Co2 Or Lighting..

[Squid]

I currently have a cycling rio 180 with some java fern, valis (spiral one) and some anubias.. I understand that these are plants that do not need much in the way of CO2 or lighting, but im sure they would flourish a little more with more in the equation.

Some of the valis looks a little worst for wear, and some shoots have died off, perhaps not being helped by the fact that the tank is cycling (dont know). Im not looking for a planted tank, but i would like to help the plants that i do put in the tank on their way, and speed up the growth. If you were to add one thing to my existing tank (standard juwel lighting and filter), would you add CO2 or more lighting?

If it is CO2, what is the most lazy but effective way to do this.. within cost reason.

If its lighting, what should i do.. note.. jimboo, if your reading this, you did tell me once about the fact that one of the lights in a juwel rio 180 is useless with regards to plant growth, and so would halve the WPG i currently have.. could you jog my memory of which one this would be, why they supply it, and so what i would miss if i took it out... im guessing colouring/asthetics?

I currently have first layer laterite (which i hopefully did not overwash ). do i also need to add plant food yet. If so, what do people recommend. Laterite leaf one? or some sort of root tabs.. if its the root tabs.. where do you put them. Do they need to be spread out? its not practical to have them at the base of all routes as the valis is planted in a long line.

any ideas?

Cheers
Squid

 

[Squid]

bump (how rude)

 

[George Farmer]

If you don't want to go "planted" and just have a few easy plants then I'd leave your lighting alone, certainly not increase the number of tubes. Possibly add reflectors and change the supplied tubes with full-spectrum for better results. See the pinned lighting article for a choice.

DIY CO2 or Nutrafins is tricky in a 180L but not impossible. You'll need two units and changing the mixtures alternately will provide some CO2 stability.

Adding additional nutrients to your laterite-based substrate is unecessary, espcially with your current plant choice. If you decide to grow Amazon swords or Crypts then you may benefit from adding root-tabs or similar but even then your laterite should provide enough nutrients for a good while (over 12 months IME).

Liquid fertilisation is probably unecessary with you current planting and lighting. If you do replace the tubes and/or add reflectors and/or CO2 then dosing an off-the-shelf fert like API Leaf Zone would do fine.

So to answer your original question I'd switch tubes, add reflectors and stick to hardy plants if you don't intend going heavily planted. CO2 is a bonus but won't produce dramatic results unless you furthur boost your lighting levels.

Twisted Vallis can be quite demanding in terms of light and generally requires very hard water. It is one of the more demanding Vallisneria species.

 

[Squid]

Thanks very much gf255. Thats just the information i was looking for.

It also explains why the vallis is not doing quite as well as the java fern and anubias..

I shall get some of the reflectors to start with i think.. I just have one more plant to get.. one of those java moss coconut caves from java-plants.com..

Thanks
Squid