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Planting Q's


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Just a couple of quick one's for youze.

I plan to plant out my 70L in the next few weeks (or rather the GF will be doing the planting/scaping). First up, I wanted to ask

a little about lighting... I notice the term 6500k or 6700k being used alot. I've done a little Googling and understand the basic gist

of a globe's lighting range, but what makes the 6500/6700s better than a 10000k (which I believe is what I have)?

Also, with regards to DIY Co2, what is a good amount of hours to expose the tank to Co2? I've heard of some running them during

the day and then straight oxygen overnight. Others do the opposite. I would guess the daylight strategy would be best, as it would

allow the plants to photosynthesise more effectively... I have read on various sites or forums that special tubing is required for the

system, whilst others say standard airline, or even silicone tubing, is OK... What are your experiences? I understand about chemical

deterioration etc, but is it really a major factor? And how, exactly, does one go about turning a DIY system on or off??? I can't

imagine a chemical reaction would be something that is easily switched... And finally, what is a good mix ratio to use?

I have no doubt this will turn into a major Q&A Thread, as my curiosity deepens, but that should do for now...

Cheers in advance

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Can only help a little as this is SO not my area, but I believe the confusion is coming from the fact that there are two separate approaches to adding CO2.

The two main ways you get CO2 is by the DIY method where you mix the sugar and yeast and just let her rip, and by purchasing a bottle of the stuff complete with gas regulator and the whole shebang. You get a lot more precision and control out of the bottle/regulator setup, but it is a bit $$ to get started with as it is a lot of specialist equipment to do it right. Aquarists are incredible when it comes to DIY and saving a buck so you can get a pretty nice functional system with DIY, but it is more fiddly and, as you say, requires working around a chemical reaction that you can't switch off.

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Plants will be able to use the light as long as it's between 6000K and 10000K. The lower number is closer to green, the higher number is closer to pink. Hmm... maybe I've got that round the wrong way... but I think that's right. Your 10000K lights are fine. Just stick with those for the moment and see how you go.

I've run DIY CO2 before without bothering to turn it off at night. The plants and fish coped just fine. And if you keep bettas they're not going to care about the oxygen content of the water, they'll just go to the surface to breath.

My suggestion is to keep it simple and cheap to start off with and see what kind of results you get.

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I agree with Bettarazzi, you should see how the plants go with your 10k lights first. Plants will be able to utilise this light, maybe not as efficiently as from 6.5k lights but it should still work. BTW what lights do you have running on the 70L?

DIY CO2 can be run all through day and night. If you want you can run a air pump at night to decrease the amount of CO2 in the water at night, as plants also release CO2 at night and sensitive fish may suffer in these conditions. like Bettarazzi said, if you only have bettas in there it should be fine, but if you have other fish you might want to look into it a bit more. if you want to 'turn DIY CO2' off you'd need to disconnect the tube, but running an air stone will also work. Normal air line tubing will corrode after a few years from CO2 exposure as well as let CO2 out. If you want to make sure your tubes last and are more efficient i would get CO2 resistant tubing as DIY CO2 gives off little CO2 as it is.

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Yeah I've done the airpump thing at night. I had two timers one for the lights and one for the airpump. When the lights go off the airpump starts up. But I've also done it without the airpump on a community tank that had neons, harlequins, guppies, swordtails. They didn't seem to be affected by the CO2.

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Cheers for the responses all. mal, the 70L is the one with the 10k light. This will be/is a community tank. My Betta's will be in a separate tank, that will be only sparsely planted. I have decided to sit on the Co2 idea for a while to see how everything comes together. I still haven't decided on how dense the 70 will end up, so I may get away w/out the Co2.

What would happen if I ran the Co2 all day, with an air stone going as well? An extension of this question is, if I were running a filter that "spilt" water into the tank (ie: a Hang On), and therefore added oxygen in the process, how would that affect the performance of the Co2? I guess the question really should be, will o2 and Co2 work in tandem, or cancel each other?

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The air stone and the water movement from the HOB will cause the CO2 to dissipate. But try it anyway. It doesn't cost that much to set up a DIY CO2. The other thing you can try is adding a carbon supplement product like Seachem Flourish Excel.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, despite what I said above about NOT trying Co2, I've built a system for the tank. Now I'm looking at better lighting.

