need some advice on planted tank

[kubrich]

what is a ballast and how do i go about changing it? only thing i noe bout ballast is its something in submarines..hahaha..so there is no such thing as a 36watt fl tube?since is suppose to be 2.5-3,4 watts a gallon would it help then if i lowered my water levels??

[szesteve]

yup, what's a ballast?

[juggler]

A ballast is a transformer. It normally comes with our flourescent lights. Electronic ballast are more efficient (and generates less heat) than the conventional magnetic core ballast.

[kubrich]

How do i go about changing a ballast? would lowering water level,lower the light requirements?

[vinz]

Yes, lowering the water will lower the light requirements, but how low will you go? To match 3W/G, for 30W you need to reduce by about half the water height, for 40W, about 1/3.

Personally, since your plants are growing and there's no major problems plus budget constraint, I'd leave the tank alone. Give it a month, if the tank is still stable, I say what the heck, let it be, as long as it's aesthetically pleasing to you.

Ballast... most of us are not trained electricians and while we willing do it ourselves, we're hesistant to give advice over the forum. Better that you get a electrical shop to do it or show you how. You can ask Chan at Nature Aquarium whether he can mod your lights for you. Bring and show him, its easier for him to tell.

[kubrich]

Ok...thanx so much for all the advice...i think i will leave the lights for now and go about the usual routine for maintainance and see how it fairs after a months or so...if it's doing ok...then i'm happy...so chores for the time being would be the usual water changes,pruning and clearing of dead plant matter and the recomended doses of fertilizers. i think fertilizers would come in about 1-1.5 weeks. once again...thanx so much[]

[vinz]

Since your lights are lower, dose liquid fert at half the recommended dosage, observe and then adjust.

[kubrich]

what should i look out for when i observe? i'm not too sure on how to assess the health of aquatic plants...is there any liquid fert that has Fe and K in it,or will i need to buy the tablets for it seperately? As for Co2 levels,would a sera co2 indicator serve useful? as i am using a diy setup,i am not sure on how to see if the plants are getting enough of what they need(nutrients,lights,co2).can i assume that as long as i see a considerable amount of bubbling and the leaves of the plants don't start to turn brown and fall off drastically fast that the plants are doing ok? btw,my gravel is monterey beach sand(it says lapis on the bag also,dunno wat that means),i bought a 22.5 kg bag frm generation X. that would be suitable right? and when should i actually prun the plants? when they get too long and when they start to brown? Thanx so much for the info...really quite clueless about the details in planted tanks.

[vinz]

Prune when the plants get too tall. For rosette plants, cut off the old leaves that start to die (browning).

Sometimes plants will shed leaves that are shaded or when new plants convert from emerse form to submerse form. Yellowing leaves, yellow spots/brown spots, browning, blackening, are indicators of nutrient deficiency. Read up on your plants and nutrient deficiency at www.thekrib.com. Rotting stems and roots indicate the plant is dying.

Bubbling indicates there is photosynthesis, but by itself is not an indicator that everything is a-ok. Lack of bubbling does not mean anything is wrong either.

If your plants are sprouting new, normal leaves and/or gaining height/size, then things are pretty much ok. Sometimes you'll get a plant that just refuses to survive in your tank while every other plant is doing just fine. In such a case, try again or just give up on that plant.

Use your instinct. If you're not sure, read up on the internet and/or post here with the symtoms and plant name.

[kubrich]

thanx...i'll do just that...but what are rosette plants?

[vinz]

Plants a that have no stem and grow from a crown. Eg. echinodorus (sword plants), lotus, vallisneria, cryptocoryne.