Question About Light In Relation To Plants

[Zikofski]

okay so i have 15x3w Led lights in my tank I'm trying to relate this to a few plants.
 
so firstly my DHG is staying low, growing slow and only reaching am ax hight of 1cm if that its also curved over instead of reaching for the stars so to speak, is this normal for it, i know it requires high light and i am injected co2 and dosing dry ferts EI method to be precise, so do i need more light or less light for this grow normally?
 
and secondly my valli they are also staying very low about5cm in high only thats it and also growing slowly which i know vallis are supposed to grow really fast so I'm wondering again is my light to high or to low?

 

[l_l_l]

I'm thinking your light might be too low as the valisneria is growing slowly not trying to reach for lights.
 
But again, what kind of tank do you have?
LED WATTAGE is very different than normal t5h0 and all..

 

[Zikofski]

yea LEDs are a pain the tank is only 88L  (23g) 30x15x12" (W,H,D)
 
i am thinking it maybe to low too, but then i would have thought the vallis stay low because the light is strong enough for them, and if the light was weak they would reach for the light hoping its stronger, does that make sense at all? but then my DHG is not growing very well here are some pictures to help 
 


 
as you can see i have varouse plants in there the amazon swords are growing lovely, and the crypts are growing good too
 

here are the vallis all these plants have been in my tank since i started about 2/3 months ago.

 

[SO19Firearms]

Just OOI - Have you put a drop checker at DHG level? Quality flow and CO2 down there?
Vallis wise, does it ever grow for you? What's your Carbonate Hardness like?

 

[Zikofski]

no i have not but i shall today, the GH and KH of my tap water is 0 to 1, we have super soft water here is that good or bad for valli, i also add, MGSO4 to the tank

 

[SO19Firearms]

MgSO4 is only the magnesium element of hardness - you're probably lacking Calcium if you're water is super soft. You might want to consider some CaSO4 or a GH Boost would replace the 2.
More difficult is the Carbonate hardness and I think it's this that the vallis use for there Carbon source better than CO2..... a possible source is Potassium Carbonate if you can find it - but it might be easier to use a KH buffer.....
 
 
HTH
 
 
EDIT: Just for general info the original EI used a GH Boost, this got swapped out for MgSO4 to save even more money but the Calcium was completely ignored - Fine for most, but I like you have Zero hardness and it became clear it can't be ignored for us types

 

[Zikofski]

okay, i have a shrimp tank iwagumi style so i was thinking of getting saltyshrimp GH/KH + would that cover everything for both my tanks then?

 

[SO19Firearms]

Very likely m8

 

[Zikofski]

okay i put the drop checker about 1cm above the DHG and its stayed lime green all day

 

[SO19Firearms]

CO2 looks ok then - Maybe flow, too much / Too little (Unfortunately a bit of a how long is a piece of string situation there......)

 

[Zikofski]

so you dont think its to low light? i think my flow is good as i dot have to much algae almost non light is on for 10hr a day tho im just thinking altho i have 45w of led lighting if that is still strong enough for a high light enviroment?

 

[Zikofski]

i am noticing i am getting growth and good growth from my DHG and valli, they are both making runners and new plants but they are not growing tall its confusing esp the DHG, as in my old tank if you remember it failed badly but this tank the DHG is growing and is spreading but just not growing tall, how tall should DHG grow submersed

 

[Byron]

okay, i have a shrimp tank iwagumi style so i was thinking of getting saltyshrimp GH/KH + would that cover everything for both my tanks then?

I would be careful using this in an aquarium with soft water fish.  It is designed for shrimp which is quite a different thing.  If you want to raise the GH for plants (to provide sufficient "hard" minerals l;ike calcium, magnesium, etc.) you are better using a product like Equilibirum which does not mess with KH or pH.
 
Byron.

 

[DrRob]

I use a bit of calcium product in my soft water RO tanks, but only to get the gH to a very low level, had a few problems with plants with almost no calcium available. I do cheat though and use raw calcium salts in a DIY mix. As Byron suggests with commercial products, kH is easier to work with with soft water fish.

 

[Zikofski]

okay, the fish i have in my tanks

88l (23gal)
neon tetra
celestrial pearl danios
BN pleco
amano shrimp
ottos

35gal
copper harlequin rasbora
cherry shrimp
fantasy blue shrimp
ottos

now i am happy to dry does calcium but how much to each tank and what oroduct to get i have no i dea and finding it hard to dose i use i beleive SO19 own products and website for dosing magnesium (MgSO4) but i was getting the salty shrimp product mainly for my shrimps in my iwagumi tank but yea if it causes to much problems to add then il leave it but i think getting calcium in there even if i dry dose will be better for the shrinp and plants anyone got any help or decent links to dosing for calcium