days. I thought my plants had something wrong, but when I looked really, really close, I saw little bubbles forming and dissolving. I suppose that's a good sign?

Yes, you need to get busy. We need more data in here!

 

[greenmaji]

The pearling is a VERY good sign!!!!! I personally would go with the GE 6500K daylight bulbs.. they seem cheaper then P&A bulbs around here and they dont advertise the K value on them.. it makes me wonder what the #'s are on the P&A bulbs.. Ive heard that people have had good success with them though..
You might need to look in the yellow pages for a commercial lighting place.. it would have the rapid fire T-8's in the colors you need (Ive heard that at least the 5000K is prevalent in T-8's) and maybe a deal on ballasts for later projects! LOL...
Im almost in over my head as to what I need to order online and what I can get here to get my system up and running but yes I need to get to it!

 

[MolsonEx]

Hey all,

Here is how i did it. I bought 2 electronic ballast (Advance REL-2P32-SC).@ HomeDepot. Hooked them up on 2 NO 48" T8 fluorescent Lights. Bought another complete fluorescent fixture that hat a beautiful shiny reflector. Used that reflector under my home made hood together with the lights. And it looks perfect. I still have to test it.
I keep them running on ODNO 2x because i cannot find any electroninc ballast here to run 4x. It is also better to for the bulb life. And i think with running at 4x you will only make more heat and not more light. Will ad some small computer fans later when i have time to test it long time.
Pictures will follow later.

Greetings,

 

[greenmaji]

MolsonEx
The Advance REL-2P32-SC is a 2-F32T8 ballast.. you are running 2 bulbs ODed 2X...
http://www.prolighting.com/4f312elbaho.html
You do make more light with 4X but the most effecient configuration is suppose to be 2X it just takes up more space to 2X all of your bulbs.. the light is not as intence at 2X either.. Good show though!!

 

[MolsonEx]

Hey tnx,

Yes greenmagi. I'm know i'm running on 2x. I keep it a bit on the safe side. I tested it for a few hours today and the bulbs and ballast don't get too hot. ( i can still touch them)
But i think with the super shiny reflector i installed i should be oke. I should have about 100 Watt for a 55 gallon. Maybe not enough for the BIG plants but the light is really bright with the reflector. And the T8 48" are really cheap. I can always install 1 more. I still have some space. I will post how it goes when my stand is ready and the tank is running.

 

[MolsonEx]

WOW ,

It is going really good with my 55 gallon/planted. My plants give small bubbles now. YIPPIE ! ! !
Just 2*ODNO T8 Philips Natural Sunshine 32 W ≈ 100 W. 5000K with reflector. And Natural Co2 system with a ladder and a home made mix in a cola bottle.

Can't stop watching.(my plants)

 

[greenmaji]

Great news! and pearling to! Nice!