The Planted Tank Forum banner
Cancel

A few questions regarding planted aquarium

941 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  jsankey88, 
K
My Dennerle 20 L Nano is around 8 months old and it has a 11W Fluorescent lamps with 6000K and a reflector. I have got a few plants, the type of which i have forgotten. I know, I am to blame for that :p. I have fertilizer substrate below the soil and I do add Easylife Profito and Carbo on a weekly and daily schedule respectively. The general parameters are normal except the fact that the water supply here has low iron and phosphorous as they do mention on their website, specifically for aquariums :p. So I do get iron added through the Profito to atleast 0.4ppm and phosphorous is presently very low at 0.02 or less.

My doubts are :
1) My plants seem to not grow tall, especially the long foreground plants as seen in the pictures. And the other plants in the background grow but they wilt as soon as they reach a height from below and do not seem to look healthy as it was when i bought them
....So do i need to add Phosphorous as an extra?

2)If I was to add in more plants such as Java Moss and also a hardy carpenting plant like S.repens, would I have to increase the iron dosing?

3)Should I be upgrading my lighting to an LED one such as the one I have an eye on -- Aquael Smart LED 6W with 8000K or should I upgrade to a higher Watt fluorescent lighting? I would like to start with some light aquascaping. Or should i stick to the same.

I have attacked some pictures of the aquarium and also the requirement parameters of my aquarium and lighting parameters in the next post.

If I have to post this somewhere else then do tell me.

Thanks guys.

Attachments

See less See more
11
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
T
Your plants look healthy. If that is cabomba in the background as I suspect, it is notorious for looking scraggly after a while (not a lot of leaves but generally healthy looking).

If you are unhappy with the growth rate in your tank, then chances are you can increase it with the addition of a carbon source (CO2 or a liquid carbon supplement...liquid supplements tend to kill moss though).

Also keep in mind that while your theoretical Par value is where you want it, floating plants will significantly reduce the photon density at substrate.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
Reply
Save
Like
K
thanatopsian said:
Your plants look healthy. If that is cabomba in the background as I suspect, it is notorious for looking scraggly after a while (not a lot of leaves but generally healthy looking).

If you are unhappy with the growth rate in your tank, then chances are you can increase it with the addition of a carbon source (CO2 or a liquid carbon supplement...liquid supplements tend to kill moss though).

Also keep in mind that while your theoretical Par value is where you want it, floating plants will significantly reduce the photon density at substrate.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I am grateful that u actually noticed the floating flora though it is true that it must be affecting the rooted plants. I have three lights in mind to upgrade to, links of which ill paste below

1) LEDDY SMART

2) AquaLighter Nano ???????????? ?????????? ??? ????????? ???????????? ???? ?????????? 8225 - AquaLighter Nano - Aqualighter

3) and a particular one called chihiros Serie-A

I wonder if it would be too much.

Bump:
thanatopsian said:
Your plants look healthy. If that is cabomba in the background as I suspect, it is notorious for looking scraggly after a while (not a lot of leaves but generally healthy looking).

If you are unhappy with the growth rate in your tank, then chances are you can increase it with the addition of a carbon source (CO2 or a liquid carbon supplement...liquid supplements tend to kill moss though).

Also keep in mind that while your theoretical Par value is where you want it, floating plants will significantly reduce the photon density at substrate.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
The foreground plant, that is all the way in front (Dark green), do u have an idea what that could be?
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
T
Krishna Suresh said:
I am grateful that u actually noticed the floating flora though it is true that it must be affecting the rooted plants. I have three lights in mind to upgrade to, links of which ill paste below

1) LEDDY SMART

2) AquaLighter Nano ???????????? ?????????? ??? ????????? ???????????? ???? ?????????? 8225 - AquaLighter Nano - Aqualighter

3) and a particular one called chihiros Serie-A

I wonder if it would be too much.

Bump:

The foreground plant, that is all the way in front (Dark green), do u have an idea what that could be?
Click to expand...
Those are all nice looking lights, but to be honest, so is the one you are already using! You would probably be fine using a 14w CFL. I would be cautious about increasing your light though....you might start growing algae!

