livebearer_breeder Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Got a heavy amount of the ol" DIY co2 going on in what i thought was an (sold to me as) 800l, but after doing the math is actually only 650l :facepalm: now i just need to know what can i jam in my filter that will keep my ph at 7? also because i will be running a small amount of peat in these filters. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 oyster grit works well, coral rubble etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Or a bit of baking soda in the co2 mix to keep it stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 what do you mean keep it stable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Adding baking soda to the CO2 mix will do nothing to the pH in the tank. If you add peat and CO2 to you tank they will both lower the pH. It will not be a problem, that is what happens when you do what you are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Im aware of this, peat will keep my ph at 6? is that right? I will add oyster stuff tomrrow to the filters, I've always had peat, i like the effect it has on the fish. I just want to stabalize to ph at 7 for the dwarf cichlids. Also anyone know how effective mirror is as reflectors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I used to use the peat mainly for breeding my killies but i found it has a positive effect on my other fish when added to there aqauriums! however id still like to keep the ph at 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Also anyone know how effective mirror is as reflectors? 100% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Im aware of this, peat will keep my ph at 6? is that right? I will add oyster stuff tomrrow to the filters, I've always had peat, i like the effect it has on the fish. I just want to stabalize to ph at 7 for the dwarf cichlids. Also anyone know how effective mirror is as reflectors? Are the dwarfs apistos? Mine breed happily anywhere between 6 and 7+ I've never had to worry about the pH for them. If that's any help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 haha you guys are gonna laugh when i post photos of the DIY stuff I've done, going to add a strip of LED's to each light hood, there are three and each hold 2x24watt 6500K cool daylight bulbs and have bits of broken mirror clued to the inside for reflection, should i go with white or blue LED? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 haha you guys are gonna laugh when i post photos of the DIY stuff I've done, going to add a strip of LED's to each light hood, there are three and each hold 2x24watt 6500K cool daylight bulbs and have bits of broken mirror clued to the inside for reflection, should i go with white or blue LED? Dont keep us in suspense. :spop: :slfg: the trouble with the mirror is that it will direct the light directly back. Need to be curved to spread the light around evenly. I played with mirrors. Not a pretty sight. :roey: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Guys i'm getting 3 white strips and 3 blue strips, LED's, should i get blue? somebody said this could increase algae? and another member told me that purple was the best, but for night viewing isnt red the colour fish can't see? Need advice :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 get blue, either get proof that blue increases algae growth more than normal or ignore whoever told you :lol: I have 10k (white) mh's and i have awesome algae when I get my 20k (blue/white-ish) lamps I'll let you know in a few days if it makes it grow anymore that what it already is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 If you're buying strips of LEDs you won't get enough light out of them to matter to the algae. Assuming they're the standard strips that can be installed for accent lighting / on cars etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 mainly wanted for aesthetics, i just wanted more fore ground light with the whites and moon light at night with the blue strips, They are the car ones, is there some different ones i should get? I would have thought almost 300 LED's would make a small difference? Maybe get all whites and flag moon light? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Oh, at that amount it'd be interesting to see what it can do. I think when I looked at the high output ones I'd have to have 3 or 4 strips side by side to get enough light to make it worthwhile and I just didn't have the space. Don't flag the moonlight - if anything I think you'll find the strip of blue will be more effective than the white but if you're just trying to illuminate to see then they'll both be fine. Like I said though, I wouldn't expect anything to grow based on the amount of light emited by the strips so I doubt it'll add to any algae problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Sweet, Ill take before and after shots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 should i just get blue then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 In total i can fit 600LED's, maybe more, was going to go 100 of each colour per light box. so three light boxes with 100 white and 100 blue in each? should i just go with all blue? Whats best for plants and whats best for look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 reckon this could be a goer? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Building-renovation/Electrical-lighting/Lights/Exterior-lights/auction-386489700.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Do what you can to get as much light into the tank as possible. Those spotlights look like they could be good. The new style LEDs are all CREE based with high outputs. The spotlight looks good but if you search most DIY LED lights using CREE you'll find they use the high output LEDs but quite a lot of them per square foot. Don't change your plans though. If you've already got all the strips and ballasts then go ahead and put it together and see how it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 K so getting 300 in this first go, blue or white to start? I cannot decide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 So you don't already have them? If you're yet to get them I'd recommend going another direction but if you've got them then go for a mix maybe 2:1 white:blue at the most for daytime light conditions. I feel like I'm the only one giving advice here. That either means I'm saying the right things or nobody is reading this. :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Gna give these a go anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted July 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2011 So im really angry about this situation and need to have a rant about it and forgive me for my spelling! I thought getting LED's atleast giving them a go could be a cool idea. so i found this retail outift from auckland on trademe and decided eventually that i would purchase what i wanted/needed through these guys. Username :great-bargain This was the auction: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=386477844 as you can see i was asking the guy all sortsa questions as i did not understand the product or how it worked, eventually he told me to just hit buynow and that he would help me sort everything out via email. So this is what i did, i emailed him a few times about power supply options etc, but never recieved any information accept one email that said i needed to deposit $96.50 into his account. I continued to email, desperate for answers, but the guy never bothered to email me back, so i waited a couple more days, nothing, i decided to pay him and hopefully this would motivate the guy to get in contact, i emailed him again saying i had payed and asked again about power supplys etc. no email recieved few days after this the LED's turn up in the post, 2 didnt even work (found this out today) and all of them had DC connecters, which made them completly useless, and i had payed for these extras to be added apparently, i had no idea of this as it was not what i finally asked for. so i contacted the guy and i basically said bro you've send me a product i cannot use because you never bothered to get back in contact with me like you said you would from the auction, nothing was arranged, had you bothered to email me back we could have fully organised everything and i would have a usable product, as it stand these are useless to me. This is whats interesting, within 5mins i had a email back saying "your really pissing me off" and started accusing me of scamming him! he said "if you want the product to work for you, you must pay a further $24 for tranformer plus postage". Obviously i wasnt happy about this, and let him know that he had abismal communication skills! I mentioned a refund, postage at my own cost, especially considering the product supplyed was faulty, momments later he black listed me on trademe and banned my email address. This really shocked me, i got angry, but waited another day or two to do anything, as when im angry i usually don't make the intelligent decisions! I couldn't contact this guy now, so instead i deposited this money further into his account, thinking ill atleast get what i have got going, maybe get some LED's from another store (at this point i didnt know 2 didnt work) and because i had no idea what to buy as far as tranformers went from other stores/auctions. So the transformer arrived this morning, its a single, he said it would run four, the really crappy thing is that it doesnt even work! the LED's barely flicker! so for the first time i placed bad feedback on this guy you can see what he has to say about me here: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Feedback.aspx?member=3286936 http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Feedback.aspx?member=2561048 hes threatening me with all sort, including police action? claiming im a scammer? i just don't know how i would even scam this guy? i can't force him to send me anything, had to pre pay for everything, as usual, if anything i feel like hes scammed me. I've never had a problem like this before, i don't really know what to do now, i have contacted trademe, but from previous experiences ppl have told me about, apparently trademe is really useless with stuff like this. all i want is to get working gear that i payed for, is this too much to ask? grrr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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