Lighting help

Hi Guys


I have finally overcome my MTS problem, only 2 tanks running now. This gives me time to focus on my one tank.

The tank i need help with is my 150l. 945 x 325 x 500.
I am running 4 30w t8s at the moment. Don't know what the kalvin reading is.Noob at lights.
To me i think i have way to much lights? Plants are growing slow though, got black algae growing on the leaves below the top ones.
Brown algae on the sides and back and needing to top up about 10 liters a week along with my 20% water change.

Lights go on at 12PM and off at 9PM (9 hours)
Feed my fish once a day, about 2-3 hours before the lights go off.
Runs on a sump (Ceramic rings, bio balls and a type of filter floss for debris). 2000lph return pump. Only get about half of out due to the height.
Have a power head attachted to a spray bar on the oposite side
PFP capped with PFS and then topped with a fine black sand (1-2mm)
I have this plant ferts i use as instructed, once a month.
As said before 20% water change once a week

Do i need to look into getting different lights? Like T5s? Its not really an option but if it must be done then so be it.

Really stuck here and would really like to get this tank sorted out.
Hope i never missed anything. If i have please let me know.

Much appreciated!

Kendall

 

Quick one.... How old are your tubes? With time,the light intensity tends to drop and depending on what light and what spectrum it emits,could be part of your problem....Replace like once a year...
Another thing to consider is how high the nitrates are in your tap water - had a reading of 200ppm recently,could hardly believe my eyes.... High nitrates will exaserbate a algea problem...
Also,how old is this setup? Newer(less than a year old - ish) tends to have various cyclical algea blooms....

My advice,get a little school of Otocinclus - they will take care of a lot of species of algea in your tank....

 

Tubes are....old i guess lol. I got them with a different tank. I have been using them for about 6 months. So they could be very old.

Tank has been running for 2 months tomorrow.

I have 2 CAE (got them on friday) got home and alot of that algae is gone! Just not off the glass as yet.

Will replacing the current tubes help with the plant growth ect? What spectrum should i be looking at? 6500k? And how many lights should i then run?

Questions that should have been asked before i started....when will i learn lol

 

Troy get some 6500K but at least add 1 growlux.

 

Are ypu running any CO2, this could be the cause of slow growing plants and algae?

 

@Vis what is growlux? And where can i find one?

@PeterWest i did run the diy yeat one. Massive algae outbreak after that.

 

Ok, the reason for the algae attack is due to the unstable CO2 levels from the DIY CO2.

 

Yeah i removed it about a week ago.

Algae seems to be decreasing though

 

Hi TroyFish

That sounds fine to me, but you need to remove the bulbs and check the Kelvin reading and the bulb make and model number. That will help us to determine if these lights are correct spectrum or not. But the wattage seems fine, although possibly a little on the high side.

Is it the brush / beard type? If so, then this is called BBA and you will usually see this when there are unstable CO2 levels such as when using DIY CO2, or when the CO2 levels are low and the light levels are too high. The balance is critical here. Having said that, one can achieve fairly stable CO2 levels with a DIY system, but it takes a bit more work. Perhaps more than 1 bottle connected in series, submerged in a bucket of water with a small heater in order to maintain the yeast/sugar mix at a steady temperature, also a needle wheel pump to distribute small CO2 bubbles evenly, etc. There are many articles on good DIY setups.

Brown diatoms. Not a major issue. Typical of a start-up tank within the first 2-3 months. According to reports its caused by silica in the water. Many water changes and a large school of Otos will get rid of it eventually. Also ramshorn snails.

Which brand? Once a month? That seems way too little. Most people dose 3 times a week. What fish load do you have?

A startup tank does much better with 2 water changes per week of 50% each for the first month. Thereafter you can slowly scale that maintenance down. This is done on ADA tanks, Tropica show tanks, Tom Barr's tanks, and they all look awesome to me. Keeping on top of things during the startup phase is critical. Patience is critical. Don't change too many things too quickly. Rather change one thing and stick to that for a while. If it doesn't work, then change something else.

No you don't need T5s, but if I understand your tank dimensions correctly, the height is 500mm. If that is the case and you want to grow any nice carpet plants, then I would suggest T5s. T8 bulbs lack a bit of intensity and even adding many of them in your tank hood won't give you the same effect as a T5 bulb with stronger intensity. Get 2 x T5 bulbs that fit the length of your tank and make sure you have decent reflectors to give a nice spread of light. But do this as an option. For now, I don't think you need T5s.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Lauré

 

You see most of the bulbs we use have a celvin rating like 6500K.
Each bulb also have a light spectrum range. Well 6500K bulbs fall the closest to the correct light
spectrum of 420(blue) and 670(Red), known as the PAR, but they are not perfect.
Plants can't do anything with light that fall outside the PAR range.

Growlux lamps are made to peak excactly in this range and this giving you the precise light you need for growing plants.

Lohuis makes one they call a aquarium light. Its actually a growlux they package and so a little cheaper than the branded ones.

 

Hi Laure, thanks for the reply

Im expecting a call from home soon to give me all the details on the lights i have. Will post when i get them

Its not BBA. More of a green algae that is dead? Basically if i rub the leaves very gently it comes off. But that is no longer a problem as my two CAE are doing a very good job removing this. Leaves are still healthy under that 'black algae'. I think i am going to move away from this whole Co2 thing until i get the right equipment

On the silca itself it started clearing up. I then added a thin layer (+-10mm) of fine black sand. Will this algae make its way through and discolour the black sand or die off?

I have no i dea. Some cheap stuff from my LPS. didnt help...obviously. Can you recommend anytihng?
Fish load? As in the stock?

50% a week. I can work with that. If i get busted for this im directing the big man to you.
If i stand near my tank with a bucket he.....lets just stick to the word 'not happy' lol

Yip 500 high. Wanted to grow carpet plants but a certain group ate it...and some of my other plants.
Well now that you said that i think im going to get for my other tank when we set it up. Its going to be very highly planted!

Thanks for the help. Understand somethings a bit better.

Hopefully i do have the wrong lights, rather that than me just being a complete failor at plants:bigsmile:

 

Lights dont have anything on them but Life-Glo 30w t8. Went to the Hardware store to see what they have. They got a Osram energy saver cool white L30w/640 cool white 2100lm. Any good?

 

If I recall from my recent shopping life glo is the right spectrum... but considering they are old... I'd say they past their usefullness. Usually 12 - 18 months is max.

The 640 in that Osram globe throws me a bit, because "Cool white" tubes are normally 4600k... which is a little low. Troy, send a message to Gert... he knows of a Phillips one that you can get at a very good price from an electrical wholesale... but you would need to order it. I've got mine on order, and I think I'm paying R30 for a 3ft.