fertilizer advice please

[AbbeysDad]

The top one is a Ramshorn snail
The middle one is a Malaysian Livebearing snail
The bottom one is a Lymnaea pond snail.
They will all breed out of control and in my opinion, you should murder the Malaysian Livebearer and the lymnaea and let the Ramshorn go nuts in the tank.
The Malaysian livebearer is the hardest snail to control in any pond or aquarium and are not nice to have.

Totally disagree. The MTS is an amazing member of the clean-up crew! The population of snails is 'managed' by the amount of available food and waste that they take care of in ways the hobbyist can't...

What about LEDs? I'm considering one of those setups that turn on and off slowly and where you can adjust the light. The slow on/off seems nicer for the fish rather than the sudden on/off that they have now. It is a big up front price difference of course though. Are they better/worse/same for plants as florescents?

I have a 48" LED Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 on my 60g running in 24/7 mode on a timer from 7am until midnight. I is great! It simulates a sunrise, midday, and sunset/moonlight and the plants grow great.

 

[BeckyCats]

I'm looking at the aqueon optibright plus. It looks reasonably priced for the features. Still researching though. I don't keep high-maintenance plants, so I don't need anything mega-bright. I doubt the fish would appreciate anything too bright, anyway. Although, I may just get a regular bulb again. I am the WORST at making decisions. Ugh.

 

[BeckyCats]

LED are nice and do a better job but like you said there is a cost. I use t8 fluorescent and turn them off at 9pm and have a lamp on in the room until 10pm, gives a setting sun effect .

I have my timer set to go on and off to coordinate with the room lighting as well. In the morning, the timer is set to come on after the room is already brightened by daylight. In evening, there are room lights on until about 10 or 11 pm, so as you point out, that does help to mitigate the suddenness of the light just snapping off. It certainly isn't the worst thing, but it would be nice for them to have the softer transition.

 

[Retired Viking]

I have my timer set to go on and off to coordinate with the room lighting as well. In the morning, the timer is set to come on after the room is already brightened by daylight. In evening, there are room lights on until about 10 or 11 pm, so as you point out, that does help to mitigate the suddenness of the light just snapping off. It certainly isn't the worst thing, but it would be nice for them to have the softer transition.

Exactly, you allow them to transition, it just the cost of buying LED. I have been thinking about getting it too for my 55 gallon tank but my hood is nice and I not sure if I want to replace it

 

[BeckyCats]

I found a light on sale. I bought it online for pickup tomorrow. I can return it if it is lousy. Hopefully it's good though. I like my hood too, so I am going to keep it. I'm just going to replace the light box. I looked at it in person at the store earlier and the guy was nice enough to take it out of the box and put it on a standard 55 gallon (like mine) and it fit fine. I'm not sure how the back will do near the filter (hob). May be splashing. I'll find out tomorrow.

Now only time will tell how the plants, fertilizers, lights, (and snails) will do.

 

[Retired Viking]

Good luck, let me know how it works out

 

[Byron]

What about LEDs? I'm considering one of those setups that turn on and off slowly and where you can adjust the light. The slow on/off seems nicer for the fish rather than the sudden on/off that they have now. It is a big up front price difference of course though. Are they better/worse/same for plants as florescents?

If you already have T8 lighting, you can manage quite well using the tubes I mentioned previously. If you want to change over to LED, just make sure you know what you are getting; good planted tank lighting is expensive, but here too it is not all the same. Cheaper LED will be low in red (too low) and high in blue; plants struggle if they make it at all, and algae is encouraged by the blue. Other members with good LED can advise (@AbbeysDad has posted above, he is one such member).

 

[AbbeysDad]

....... Other members with good LED can advise (@AbbeysDad has posted above, he is one such member).

I'll confess that I just got lucky with the Finnex Planted Plus 24/7. I was lured by the dawn to dusk to twilight feature as it better simulates natural light. Now having 'said' that, except for some lakes, the canopy shades the water ways much, if not most of the day. So lighting in the aquarium is more for our viewing pleasure and to support plants....as the fish do really well in low light!
Now my 60g is referred to as a "low tech" tank in that I don't use CO2, requiring high fertilization and bright lighting. The plants I have typically grow slower, but do well with medium light. And floating plants (and every tank could use fast growing floating plants) do well in almost any light because of their distance to it.
LED lights are the future in the home and the aquarium. They're bright, cool, and use far less energy. Yes, they cost a bit more until you add up the energy savings over time. I have 2, 4' LED shop lights over my 110g stock tank supporting water sprite and duckweed. But I have florescent tube lights on a 29g and a 10g. So if you have a T8 or other florescent light, I wouldn't run out and buy a more expensive LED light...but if you're in the market for aquarium lighting, I think LED is the way to go.

