Rena Aqualife Vision 100 Planted (now With Pics)

[beetlesteve]

Hi,

I got a Rena Aqualife 100 vision a year ago which came with the jbl profiflora set up, plants had been doing ok but not brilliant in it. I finally decided to actually work out the lighting on the tank and was shocked that it only had two T8 25w and one T8 20w aqua glo tubes, which came out at 1.4wpg.

I have just ordered a twin 39w starter and two daylight bulbs.

What will the new wpg figure be, I'm not sure how it works with the t5 and t8s!

Tank stats:

Tank - Rena Aqualife 100 Vision - 200l
Lights- Rena xp 3 filter - capacity 9litres
lighting- T8 2x25w 1x20w
T5 2x39w
Substrate - ecocomplete

Anys suggestions welcome

 

[lyotim88]

i didn't do the math but you have a lot of lighting over that. I'd definitely inject co2

 

[nosoup4you]

I would have stuck with the 1.4 wpg. You are in for a lot of work with that kind of light. As lyotim said, you are going to need to inject CO2 and the ferts are going to go more quickly. Pruning is going to become nearly an everyday chore. If you can keep up with all of this, your tank should be beautiful.

 

[beetlesteve]

I would have stuck with the 1.4 wpg. You are in for a lot of work with that kind of light. As lyotim said, you are going to need to inject CO2 and the ferts are going to go more quickly. Pruning is going to become nearly an everyday chore. If you can keep up with all of this, your tank should be beautiful.

Hi, thanks for the comments, well I ordered the extra lights before I got any replies! Typical!

As I said in the first post though, I already have the JBL profi2 Co2 system running on the tank.

 

[beetlesteve]

I would have stuck with the 1.4 wpg. You are in for a lot of work with that kind of light. As lyotim said, you are going to need to inject CO2 and the ferts are going to go more quickly. Pruning is going to become nearly an everyday chore. If you can keep up with all of this, your tank should be beautiful.

So I make it that i will have 148 watts of lighting over 200 litres (53 US gallon, 44 uk gallon) which works out at 2.79 wpg or if I remove the single 20w starter 2.4wpg.

Is this too much? This is the Co2 system I have:
JBL Profiflora 2 Co2 setup


Mine has the solenoid valve to switch off at night too though.

 

[beetlesteve]

Ok, so the re-scape started out like this, I went away for a week not sure what it would look like when I got back. It hadn't grown quite as much as I'd hoped.

I had another change of heart, bought some new wood and plants and re-did it again and it's now looking like this. There were lots of bubbles from the plants this evening so I was quite pleased!

Can anyone identify the plant names for me so I can find out a bit more about them?
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10. (bigger leaves in background)

11.

12.

13. Red leafed plant at back

So far this is the compiled list: (Cheers to those that have helped out!)

1 pennywort
2 echinodorous tennelus/Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis
3 Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC Cuba)
4 rotala wallichi/L.aromatica
5 Egeria Densa
6 echinodours amazonicus
7 pogostemon helferi
8 rotala or hygrophillia sp.
9 hemianthus micranthemoides
10 is Hygrophilia Difformis
11 wendtii Crypt
12 Pogostemon stellata
13 echinodorous sp - either "double red" or "rubra"

 

[Craster]

2 looks like Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis
5 - Egaria Densa?
10 is Hygrophilia Difformis
11 - A little hard to tell, but it looks to be a java fern. If it is, you want to get the rhizome out of the substrate or it'll rot.

 

[Nick16]

11. is a type of crypt. possibly wendtii? there are so many.
3. looks like Hemianthus callitrichoides but it could be glosso. need a better pic. (it looks very ropey though)
4. possibly L.aromatica (but if it is again very ropes and in poor cond)
6. Looks like Echinodorus amazonicus.
7. Pogostemon Helferi
9. possibly Rotala Rotundefolia (again poor cond)
13. is probably a sword.
(i could br wrong on some of them)

right. Why add the extra lighting?? you will just get large amounts of alage and the plants arent getting the other things they need. C02 and Ferts. (Research these)

1. on a tank that size you want to be using a pressurized co2 system and dosing ferts daily or every other day in small amounts. (get some TPN+)
2. you have chosen plants that require alot of light and perhaps this is not suited to you abilities at the moment as they are looking very ropey. i suggest going for easier things like swords, crypts, maybe mosses etc but get some co2 in there and some ferts
3. You will need to trim the plants in order to keep them heathy and alive. HERE TRY THIS
4. you may want to increase flow if you are adding co2 and ferts to ensure it is apread around the tank.

