Need advice on lowering pH in SA tanks
- Thread starter Mythic Figment
- Start date
I have seen T5 bulbs in the store before. What are zoomed bulbs? And is a T5S a specialty bulb?
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Patrick
You are in Florida so there should be some Tropical Almond trees around you somewhere. We have them here and I am in Central Florida. Pick the dead brown ones off the ground. NO GREEN ONES. Check the leaves for mold, mildew or fungus first. They are used extensively by Asian betta breeders and Angelfish breeders around the world. If you don't want them loose on the bottom of the tank, crumble them up in a filter sock and put it in your filter. It will brown your water and lower your ph slowly. It also adds good stuff that makes the fish feel comfortable and promotes breeding. Carbon can be used afterward to removed some or all of the tea color after the desired ph is attained. Removing the tea color with not raise the ph again.
You are in Florida so there should be some Tropical Almond trees around you somewhere. We have them here and I am in Central Florida. Pick the dead brown ones off the ground. NO GREEN ONES. Check the leaves for mold, mildew or fungus first. They are used extensively by Asian betta breeders and Angelfish breeders around the world. If you don't want them loose on the bottom of the tank, crumble them up in a filter sock and put it in your filter. It will brown your water and lower your ph slowly. It also adds good stuff that makes the fish feel comfortable and promotes breeding. Carbon can be used afterward to removed some or all of the tea color after the desired ph is attained. Removing the tea color with not raise the ph again.
Zoomed is the brand that made the fixture, and I use their plant growth and daylight bulbs to cover all needed spectrums.
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Here's a pic of it, they call it "aquasun". And a pic of my tank, for just using excel my plants are pretty green. Left side is still young, changed it up recently. 
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Now my 55 has two hoods. Each hood only holds one bulb. Should I use one of each bulb in the 2 slots available or have the same type of bulb in each slot?
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Depends, if they are t8... I wouldn't even try to grow plants besides like anubias, java fern etc. the fixtures I have would run about 120$ for the 48" fixture and I think 16$ a bulb. At the very least get some type of t5 fixture or LEDs.
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I mean should I get 2 daylight or 2 plant growth or one of each?
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CO2 releases Carbonic Acids, and acids lower PH. The cool thing about CO2 in fish tanks is that it lowers PH and it seems that it sidesteps the buffer. In other words, the buffer has no effect on it but the buffer also remains intact. So when the PH is lowered it is also stable. But, When the lights are off plant do not take in anymore CO2. So if you are using a DIY CO2 you would have to run a bubbler at night on a timer. But that also depends on your stock and how planted your tank is. I have ran DIY CO2 with no bubbler because my tank was moderately planted and the tank was not overstocked, while stocked with fish on the smaller side.
I would probably do half and half... all plant bulbs would make your tank more yellow, or daylight t8s which gives a nice white, but your plants would suffer. Half and half makes a nice shade in the middle, but if you compare one side of the tank to the other, you'll notice the difference in bulbs.
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