 

[Retired Viking]

I'll confess that I just got lucky with the Finnex Planted Plus 24/7. I was lured by the dawn to dusk to twilight feature as it better simulates natural light. Now having 'said' that, except for some lakes, the canopy shades the water ways much, if not most of the day. So lighting in the aquarium is more for our viewing pleasure and to support plants....as the fish do really well in low light!
Now my 60g is referred to as a "low tech" tank in that I don't use CO2, requiring high fertilization and bright lighting. The plants I have typically grow slower, but do well with medium light. And floating plants (and every tank could use fast growing floating plants) do well in almost any light because of their distance to it.
LED lights are the future in the home and the aquarium. They're bright, cool, and use far less energy. Yes, they cost a bit more until you add up the energy savings over time. I have 2, 4' LED shop lights over my 110g stock tank supporting water sprite and duckweed. But I have florescent tube lights on a 29g and a 10g. So if you have a T8 or other florescent light, I wouldn't run out and buy a more expensive LED light...but if you're in the market for aquarium lighting, I think LED is the way to go.

Thanks for the information, I have floating plants and running with T8 in all my tanks except my turtle tank (they eat the plants so no plants) I have been thinking about buying LED when my T8 need replacement for the reasons you sighted.

 

[Stan510]

Snails are not good things. I know some say "I love them"..but they will eat your plants..some nibble away. They are not needed at all.
Use Seachem iron. It's the best thing I know of to add. It will green up plants..and green plants then have the energy to use other nutrients in the water like phosphates and nitrates.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Thanks for the information, I have floating plants and running with T8 in all my tanks except my turtle tank (they eat the plants so no plants) I have been thinking about buying LED when my T8 need replacement for the reasons you sighted.

Consider duckweed - my turtle tank/pond is full of duckweed - it helps clean the water AND is a supplemental food for the turtles.

Snails are not good things. I know some say "I love them"..but they will eat your plants..some nibble away. They are not needed at all.
Use Seachem iron. It's the best thing I know of to add. It will green up plants..and green plants then have the energy to use other nutrients in the water like phosphates and nitrates.

To say that snails are not good things is like saying bacteria is not a good thing. Snails break down organic waste and bacteria finishes the job. An efficient co-processing of waste. As such they are beneficial. Some snails will eat plants, but many don't. Many of the snails that do appear to eat plants, typically just eat decaying or dying plants.
I once had a 'conversation' with a YouTuber that was convinced that snail waste added to the bio-load in his tanks...not realizing that the snails were merely reprocessing existing waste products in the tank.

 

[Retired Viking]

Consider duckweed - my turtle tank/pond is full of duckweed - it helps clean the water AND is a supplemental food for the turtles.


To say that snails are not good things is like saying bacteria is not a good thing. Snails break down organic waste and bacteria finishes the job. An efficient co-processing of waste. As such they are beneficial. Some snails will eat plants, but many don't. Many of the snails that do appear to eat plants, typically just eat decaying or dying plants.
I once had a 'conversation' with a YouTuber that was convinced that snail waste added to the bio-load in his tanks...not realizing that the snails were merely reprocessing existing waste products in the tank.

I will check into duckweed, my turtles are over 25 years old and I raised them from babies here is a picture of my RES turtles in their sunning tank. I also agree with you on snails I have them in all my tanks

 

[AbbeysDad]

I will check into duckweed, my turtles are over 25 years old and I raised them from babies here is a picture of my RES turtles in their sunning tank. I also agree with you on snails I have them in all my tanks

I have a 5 foot kiddie pool pond (notice the duckweed):

 

[Retired Viking]

In the summer I put them out in a kids pool during the day. It is very cold here so I let them sun themselves in our bay window.

 

[Naughts]

Totally disagree. The MTS is an amazing member of the clean-up crew! The population of snails is 'managed' by the amount of available food and waste that they take care of in ways the hobbyist can't...


I have a 48" LED Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 on my 60g running in 24/7 mode on a timer from 7am until midnight. I is great! It simulates a sunrise, midday, and sunset/moonlight and the plants grow great.
View attachment 98092

I have a 5 foot kiddie pool pond (notice the duckweed):
View attachment 98193

Lucky turtles! Can you explain your setup (pipe, hose, lighting)? Looks interesting.
Sorry BeckyCats.