Lighting

[Spanerman]

i have a 20w light to use for my aquarium, it is planted lightly and is next to a window... is this enough?

that shows the proximity to the window....yess i know its out of focus

 

[bitteraspects]

that looks pretty dangerous.

 

[Spanerman]

the gun? its a AEG airsoft gun, pretty harmless....i use it for games on the weekends.....

or if you mean the tank.....

or the stand...its not what it looks like its a 2x2 frame mascaraing as a chest of draws. only the top one works and it hold all my fish supplys

 

[peteus2002]

that looks pretty dangerous.

The gun? Or the lamp hanging precariously over the tank?

 

[Spanerman]

fear not, the lamp is now going to be fixed to the wall using screws

 

[Spanerman]

Well its mounted up....but is suitable for fish/plants?

 

[Truck]

yep its fine, just put your lights on a timer for 8 hours. seeing as its roughly 1.25 wpg you may get a little algae with it being in a window area too. so back ground would help. although i dont normally advise them because they look terrible

 

[Spanerman]

ok thats great.... another question

im doing a fishless cycle and atm my ammonia is at 5ppm, is it normal for my water to smell slightly like pee? its not a strong odor but you can smell a whiff of it when your face is close to the tank....

 

[Truck]

yeh its normal, ammonia is in your urine, and it gives it a foul smell

 

[Spanerman]

ok, just wondering as the ammonia from the bottle is lethal...

when should i start to see nitrites and the ammonia drop im at day 3 atm

 

[Truck]

2-3 weeks

 

[three-fingers]

The lamp alone will not be enough for plants, it looks like a tiny halogen bulb.

If the tank gets enough light from the window then it could be brilliant for plants, and the halogen light could just be use for viewing in the evening, kinda simulating dusk. However your going to need to be prepared to deal with however much light the tank is receive to avoid algae issues.

That probably means dosing EI heavily and/or CO2 and/or shading the tank in summer, while stopping with any ferts/CO2 in winter.

 

[Spanerman]

i have my blinds closed 80% of the time...

whats El?

how do you add Carbon dioxide?

 

[Truck]

EI is estimative index a method of dosing macro and micro nutrients to plants.

Carbon can be added in two ways through carbon dioxide injection where CO2 is bubbled through the water using a pressurized cylinder or a DIY fermentation unit or through a chemical called glutaraldehyde more commonly known as:

easy carbo or excel

 

[aaronnorth]

EI is estimative index a method of dosing macro and micro nutrients to plants.

Carbon can be added in two ways through carbon dioxide injection where CO2 is bubbled through the water using a pressurized cylinder or a DIY fermentation unit or through a chemical called Glyceraldehyde more commonly known as:

easy carbo or excel

it is actually glutaraldehyde