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Re: [APD] A lighting and nutrient question...
I'm a newbie, and of course I arrived at this list threw research, it's
been 9 months since I started and about 4 or 5 months since I started
with plants.
I don't want to be trimming the plants every weekend, its just too much
work.
I'm running *two 4ft Fluros* over my tank 4ft long x 2.5ft wide x 18"
deep water.
Currently using Flourish and Flourish Iron by Seachem but am looking at
my wallet and thinking maybe I can find a cheaper alternative but the
Flourish just seams to work so well.
Previously I attached another *four 3ft fluros* and ran them also from
6am till 9pm, my tank was doing much better then as the plants grew
larger leaves and stayed healthier. I've noticed that since I removed
the extra lighting that over the last two months my plants have grown
new leaves but they were smaller and the old ones have died off.
I'm wondering if its worth tailoring my lighting to the desired shape of
my plants. I mean I want lots of small leaved plants so the 'forest' is
a lot more dense.
Has any one else tried this? bugger the whole xxx watts per gallon and
just went for the astetic look of the plants.
PS: Crypts are doing well, duck weed is taking over - all be it slower
which is good, none of my other plants have fully died - they just smaller.
=Nick Munro
S. Hieber wrote:
>Your "new" aquatic gardener sounds great and so does your
>"mentoring," Jared. I don't think any offense was intended
>in anyone's prior posts. Folks know that what's written is
>read more than once and for a long time to come, not just
>by the original questioner. So I think comments focusing on
>new folks are somethimes framed with a broader audience of
>new folks in mind. I don't know that other posters had that
>in mind in this case, but I read them that way.
>
>I personally still think it's a lot of light. Too much?
>Hey, Luis goes way past 5 wpg, iirc, and his tanks are
>wonderful. It would drive me nuts to go that high -- I
>don't need any more help getting *there*. Once you are past
>a minimum for growing plants, more light is more work --
>that's just a rule of thumb but I think it holds pretty
>well. If everyone involved knows that going in - that's
>great -- curtain up, light the lights . . .
>
>More who-died-and-made-him-god comments:
>
>MHs are pretty but have their drawbacks. Nothing sparkles
>like a point source illuminator. MHS are a bit like caviar
>-- unique and pricey yet although some folks that have used
>them like them, some that have don't. Some simply love
>them. Some truly hate them. MHs have gotten much better in
>recent years in terms of longevity, price and resistance to
>color shift -- the three biggest complaints I've heard of.
>So maybe some of the dislike is wasted.
>
>Of course, it's a matter of personal pref, whether one uses
>MH or fluorescent or both or tosses in an actinic for looks
>or whatever reason. The energy efficiency of MHs and
>fluorescents (the kind aquatic gardeners so often use) is
>very close -- about 35%, so the heat issues for the
>aquarium temps are no diff -- just the higher localized
>heat in the bulb fixture. With careful shopping, the
>pricing might even be pretty close these days. I haven't
>checked recently.
>
>Given that MHs are point sources, maybe it won't seem like
>so much light in most places in the aquarium ;-)
>
>If the newbie is reading, send her to APD if you haven't
>already ;-)
>
>You could also mention to you new aqtica gardener that
>Aquatic-something-or-other nonprof organization, but it
>sounds like an ad when I do it ;-)
>
>regards, and welcome back,
>sh
>
>--- Jared Morris <jared_morris at sbcglobal_net> wrote:
>
>
>
>>>Compact fluorescents are a better alternative than
>>>
>>>
>>metal halides in my
>>
>>
>>>opinion, and tha tis what many or most of us use. The
>>>
>>>
>>lighting your
>>
>>
>>>propose
>>>is not just a little high -- this is high light in a
>>>
>>>
>>tank that size. Such
>>
>>
>>>a
>>>setup will require much more care and experience to
>>>
>>>
>>maintain than a lower
>>
>>
>>>wattage setup. George Booth, Tom Barr, Scott Hieber,
>>>
>>>
>>Karen Randall and a
>>
>>
>>>lot
>>>of other people can pull off setups like this -- they
>>>
>>>
>>are very
>>
>>
>>>experienced.
>>>I think such a setup would be a challenge for a person
>>>
>>>
>>who knows so little
>>
>>
>>>that she would let someone else design her system for
>>>
>>>
>>her.
>>
>>
>>>The relationship beween tank size and "ideal" lighting
>>>
>>>
>>as expressed in
>>
>>
>>>watts per gallon is not linear. The watts per gallon
>>>
>>>
>>rule doesn't work
>>
>>
>>>particularly well. See
>>>
>>>
>>http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/Lighting/ and
>>
>>
>>http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/Lighting/comments.html
>>. With larger
>>
>>
>>>tanks a lower WPG works better.
>>>Liz
>>>
>>>
>>OK, I'll try not to take personal offense to your
>>insinuation that I would
>>have not done the reading myself. Personally, I think
>>saying "so-and-so can
>>do this, but a newbie cant." is ridiculous. I have setup
>>hundreds of reef
>>and freshwater planted tanks for people, and I always
>>research them first.
>>Admittedly, I asked a question which may have seemed to
>>come without any
>>research behind, but that was just poor wording on my
>>part...oops. I have
>>seen many MH and many PC lit aquariums, fresh and salt,
>>and honestly, I
>>prefer MH in most larger systems. I have PC on my 37
>>gallon, and love it,
>>but 50 gallons and over, why not do MH? heat is not an
>>issue if you have a
>>tall canopy and fan ventilate it, and the light
>>intensity, and the ripples
>>line that come with it, is beautiful.
>>
>>Second of all, I don't think you realize how many
>>hobbyists do their own
>>research, and then come to a well educated and respectful
>>LFS to put their
>>systems together. This lady is well educated, and on
>>first visit to the LFS
>>bought 3 books (Nature Aquarium World Vol. 1, Aquarium
>>Plants Manual, and
>>one other that escapes my mind right now). She returned
>>a week later having
>>read them all. She has also been perusing www.thekrib.com
>>herself on my
>>recommendation.
>>
>>Respectfully,
>>Jared
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Aquatic-Plants mailing list
>>Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
>>http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo/aquatic-plants
>>
>>
>>
>
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