(there is probably things i have forgotton!)

 

[aaronnorth]

i am liking the new look

1 pennywort
2 echinodorous tennelus
3 Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC Cuba)
4 rotala wallichi
5 Egeria Densa
6 echinodours amazonicus
7 pogostemon helferi
8 rotala or hygrophillia sp.
9 hemianthus micranthemoides
11 hygrohillia difformis
12 Pogostemon stellata
13 echinodorous sp - either "double red" or "rubra"

 

[beetlesteve]

Thatnks for the help with identifying the plants guys!

right. Why add the extra lighting?? you will just get large amounts of alage and the plants arent getting the other things they need. C02 and Ferts. (Research these)

1. on a tank that size you want to be using a pressurized co2 system and dosing ferts daily or every other day in small amounts. (get some TPN+)
2. you have chosen plants that require alot of light and perhaps this is not suited to you abilities at the moment as they are looking very ropey. i suggest going for easier things like swords, crypts, maybe mosses etc but get some co2 in there and some ferts
3. You will need to trim the plants in order to keep them heathy and alive. HERE TRY THIS
4. you may want to increase flow if you are adding co2 and ferts to ensure it is apread around the tank.

(there is probably things i have forgotton!)

Nick, thanks for the advise, I added the extra light as I realised that I did not have enough wpg to grow the highlight plants. A pressurised co2 kit came with the tank, but I've never really utilised it to it's full potential so decided to push it hence upping the lighting from 1.4wpg to 2.8wpg.

1. I have the co2 in place, although I changed the reactor/diffuser slightly today. I have also ordered some TPN+ on your advice, how much do you think I should be dosing daily in a 200l tank?
2. I have co2 so wanted to see what I could get out of it. The plants that look very ropey are slowly growing better, the top 15mm are looking very healthy since the change, the lower bits suffered from a lack of light and a group of Buenos ares tetra that stripped every leaf off the stem! I'm hoping to grow them out to chop the healthy tops of the stems of to replant and i'll ditch the lower bits.
3. Thanks for the link!
4. I have improved the flow around the tank today by replacing the spray bar with a pair of eheim power diffusers. one is connected up to the top of the co2 reactor so rather than the bubbles just escaping at the top, they are now fed via the black pipe into the diffuser where the tiny bubbles are blasted right across the tank.

My co2 set up:

The co2 bubble run with the new tube to the diffuser on the right:

The diffuser blasting the co2 across the tank:

The HC/glossostigma (I think it was HC) from above:

Thanks again for the advice, that's why I posted here, to find out how to make it even better!

 

[beetlesteve]

Well, how impressed with Aqua Essentials am I?

I only ordered the TPN+ yesterday afternoon, it's just arrived!

So, my question is, how much do I dose daily or every other day? (200l tank, CO2, 2.8wpg)

Thanks!

Steve

I'm also very scared of the Pogostemon stellata now, I saw it in the local Maidenhead Aquatics store in their display tank and it looked amazing, I asked what it was and if they had any. I was in luck as they'd just tidied up the tank (that's why it's cut like it is) and had the cuttings floating in with the stem plants, 1.75 for the 4 stems. I've now read up on it and it seems to be a VERY demanding plant. eek!

 

[aaronnorth]

Well, how impressed with Aqua Essentials am I?

I only ordered the TPN+ yesterday afternoon, it's just arrived!

So, my question is, how much do I dose daily or every other day? (200l tank, CO2, 2.8wpg)

Thanks!

Steve

I'm also very scared of the Pogostemon stellata now, I saw it in the local Maidenhead Aquatics store in their display tank and it looked amazing, I asked what it was and if they had any. I was in luck as they'd just tidied up the tank (that's why it's cut like it is) and had the cuttings floating in with the stem plants, 1.75 for the 4 stems. I've now read up on it and it seems to be a VERY demanding plant. eek!

5ml per 100l to start with, then adjust as necassary

 

[beetlesteve]

After a couple of weeks of the TPN+ the plants are now looking much healthier, but the algae is also thriving. I had a clean up last night anI had a tidy up last night scrubbing the algae from the wood and the glass of the tank and moved a few things around.

 

[aaronnorth]

what algae are you getting?