Lighting And Ferts/foods

[locust267]

I'm just doing a little research into how best to set up my 260l and although I dont want it heavily planted I still want the plants to survive.

This in mind I currently have a shortlist of the substrate I will be using but currently no idea on lights and plant feed.

In my tank I have about 1.5 WPG of lighting and dont want it to go above 2 WPG as I really dont think I can handle co2.

Each of my lights are 40W T8's but would like to know which brand to buy to replace them with?

Also what food should I be feeding my plants and how often?

In my current 56l I have no substrate and just feed the 4 plants once a fortnight with pets at home own plant food but would like to know which brand and in which form might be a little better for my 260l tank.

Sorry for all the questions lately, this gets very confusing and just want to make sure I'm doing it right!

 

[aaronnorth]

It doesnt matter about the brand the most important factor to look out for is the colour spectrum, it should peak in the green, red & and a bit of blue with a kelvin between 5500k -11 000k.

http/www.lampspecs.co.uk/

lamp specs do cheap flourescent lighting, here is a good article on the different lighting available from them with pictures on each tube.:

http/ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=555



The best all in one brands are Tropica plant nutrition (TPN) and seachem flourish. Dose at the most once a week, the more often the better - up to once a day.

i dose 2.5ml TPN+ daily on my 60l


TPN+ - for lightly stocked tanks, Contains NPK & trace
TPN - for heavier stocked tanks, contains K & trace

all these can be found here:

http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...x&cPath=208


Alternativly, you can go down the EI route but you need stable 30ppm CO2 with a pressurized system. CO2 isnt hard, on a fermentation kit, the mixture needs changing weekly, on a pressurized kit, the bottle needs changing when needed depending on size. I have a 2Kg fire extinghuisher that lasts me a year.

 

[locust267]

Hi thanks for the info, will look into lights a little more but the ferts seem easy enough... I think lol.

Really think I will leave co2 for another day (or year) though as I only started with fish in january and now moving onto a much bigger tank with plants I think I'm gonna try and keep it as simple as possible knowing I can always come back here for more research when the time is right, hehe.

 

[locust267]

Oh also what is better when looking at lights in terms of wattage or T8/T6?

I understand T6's will fit T8 fittings and are meant to be 40% more powerful however how would a 36W T6 compare to a 50W T8(if you can even get them)?

What would you choose to put into your tank out of a higher watt T8 or lower watt T6?

 

[aaronnorth]

40% of 50 = 20 so a 50w T8 would be 70w in a T6 version

40% of 36 = 14 so a 36w T6 would be the same as a 50w T8

to summarise a 36w T6 is the same as a 50w T8.

had to get my maths brain on then!

 

[locust267]

That's fantastic - Thanks for clearing that up, it seems so simple now

I guess when you have completely fried your brain learning about everything else there is to know, there is no suprise you cant work out the simple stuff anymore!

Cheers