lighting times, fert & flourish excel help question/request

[VRWC]

Ok, so I have decided to try and do a planted tank again.

First off, I read the stickys and threads from a lot of people on here and I have to say, my head is spinning and Im extremely confused from all the different #s, abbreviations, chemical compounds etc. and variations all of you are using. I only wish I could grasp this concept as easy of some of you.

Can someone answer these questions in laymans terms for me...please? Im at my wits end trying to figure this out on my own.

My tank is a 33 long (48x13x12) and for lighting a 48 inch Coralife Aqualight Double Linear Strip Compact Fluorescent Fixture, 4X65 Watt, but Im only using the 2 front bulbs so its 130w.

I am growing out 6 Honduran Red Points in it.

I have 3 bags of Seachem Flourite as the substrate, running a 90 GPH HOB filter and 2 heaters to keep the temp at 78.

The tank has no lids due to the light fixture.

My questions:

Is the lighting enough or too much for my tank (130w)? Its roughly 4wpg

I have the lighting on for 8 hrs a day. Do I need to do more?less?

Im using Flourish Excel. Will this really supplement having C02 injection?

For ferts...what do you guys recommend the most? Would potassium and iron liquid ferts be good enough? and if so, what brands would you guys recommend?

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[xdragonxb0i]

you can never go wrong with too much lighting, unless algea become a problem.

flourish excel is just substrate that have vitamins, so it will be better for plants.

Try looking into the raw/ fertz. (forgot what they are called) but someone will know

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

That is alot of light for a 33g with no co2 injection. So you may run into algae problems later.

If your using excel as you sole means of carbon (no co2) then I would dose 1 cap full in the morning followed by a 4hr light on period. Then 2-3 hours of no light. Then another cap full and 4 more hrs of light. Yes excel can be used in place of co2. You just have to pay no attenion to the directions on the back of the bottle.

Or 10ml per day of excel to keep the algae down.

And I never reccommend using fertilizers with any tank that has no co2. But since you have high light and alot of excel needs to be used. You could dose a little pottassium after your weekly water change.

Also 90gph in a 33g tank is very very small. So you mightlook into getting a good power head or a larger filter. Around 300-500 gph of filtration would be nice on that tank. Slow or no water movement also provides a breeding ground for some forms of algae.

 

[Deaths Sting]

My tank is a 33 long (48x13x12) and for lighting a 48 inch Coralife Aqualight Double Linear Strip Compact Fluorescent Fixture, 4X65 Watt, but Im only using the 2 front bulbs so its 130w.

I am growing out 6 Honduran Red Points in it.

I have 3 bags of Seachem Flourite as the substrate, running a 90 GPH HOB filter and 2 heaters to keep the temp at 78.

The tank has no lids due to the light fixture.

My questions:

Is the lighting enough or too much for my tank (130w)? Its roughly 4wpg

A: its enough!

I have the lighting on for 8 hrs a day. Do I need to do more?less?

A: that should be long enough.

Im using Flourish Excel. Will this really supplement having C02 injection?

A: it will supplement Co2 just fine in a 33 gallon, but a pressurized Co2 set up will be more efficient.

For ferts...what do you guys recommend the most? Would potassium and iron liquid ferts be good enough? and if so, what brands would you guys recommend?

A: Nitrogen, phosphate, and Potassium are ur Macro nutrients. depending on ur stock, u may have sufficient, N and P.

then u have ur Micronutrients, which are:

boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), chloride (Cl), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo) and zinc (Zn).

u can dose dry ferts for cheap, get them from here: http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/

or if u got a bit of money and wish to do it an easier way u can always buy Seachem's line of liquid ferts.

Thanks for any and all help!

i gave u my answers, now may u give me one?

whats the Kelvin rating of the 2 bulbs ur using in ur fixture?

flourish excel is just substrate that have vitamins, so it will be better for plants.

 

[VRWC]

That is alot of light for a 33g with no co2 injection. So you may run into algae problems later.