Also, I forgot to mention how much I like your aquascape! I'm not sure but that looks like corkscrew val in the front left.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
Reply
Save
Like
Opare
Your plants not growing tall is likely a light problem, with the bottom parts not gettnig enough light to stay alive. Low P levels probably not helping either.
If you want to add those 2 plants you should be fine with your setup as it is, TBH I wouldn't change much as everything seems to be fine-ish.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply
Save
Like
J
I had the exactly the same issue. I have a 30litre shrimp setup and I use the easy life range plus I inject Co2. Now I also had the florescent tube light which I then went to the 6w leddy tube upgrade. I wasn't happy with that light either so I'm awaiting my chihiros a series 30cms light fixture....this light does come with a dimmer so it won't be to much for your tank.

I needed to upgrade as I have monte carlo in my tank and it's not carpeting as I want it to.

As goes for dosing liquid iron, I also dose this with shrimp and flame moss Present. Whoever says it kills off moss is wrong as I've always dosed iron in all my tanks and had no issue whatsoever! I do know it can harm shrimp so only half dose now.

I will have an aquael 6w 6500k led lamp fixture available very soon as my new light should arrive in the next few days.

It will be more than enough for your requirements.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Opare
jsankey88 said:
As goes for dosing liquid iron, I also dose this with shrimp and flame moss Present. Whoever says it kills off moss is wrong as I've always dosed iron in all my tanks and had no issue whatsoever! I do know it can harm shrimp so only half dose now.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I agree that since the Chihiros has a dimmer it could be a good option.
But I do not agree that iron dosing is gonna hurt shrimp, a lot of people dose EI levels of fertilisers including iron whilst breeding shrimp (e.g Tom Barr). To get to levels which are harmful you would have to really overdose.
I think what the other poster was saying was that the liquid CO2 supplements (e.g Excel), not the iron, would hurt the moss, which I don't quite agree with either, but people have different experiences with them. They can sometimes burn plants, and plants like Vals really don't like them.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 2
K
jsankey88 said:
I had the exactly the same issue. I have a 30litre shrimp setup and I use the easy life range plus I inject Co2. Now I also had the florescent tube light which I then went to the 6w leddy tube upgrade. I wasn't happy with that light either so I'm awaiting my chihiros a series 30cms light fixture....this light does come with a dimmer so it won't be to much for your tank.

I needed to upgrade as I have monte carlo in my tank and it's not carpeting as I want it to.

As goes for dosing liquid iron, I also dose this with shrimp and flame moss Present. Whoever says it kills off moss is wrong as I've always dosed iron in all my tanks and had no issue whatsoever! I do know it can harm shrimp so only half dose now.

I will have an aquael 6w 6500k led lamp fixture available very soon as my new light should arrive in the next few days.

It will be more than enough for your requirements.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Hey jsankey88. Well you have got the hang of it well. But have you decided on Aquael or the Chihiros as light?

Sent from my Moto G 2014 using Tapatalk
Reply
Save
Like
K
Opare said:
I agree that since the Chihiros has a dimmer it could be a good option.
But I do not agree that iron dosing is gonna hurt shrimp, a lot of people dose EI levels of fertilisers including iron whilst breeding shrimp (e.g Tom Barr). To get to levels which are harmful you would have to really overdose.
I think what the other poster was saying was that the liquid CO2 supplements (e.g Excel), not the iron, would hurt the moss, which I don't quite agree with either, but people have different experiences with them. They can sometimes burn plants, and plants like Vals really don't like them.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Yeah seems like people have extremes of things with the same parameters. Guess there are minute changes that we don't notice.

Sent from my Moto G 2014 using Tapatalk
Reply
Save
Like
J
Krishna Suresh said:
Hey jsankey88. Well you have got the hang of it well. But have you decided on Aquael or the Chihiros as light?

Sent from my Moto G 2014 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
The chihiros


Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
The Planted Tank Forum
A forum community dedicated to Aquatic tank owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about flora, fauna, health, housing, filters, care, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Tank Journals General Planted Tank Discussion Equipment Fish Shrimp & Other Invertebrates
Top