What Watts?

[CathyG]

Hi guys!

I have just upgraded to a larger tank, my previous 110 litre tank had a 30 watt Hagen LifeGlo, with that lighting setup the only plant that really took off was the Amazon Sword. (I did not use Laterite or heat the substrate in that tank though)

I now have a 220 litre (47 UK gallon) tank, with sand substrate and laterite first layer (which is heated) and 2 x 40 watt T8 tubes.

The tubes are a 48" Hagen PowerGlo (housed inside the hood's reflector unit) and a 48" Hagen Aquaglow with a reflector attached (laying across the sliding glass doors of the tank).

Can anyone advise the total output of these strips (with reflectors), and is it sufficient for a generously planted tank, please? (pics to follow)

Thank you muchly in advance! (I didn't realise how technical it was to keep plants too lol!)

Some pics:

 

[tear-scar]

Looks like a good start

Some steps to take:
--Change out the background, those tacky things are only for people who cannot grow plants
--Some of your plants look like terrestrial plants, do your research and remove them
--Chock your tank full with stem plants for now until everything is settled

 

[CathyG]

tear-scar, thank you for your words of encouragement!

The background is my hubby's doing (he feels involved that way lol! ) as soon as the plants take off, I can justify it's removal. (she says confidently)

I did wonder whether a couple of the plants were terrestrial, but I bought cuttings, and only a couple of the potted plants came with name tags. Unfortunately the name tags fell off into the bottom of the bag, so now I don't know which is which anymore...time for the research methinks! The tags I have are:

Chiorophytum bichettii
Ludwigia glandulosa
Echinodorus radicans
Acorus variegatus
Hemiographis exotica
Acorus variegatus

What do you mean by "stem plant" exactly? And would you recommend an easy going example please?

Thank you again!

 

[tear-scar]

The ludwigia and echinodorus are aquatic plants, though they can grow terrestrial. The others I'm not sure of.

"stem plants" refers to most plants that grow leaves from nodes and grow very tall, like ludwigia species. These plants prevent algae growth with their own rapid growing rate. Popular stem plants for this purpose often come from the "ludwigia," "rotala," and "hygrophila" genuses.

 

[sub.42]

Hiya!

If it's any help at all, I have only just reached 1.9 watts per gallon, and I'm beginning to see results. I think the magic really starts at 2wpg, and I have already added co2 and the whole tank has gone bananas!

I have now found the plants to be an integral part of my tank, and I love all the pruning and flotsum and jetsum recovery work! Just wait until you see your plants giving off bubbles of oxygen for the first time! I have only just begun to see this happening, and I guess it's down to the higher light output, and the co2.

I'm only an amatuer at this, and the way things are going, it's getting better by the day!

Keep it up, you'll enjoy it an awful lot, and thats a promise!

Sub.

 

[CathyG]

Thanks for the info, tear-scar! I will look into those. Sorry about the newbie questions Thankfully, I don't have problems with algae *touches wood* Not sure how the new lighting and fertilising might change that though...

sub.42, thank you for your input! If I was to divide the 80 watts by 47 I have 1.7 watts per gallon (still trying to get my head around all of this lol! ) What effect will the reflectors have on these tubes in this respect?

I have seen some awesome pics of planted tanks on this forum, which I accept is a way off for me yet, but if I could get a few to flourish whilst I experiment with species/light/water parameters etc, I would be a very happy bunny!

 

[Yenko]

Start with Hygrophilia. If you can't grow Hygrophilia, then something is wrong with your setup. I THINK the plants with the thick white bands on their leaves are terrestrial plants.

 

[Supersalmon]

The Acorus and the Chlorophytum are both houseplants and will probably eventually rot under water. It also looks like there is a Dracaena in there, it is also a houseplant and will eventually rot away. In ur first pic the Draceana (Dragon Tree) is the plant in the middle with the broad white bands at the ends of the leaves. Also I can see a Fittonia in there, it is in the left hand corner of the first pic, it is the one with the white veining, it too is a houseplant and will eventually rot underwater. The tall upright grassy plants (one is on the extreme left on the second pic) are the Acorus and will rot if not removed, also there is another Fittonia in that picture too. Unfortunately these will rot in water and it may be best to remove them now, that way you could plant them in a pot and have them as houseplants, so at least your money wont be wasted. The beautiful red plant in the third picture is a true aquarium plant I think it is an Alternanthera of some variety. It is not very nice for houseplants to be sold as aquarium plants, either the sellers dont know themselves or they are trying to fleece the public.

 

[tear-scar]

The red plant is the ludwigia.

-1.7 watts is not much, but it doesn't matter-- algae will still get its way eventually.

-"Get a few plants and see how it goes" is a disaster waiting to happen. When algae comes, it hits hard and fast, a handful of plants will soon be over-run.

-Plants stand together, or fall together. For the beginner, the best thing to do is cram the tank full of stem plants at the beginning. This will make things a lot easier and a lot less stressful, trust me.

-Stem plants can be obtained CHEAP-- plug that tank full of hygrophila, horn wort, and ludwigia. You can chuck them out for other plants later on, but at the beginning, you definitely want to have more, not less. The planted aquarist is not intimidated by the prospect of tossing out cuttings or whole plants when the tank gets over-grown as long as algae is beat down-- because it WILL come.

 

[CathyG]

You guys are great, thank you!

I did wonder about the Dracaena, naively I thought I had been sold an aquatic version (I do love Dracaena) Oh well, out it comes. Regarding the "Fittonia" Well I didn't get a name for that plant, and was looking for pretty foreground plants. A friend came around at the weekend (who knows her terrestrial plants more than I do, but I know little anyway) and pointed that one out straight off. She told me I might as well put a cutting of a spider plant in there in that case...

Shame about the Acorus too, I do like the grassy looking plants.

Thanks for the info on my first real attempt!

tear-scar, I like the Ludwigia! so that is encouraging!

I realise the logic of not tempting nature, now. I guess I have been a little blaze believing a tank matured for a year with Amazon Swords and many sensitive fish but no algae can easily lead to short term arrogance. I will be pulling the offending plants this weekend and shopping for new. I now have the names to look for thanks to you guys! The moss balls are ok, btw? Any recommendations of easy going and fast growing foreground plants would be much appreciated! I don't mind a little floating plant too, if it is advisable.

Thank you all again!

<edit> I am not a fan of Java Fern. I had two go nuts in my previous tank, I didn't like the black stuff they seemed to drop, and all the leaf roots that shot out everywhere. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but they looked tatty very quickly...

 

[Sanj]

Looks like a good start

Some steps to take:
--Change out the background, those tacky things are only for people who cannot grow plants
--Some of your plants look like terrestrial plants, do your research and remove them
--Chock your tank full with stem plants for now until everything is settled

Totally agree with the background thing...go for black or dark blue, unless ofc you really like it.

The varigated plant doesnt look like a true aquatic..unfortunatley you get alot of lfs supplying them.

 

[Jen]

in pic one, what is that broad leafed plant with the 2 tone leaves? It looks like a hosta, but thats a land plant.