B'azzi mentioned that the 10K globes would be sufficient, but I have the feeling 15W just ain't gonna cut it. I've been doing

some digging around and have come up with a couple of possibles. As with most of us, I want to keep costs as low as possible to

start with, and go from there...

What do you all think of these...?

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/f...ht/prod_13.html

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/f...t/prod_132.html

They're both reasonably priced and look the goods, but I need to hear (read) some different opinions. What makes T5 globes

"all that"? Would the fluro non-T5 unit be OK? The fluro has globes in the 10K range, but the T5 is up toward 14K, which could

be too high...or is that a totally different kettle of fish?

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Yeah, you didn't mention the 15W part before now. :lol: You can't get someone's hopes up then reveal that your equipment is only half the normal length. :lol: :lol:

I would definitely try get the 10K tubes instead of the 14K. But I read recently that the visible colour spectrum is more important. The tubes need to be strong in the red and blue areas. Maybe you could ask guppys that question.

T5 refers to the thickness of the tube, which is 5/8ths of an inch. T8 are ordinary fluoros, on inch in diameter or 8/8ths. The "all that" of T5s is the slimmer profile and more light compared to the same length T8. I've read varying opinions that the increase is double or even 4 times brighter.

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You can't get someone's hopes up then reveal that your equipment is only half the normal length. :lol: :lol:

...have you been talking to my girlfriend?? :lol: She's been known to underestimate, y'know...

Anyway, getting the topic back out of the gutter...which would you choose of those two?

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PL tubes are easier to find in range of kevin, you would need to go for 6500k - 8000k if you want to acheive some good growth. 8000k or above is too blueand 6500k or below is too red for plants. I've used the guppy's 10k tubes b4, they aren't good at all, you won't get any good growth for them.

Some people run a air pump at night to get rip of the oil surface or reduce the amount of Co2 but I think its not needed beacuse some people run their Pressurised CO2 non stop too...all these are just my personal experince from my planted tanks ^^

btw what tank size?

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70L/2ft

Hmmm...a new factor is introduced. Thanks for that, kitz, I'm glad you stepped in to help. I value your opinion.

Can you then recommend a suitable source for proper lighting? As I said, I am trying to keep it budget, but

I understand nothing is free... Do you think I could find something in 6500-8000 that would fit into the guppy's

reflector?

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Most lighting or electrical shop don't stock T5HOs/PL (6500k), they usually stock something lower .. you will have to get them to order them in for you. Just tell them you want T5HO 24w (6500k) and they are all standard length (549mm) which will fit the guppy's fitting perfectly. I'm not sure about PL one's coz I never use them b4 but I belive you could find them fairly easy too.

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Small update. Still haven't settled on lighting as yet, so the miserly 15w will have to do for another week.

This is where we are at, atm:

IMG_0888_1.jpg

IMG_0887_2.jpg

...and this is where we were four weeks ago:

IMG_0728_1.jpg

Eeeew, messy!

Will keep you updated as we go. Thanks for lookin'!

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Most lighting or electrical shop don't stock T5HOs/PL (6500k), they usually stock something lower .. you will have to get them to order them in for you. Just tell them you want T5HO 24w (6500k) and they are all standard length (549mm) which will fit the guppy's fitting perfectly. I'm not sure about PL one's coz I never use them b4 but I belive you could find them fairly easy too.

Kitz, cheers again. What do you think of these PL's?

http://www.aquariumsrus.com.au/lights/dalbarb.htm#compact

I'm thinking about the 2x40 for $109...

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Kitz, cheers again. What do you think of these PL's?

http://www.aquariumsrus.com.au/lights/dalbarb.htm#compact

I'm thinking about the 2x40 for $109...

If you are not adding some plants that require alot of light, 2x40 will be enough for ur tank..is this tank going to be a low light/low tech tank?

Your tank looks good, I like the driftwood ^^ where did u get it ?

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Mid-light/mid tech? 80w is better than 3w per gallon...or am I calculating wrong? I dunno, this lighting thing is confusing the hell outta me.

I don't expect, by any means to match your set ups, Kitz, or those seen often at APC Forum, but I would like something fairly vibrant and

healthy... With maybe a little pearling. Just a little? And, as I said, it needs to be (reasonably) inexpensive.

As for the driftwood, that was the result of many years of searching for the right piece. The GF and I had actually given up, having brought

home and then discarded umpteen possible candidates. This one just happened to be sitting at an LFS, when we were "browsing" one day.

Glad you like it! :P

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