If your using excel as you sole means of carbon (no co2) then I would dose 1 cap full in the morning followed by a 4hr light on period. Then 2-3 hours of no light. Then another cap full and 4 more hrs of light. Yes excel can be used in place of co2. You just have to pay no attenion to the directions on the back of the bottle.

Or 10ml per day of excel to keep the algae down.

And I never reccommend using fertilizers with any tank that has no co2. But since you have high light and alot of excel needs to be used. You could dose a little pottassium after your weekly water change.

Also 90gph in a 33g tank is very very small. So you mightlook into getting a good power head or a larger filter. Around 300-500 gph of filtration would be nice on that tank. Slow or no water movement also provides a breeding ground for some forms of algae.

Thanks for the input.

Ok, so I have no problem going down in the lighting. Im only using the current bulbs because they came with the fixture. Should I go to 1 or 2 watts per gallon? I think I can get 4-10w bulbs or 4-15w bulbs.

If I do that, could I then leave the lights on a timer for 8-12 hrs?

The only reason Im using the filter I am is because I was worried about c02 escaping from the agitation of the waterflow breaking the surface. Is that not as big of a concern as Im making it?

 

[VRWC]

i gave u my answers, now may u give me one?

whats the Kelvin rating of the 2 bulbs ur using in ur fixture?

Thanks for the help and link. In the link you provided, is there a particular fert package youd recommend?

and the kelvin rating on the bulbs is 10000k

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

Thanks for the input.

Ok, so I have no problem going down in the lighting. Im only using the current bulbs because they came with the fixture. Should I go to 1 or 2 watts per gallon? I think I can get 4-10w bulbs or 4-15w bulbs.

If I do that, could I then leave the lights on a timer for 8-12 hrs?

The only reason Im using the filter I am is because I was worried about c02 escaping from the agitation of the waterflow breaking the surface. Is that not as big of a concern as Im making it?

The lighting needs will depend greatly on the plant species kept. But 2wpg of power compact or t5ho lighting will be able to grow just about anything you want. I still like the 4 on- 2 off- 4 on light schedule. But experiment and see what you like.

Agitation is a concern if you use co2. But since you have none there's no worry's. Also canister filters will give you the flow with out the agitation. Excel can not be agitated out.

 

[VRWC]

The lighting needs will depend greatly on the plant species kept. But 2wpg of power compact or t5ho lighting will be able to grow just about anything you want. I still like the 4 on- 2 off- 4 on light schedule. But experiment and see what you like.

Agitation is a concern if you use co2. But since you have none there's no worry's. Also canister filters will give you the flow with out the agitation. Excel can not be agitated out.

Ok, great! Thanks for the input. I wasnt opposed to your suggestion of 4 on etc, just thought you wanted that done due to the amount of light I had.

Am looking at switching some filters around from other tanks tonight...

 

[Deaths Sting]

Thanks for the help and link. In the link you provided, is there a particular fert package youd recommend?

and the kelvin rating on the bulbs is 10000k

they have pre mixes:

CSM+B Plantex - Micro nutrients


PMDD Pre-Mix - everything but Phosphate


the CSB Plantex is great for ur micro nutrients but the other pre mix may not work if u dose EI.

if u dose EI then buy:

KN03

KH2P04

and of course ur trace elements (micro nutrients) either with the CSB Plantix or Seachem Flouish, Flouish traces.

heres ur dosing guide, IF u wish dose by EI.

20-40 Gallon Aquariums
+/- ¼ tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp (5ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

 

[VRWC]

they have pre mixes:

CSM+B Plantex - Micro nutrients


PMDD Pre-Mix - everything but Phosphate


the CSB Plantex is great for ur micro nutrients but the other pre mix may not work if u dose EI.

if u dose EI then buy:

KN03

KH2P04

and of course ur trace elements (micro nutrients) either with the CSB Plantix or Seachem Flouish, Flouish traces.

heres ur dosing guide, IF u wish dose by EI.

20-40 Gallon Aquariums
+/- ¼ tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp (5ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

good deal. Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me with this guys!