Lucid Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 also with the lights I would look at getting one or two of the "purple" tubes which provide high amounts of red light which the plants use to photosynthesise and hence they grow better. I have on purple tube and one white tube on my planted tank and add diluted chelated iron to the water and the plants are going crazy, tried the co2 but was too lazy to keep the mixture running in the diy sort, will get it going again but will get a proper one. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted June 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 are you meaning the purple tube as in a black light?? or am I totaly wrong here? I have never heard of a purple light or are you just meaning a light that is painted purple? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 it is a fluro tube but the light it gives off is a purplish colour, sometimes called a gro tube, quite often used on hydroponics grow systems and often used in nurseries for raising seedlings. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 I believe you can make lights out of plastic spouting - a length of spouting and two end caps, fit the tubes in and you've got a light. I've seen some in pet shops that appear to be made that way too. Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Any time I used a grolux tube I got incredible growth in algae but nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted June 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 :-? :oops: I don't think people would want to buy algae covered plants lol. If that is the case then I will stick to just normal lights, Co2 and snails (to keep some algae at bay). Will see how that goes before I try anything else. My main mission now is to get all the other equipment with out spending a fortune for it! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Hi again If you want to save $$ on Tubes, go for the daylight 865. trade price is under $10 for 3footers (you sparky could get them cheaper). Make sure they are 865, not 860, the 865 is 6500K. The tube I think Balistic is talking about is aka "butchers tube" it seems to be be very hi in the red end of the spectrum. I installed two for a week and algae went nuts!! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve slack Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 diverjohn where is this place selling lights cheap? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Hi Steve, I deal with Rexell thru work and my local branch doesnt stock the Biolux's but does stock 865 Daylight tube. Last time i needed them i just went straight to the penrose branch as they had both 965 & 865 and has more options for sizes (remmeber my comments about 3 v 4 v 5 footers) Let me know if i can help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Any electrical wholesaler will have daylight tubes, there are ton of them about. With regards using high output red tubes and algae, this is more likely a ballance issue. If you increase the light you also need to increase the CO2 and nutriants, if any one of these is out of balance the plants will only grow as the limiting factor allows, algae will use what ever is left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted June 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 I am now looking into getting a heater for this plant tub. Its about 260lts so would one 300watt heater (longer the better if if I can find one) do the job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Just buy the cheapest you can, any heater with-in reason will heat it. If its smaller it will just run for longer (but uses less power while it is running so works out even in the end). Are you going to put in something like a power head for cirulation? If not then you might have problems with cold spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Are you going to put ANY fish in?? If it was me I would add a couple of mollies or bristlenose plecs, but not feed them at all, they will clean up any algae plus help fertilize the plants and keep your filter going (I seem to remember you saying you were going to add one?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Yeah I was going to use a filter with no media for a power head instead of actualy getting a power head (filter is cheaper). I can't add any fish to it at all because as I said earlier its going in the garage and it won't exactly be watched and the lights are going to be on timers so I don't have to remember to go out each morning and night to turn the lights on and off so with that I would be asking for trouble if I added fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve slack Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 hey why would adding fish be asking for trouble? they could probably look after themselves in a planted tank with all the algae for food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 because its out in a freezing cold garage! the temp won't be consitant out there and its to risky for the poor fishies life. There will be snails unfortunatly as with clippings being donated its going to be to hard to eliminate snails totaly. I don't want to add fish to this tank. Its not what I am doing it for and I have found that my BN seems to enjoy eating some plants so I don't want to be wasting money buying plants to have some of them totaled by the BN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Just a little Question, If your not going to have any Fish in there why turn the lights off?? And also, if the garage is freezing cold, your going to find it hard to get ur DIY Co2 to pump much Co2 out, As the yeast lives and breeds best at bettween 20-26c. Also if you've bought a good heater the heat shouldnt fluctuate much, especialy if there is a filter in there provideing circulation from the heater, Also i would reccommend adding a complete lid (if you have not already stated you would) as you will get a terrible amount of evaporation due to the water being alot warmer than the outside tempreture, and as you said you will not be out there everyday checking. Personally i think a BN or two is a great idea, No worries about feeding, keeps the tank clean, and will keep algae from ravaging your plants, although you will have to gravel clean once every couple of months, you would have to do that anyway, because of the snail excresion. And it provides extra fertilisation and keeps the water conditions good by replenesion bacteria every water change etc etc Shae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 The Co2 system should be ok as the way that the tub is being boxed up I am adding two holes to allow for the bottles to sit hard up against the tank for heat and also surrounded 3/4 of the way around with pink bats as the tub will be lined with. As with a lid I am looking at doing a Perspecs lid. Reason for this over glass is because the surface area is so large (shallow square bath basicly) that I don't want to run the risk of the glass breaking with the lights on top. I will be treating it like my main tank and doing water changes every 1.5-2 weeks ( not regular enough I know but with 3 kids under 5 its a bit difficult to stick to times). I could eventually add a couple of fish I know but to start off with I don't want to. I want to see how stable the whole set up will be due to the size of it. With out using fish I am also able to use chemicals to keep the algae at bay and add fert with out it harming the fish due to murky waters and stuff. At the moment my main task is getting the tub sealed (has a crack in the bottom but hubby can fix that, hes the plumber ) and getting the materials to box it up so it will look like a mini free standing spa. I hope that this all makes sence lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve slack Posted June 21, 2005 Report Share Posted June 21, 2005 hey what are the dimensoins of the tub? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted June 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2005 I will have to measure it up. I know that its about 400ml deep I will check tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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