Hello everyone. Ive just recently got a new tank after being wothout for about 5 years... Im not a total beginner, but this is my first serious attempt at a 'proper' planted tank, whatever that means lol. I decided on a Juwel Lido 120 which works out at 26.5 gallons (31.5 US) Its been up and running for a couple of weeks now. Im sticking with the supplied internal filter, although I may add an external later. Initially I was going to stick with the supplied lighting which was 2 24w T5's, but have upgraded (it arrived today ) to a shiny new 4 24w T5 luminaire type thing. It came with 2 10000k white tubes and 2 that were described as 'red growth tubes' My first real question is what light tubes will be best for me to use? Are the supplied good enough? There seems to be alot of conflicting info online and some personal experience would be appreciated. Im dosing CO2 with the waterplant system, which is pretty much the same as the fluval 88,, working from a small disposable cylinder. I have it running at approx 20 bubbles per minute. Does that sound about right? Ive ordered one of those test dealys that stays in the tank so ill soon be able to measure the amount. But like I said my main concern is the lighting and which tubes i should be using. Thanks alot guys
Hi Guys...
- Thread starter ian21777
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minnnt
Fish Expert
That's a lot of light! Like 3.5w per gallon.
Any tubes will be fine, your plants adjust to whatever they are offered. Welcome back to the hobby.
Any tubes will be fine, your plants adjust to whatever they are offered. Welcome back to the hobby.
tanksalot
Fish Fanatic
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That rather depends on what you want from your tank, and what you're prepared to give it.
With that amount of light you are going to be driving your plants very hard, and in consequence they will need a lot of CO2 and fertilisers to keep up with the metabolic demands made by so much light. And if you fail to provide enough, the plants will inevitably weaken making way for algae to step in and make a mess of it all.
Then if you succeed in keeping up with demand and the plants are healthy, they will grow very quickly which may cause issues in itself if you don't have the time to manage them (trimming back plants every few days and doing regular major water changes isn't for everyone!).
So it's something to consider. If you've not kept a "proper" planted tank before, you are certainly jumping in at the deep end with that lighting.
CO2 isnt an issue... Im running a disposable system right now, but yesterday I ordered a regulator/ solenoid so i can run refillabe bottles and turn them off at night. I can also put more in without breaking the bank with those expensive small cannisters... Im using seachem flourish and iron as per instructions and im also dosing kent blackwater expert. I dont know what the gerneral consensus is on this, but i like the look of the slightly tinted water. my substrate is flourite sand/gravel mix. This is good right? I quite enjoy cutting the plants back- giving the tank a haircut I call it lol. Some fo the plants are going berserk it seems! Ok... heres the thing I dont get... Whats with the water changes. I get the concept of water changes. Have done 20% weekly changes since ive had tanks. im getting the feeling, from what ive read on here and other forums, thats not enough for a planted tank? whats the deal with that? what makes it different from a regular low light low plant fish aquarium? can someone clue me in please? As for the deep end? Best way to learn to swim, no? 
lol thanks alot for advice!
lol thanks alot for advice!
stu40
PRC
re 50% water changes.The way i understand it : a lot of light drives the need for Co2 & more ferts, which leads to increased plant growth.
The large weekly water changes remove the extra metabolic waste that increased plant growth produces.If you leave the waste in, extra ammonia will trigger algae.
The best simile i read was to liken the plants to a dog.If you overfeed the dog, it produces more waste.
Plants in low light tanks, don't need as much feeding so produce less waste/less water changes.
With your high light, i don't think you have any choice.You have to overfeed.
Thats my take on it, which may or may not get shot down in flames, when someone who knows what they're talking about, turns up.
The large weekly water changes remove the extra metabolic waste that increased plant growth produces.If you leave the waste in, extra ammonia will trigger algae.
The best simile i read was to liken the plants to a dog.If you overfeed the dog, it produces more waste.
Plants in low light tanks, don't need as much feeding so produce less waste/less water changes.
With your high light, i don't think you have any choice.You have to overfeed.
Thats my take on it, which may or may not get shot down in flames, when someone who knows what they're talking about, turns up.
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
re 50% water changes.The way i understand it : a lot of light drives the need for Co2 & more ferts, which leads to increased plant growth.
The large weekly water changes remove the extra metabolic waste that increased plant growth produces.If you leave the waste in, extra ammonia will trigger algae.
The best simile i read was to liken the plants to a dog.If you overfeed the dog, it produces more waste.
Plants in low light tanks, don't need as much feeding so produce less waste/less water changes.
With your high light, i don't think you have any choice.You have to overfeed.
Thats my take on it, which may or may not get shot down in flames, when someone who knows what they're talking about, turns up.
Absolutely spot on mate, this is the main reason and the reason why it tends to be larger than your non plant tank changes usually are.
There is another reason to the big change, if your dosing the EI method.... you are dosing in excess, the large water change sort of resets levels ready for you to restart the EI method all over again.
But as Stu has mentioned, the main reason is purely to rid waste which can trigger spikes.
stu40
PRC
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
EI = Estimative index... basically the addition of excess ferts so plants arnt lacking
ok i get it... but... well ill go back to the dog analogy ( i have 2) If i overfeed them they will produce more waste. so true and definitely needs more cleaning lol. if however i feed them the right amount they will produce the 'expected' amount of waste... right?
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
Haha... good thinking but trying to get the exact amounts that's needed is going to be trial and error... you dont want errors, errors often result in algae and then you have another problem to deal with.
The other side is..... plants grow, as they grow, so does there appetite (there need for both co2 and ferts). Basically in high tech tanks the best way of dosing is always by the EI type method. It's always better to give excess amounts of nutrients than not enough.
Ok so how do i decide how much i overfeed by? like i said i use seachem flourish and seachem iron. the instructions say to feed 'X' amount once or twice a week... should i feed more often than recommended. more volume than recommended or both?i have shrimp in my tank... would the extra copper from overdosing flourish be an issue? ive read that the recommended amount shouldnt harm them. On another thought... my plants seem to be flourishing (no pun intended) madagasgar lace and tiger lotus going crazy the rest growing nicely... this being the case do i need to overdose? everything is growing, yes, but time will come.. and not too far away looking at my tank that i will be looking to maintain what i have rather than encourage new growth... does the same apply then? alot of questions i know... what can i say, im hungry for knowledge lol
Can we see a pic of this tank too ? It sounds interesting
Sure, seems i have no pics small enough to send right now and the lights are off so tomoro ill get a picsmall enough and post it... At least im assuming thats why it wont let me add pics.
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