s3xtcy Posted March 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 im dosing weekly with Leafzone, and there are three lights in the tank, all t8's, two of them are 30w, 36inch, one being a "sunlight" bulb which says on the packet that its good for plants, the other is the "tropical" type which again has the picture of a plant on there, and the last bulb is a 20w 23.5inch "tropical", but they do not have the Kelvin rating of what they produce. are these good enough? i will get a gh/kh test kit today and let everyone know the results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 80w of light isn't much on a 350 liter tank, also Leafzone is a micro nutrient, it is mostly just Iron and Potassium. Also how old are the tubes in your lights, they will only have round half the output at 1 year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s3xtcy Posted March 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 tubes are only about a month old, if that, just replaced them as the old ones were c.r.a.p.p.y ok, is the flourish excel better? will 80w do the job for a very lightly planted tank? and its only 305litre i believe, ufo 880, minus substrate, wood, rocks, etc prob about 280ish litres of water, maybe less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 flourish excel is a substitute for co2, not a fertilizer, normal flourish is what you want. Daily dosing is better too. T8's aren't very good lights, T5's are alot better for plants, much more intense. It also wouldn't hurt to put a few root tabs in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 T8's aren't very good lights, T5's are alot better for plants, much more intense. I beg to differ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 I beg to differ. I bet the majority of T8's people have these days aren't as good as the ones used on that tank. But let me rephrase that, old t8's aren't very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 T8s are not as good as T5s at growing most if not all plants. Doesn't mean that T8s are bad; it's just a relative thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s3xtcy Posted March 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 cool, im not after a heavily laden, super planted tank, i just want my plants to grow well, be healthy, and pearl if i can, I didnt mean to start a argument or a feud, so ill just see how things go, the pH is starting to come back up, its 6.4 this afternoon, so I will see again how it goes, if it doesnt raise much I will add shells, which will increase the kH and with regular waterchanges should bring the pH back to a nice balance, if not ill just can the whole c02 idea and get a puppy. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Flourish excel would be a good alternative if your diy co2 doesn't work out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Flourish xl is a source of carbon for plants, You also need light and macro nutrients as well as what you have been adding. The less light and carbon, the less macro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s3xtcy Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 thanks Alan, given my lighting and tank size, what would be a good doseage of each product with c02? I dont mind doing daily doses if thats possible and beneficial update: pH - still down the bottom, will start turning off at night as of tonight and monitor the pH levels GH - about 5ish drops (50-100ppm) KH - 2 drops (0-50ppm) Ammonia - 0.25ppm (but the tank is due for its weekly WC) Still have not added shells to the tank as unable to find where I put the ones I used last time.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 If you are using CO2 you can use but don't need xl. I would start with small amounts of macros and trace elements and see how quickly it gets used up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s3xtcy Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 ok, after turning off the c02 overnight ive done a pH reading thismorning and is B.L.U.E - top of the chart. so major swing from overnight... I will redo the c02 to a quarter a tsp of yeast and leave it on 24hrs, add some shells today see if that helps it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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