first attempt at 3 foot planted tank

Hi All

thanx to @byronb i have removed all the rock from my tank and decided to go planted, I got a bagfull of trimmings from him on saturday and this is what i was able to achive in my 3 foot.

very much appreciated @byronb and thanx as well for the 2 awsome male kribs.
this is what my tank looked like before:

 

HUGE improvement, your tank looks really clean and healthy, and i like that you don't have that pink light anymore. :bigsmile:

 

@Fishie Mitchie thanx very much, lol yes i never thought a white light would make such a difference. im running 1 T8 in there would appreciate some advice on that as well. will it be sufficient or should i add another?

 

Looks looks much, much better! I also once had a pink light, never went back to it.:bigsmile: Anyway I think you might want to add another light bulb and if you can try get the kelvin rating between 5000k-8000k. 6500k being the best supposedly. But if it doesnt have the kelvin rating, maybe just look for a bulb that says "daylight" on it. That is supposed to be near 6500k. Please tell me if this is confusing you. :wondering:

 

Looking good !

 

thanks, no it makes sense, i was actually looking on the packaging for the Kelvin rating, as i read 6500K was tops, i couldn't find it, all it said was T8 18W according to the shop guy this is wat guys buy for their planted tanks but he wasn't sure either and i was desperate for half decent lighting for the plants.. the other issue i found was a few hours after installing the light my water temperature was about 2 degrees higher, so had to drop my heater a bit to compentsate.. i assume they heat up quiet a bit?

 

thanx a mill.. hopefully the start of another "forest" very impressed with your tank, i also copied you DIY CO2 canister, used an air stone at the end for now... seams to be doing fine untill i get that nano disfuser. thanx for all the advice, fish and plants

 

Yeah i'm not so good and finding the right lights either, maybe someone else can help you here. I have T8s on one of my tanks and they do get quiet hot. But it doesn't affect my temperature, but if you can adjust your heater as you did then it should be fine?

 

Dude I have seen 6500k T8' at buiders for around R20 each they are the daylight ones .. I actually had 4 of them which i gave to bro in law.

 

oh man!! i got klapped 99bux a light .. thats what happens when you leave things till last minute. i was so desperate for decent light, i made got them 5 minutes before the shop closed..
i will have a look. will also visit the store you told me about in boksburg.

 

@Ammar - I currently run 2x 20W "white" and 1 25w "red" T8's in my 100l and I'm getting really good growth on my plants with no co2. With more lights comes more responsability :blink1: (Ferts, maintenance etc)

 

and algae !

 

Yup, but have that under control at the moment except for BBA!

 

so do you guys suggest i stick to what i have for now and see how it goes? or should i go with the extra light and deal with algae with something like tetra algae min or some other algae killer?
the CO2 i really found interesting and thought it would be nice to give it a try, im still learning a lot about it, not really sure if i should stick to it or take it out.
i guess if it doesn't hurt the fish there is no harm in keeping it..

comment and advice would be highly appreciated

 

Keep the CO2 , plants go mad with it .. also using the flourish excel helps keeping the algae down . I found when my plants took over he algae pretty much dissapeared . What T8 are you running ?

 

My reds and whites have slightly different light spectrums so hence the use (I'm trying to cover as much of the plant growth spectrum as possible). Try the light/lights you have at the moment and see how that goes. Avoid additional chemicals (algeacides) where possible. There is a reason why algae grows and getting to the source of the problem is better than throwing all sorts of "stuff" at it. HTH

I would like to try DIY CO2 myself so I'm always interested to read how that's working out for people.

 

@Ammar I currently run 1x 24w haiyang clip on lamp in my 100l and I'm getting really good growth on my plants.

 

all it said on the packaging was T8 18W, didn't say anything about the Kelvin value, i will check tonight properly for the make and all other details, im using a tetra fert at the moment, but will definetly get some flourish excel

 

It is such a simple system that i saw on @byronb 's tank, tried it on mine and 1 hour later it started bubbling. 2 cups sugar, 1 spoon bicarb, 1 spoon yeast, 75% warm water.. well sealed bottle feeding into a second bottle with just water to filter the gas and bobs your uncle..

will have to invest in a couple tank cleaners as well, i haven't had the problem with the purple/pink light i had previously..

 

does the plant type also play a role? i assume you would get plants that are happier with lower light?