No bubble.

[PeterGwee]

Kenny..about the lights, give chan a call and ask..or bring it down to his shop. It seems like you use black water to drop your pH instead of CO2. Better to use CO2 imo as plants use CO2 + lights + nutrients to complete photosythnesis and not blackwater []

[kenny_G]

sorry peter, wat is imo?

ken

[PeterGwee]

LOL...in my opinion...sorry about that..kekekekee...For your info, your filter should be enough. Yours is an internal reactor which should not really result in too much loss of CO2. Maybe you can up your CO2 bubble rate to 3-4bps over a period of 4-5 days as riccia is CO2 hungry monsters [] Oh...watch out for your fish reacting funny hor..if they start to come to the surface to breathe...then reduce back as your lack of watts/gallon for your light might be the biggest cause why your riccia did not bubble.

[kenny_G]

ok. Will call him later. Hope its not too expensive. 12 days to go before pay day.[]

ken

[sherchoo]

Benny,

From what I gathered, the 3w/g applies more accurately to smaller tanks (<60g). With bigger tanks, it seems 2W/g is ok... not really study into it yet.

[vinz]

2W/G is still quite low for larger tanks. Try 2.5W/G.

[benny]

----------------
On 10/28/2002 1:55:11 AM

hi benny,

what type of fl light r u using? is it from dennerle?

rdgs
----------------

The normal Philips tubes. But I will be changing to Trocal 3085 and 6085 soon. Hopefully, that will be even better. I seem to have only 1.38 Watts per gallon at the moment. have added reflectors so it should be slighter better. Anyway, got algae appearing so there should be sufficient light right?

[David]

hi kenny g

i will agree with Petergwee that you should be using CO2 to control the PH and not blackwater extract. With your understanding of your KH level helps you determine whereabouts your PH should be for a rich dissolved CO2 water volume....by this, it does not mean that it will remove the dissolved O2 in the tank.....however overinjection of CO2 is bad too.

KH 1 = 6.0PH
KH 2 = 6.2PH
KH 3 = 6.4PH
KH 4 = 6.6PH
KH 5 = 6.8PH
KH 6 = 7.0PH

the above is just what i can roughly remember.......you may what to check with the other forumers if my table is correct....

[bclee]

I used to use a double FL lighting for my tank. I switch one of the pinkish tubes to a Trocal plant 3085. Not very significant difference in plant growth. I like the warm look from the tube though.

Those tubes are really expensive. IMO, it is better to save the money to upgrade the wattage. You will probably see more improvement that way.

Just my S$0.02.

BC

[kenny_G]

thanks guys all your suggestion are very informative.

I have decided to buy more lighting from chan next month. But regarding the filter.......is it better if i get 1 more 2213? or will it be too strong. or shall i leave it the way it is?
currently using 1 x 2213
tank size 3ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft

thanks david, I think my kh is a bit too high. will lower it to 3-4.
anyway if co2 level goes up. will ph go up or down?
i read it somewhere but kinda forgot liao.

ken

[PeterGwee]

LOL..I think bclee has cough out the pH/KH/CO2 relationship so many times and yet you cannot remember ah..LOL..[] .Make it easy here..CO2 will only lower your pH but not your KH.

HIGH CO2 LEVEL = LOWER pH but same KH

[bclee]

Osram tubes are good too. Apparently they have tri-phosphor. I am planing to use a combination of their 3000K and 6000K tubes. Their tubes are suppose to retain their brightness longer.

BC

[David]

hi kenny

more CO2 means lower PH level at a given amount of KH.....the rough table above which i posted has the corresponding PH level you should have.....why are you lowering your KH? The ideal level of KH for a planted tank is around 4 to 7 which is also dependent on the kind of fish you keep.....

[vinz]

For your tank, if it is moderate to heavily planted, one 2231 is enough.

[ZeRoC00l]

Save your money for CO2.

Normal light tubes [Hitachi / Philips] will do.

My tank running 6 X 18W Philips 865/Daylight tubes just $3.50 per tube
Cheap cheap. Lots of savings for a poor student like me!

Plants [HG/riccia/+++] all bubbling beautifully.

Just as long as yr nutrients and CO2 are sufficient, yr plants will make use of watever light you have. Aim for 3W/Gal

Normally, it's the lack of CO2, or some photosynthesis nutrients tt cause plant not to bubble. So enough K, Mg, Trace elements, and most importantly CO2

[kenny_G]

thanks for your effort in posting in my tread. i think i have a pretty good idea wat needs to be done, just need to wait for my payday!

ken

[kenny_G]

Good news!! my plants are bubbling finally! All i did was to change my FL to PL than, almost immediately.......they bubble.

couldn't have done it without you guys.

But now that i have 4 x 36 PL for my 3ft, is it over kill? cause the newer shoot of leaves of my blyxa japonica is turning redish brown and BBA has started appearing on my glosso? any advise?

ken

[bclee]

With increased lights, your nutrients and CO2 get depleted faster. Monitor them to ensure they keep up with the increased lights.

At the meantime, trim the leaves with bba. Ensure balance, BBA should not come back.

BC

[sherchoo]

----------------
On 11/14/2002 12:59:12 PM

But now that i have 4 x 36 PL for my 3ft, is it over kill? cause the newer shoot of leaves of my blyxa japonica is turning redish brown and BBA has started appearing on my glosso? any advise?

ken
----------------

Your tank is about 51g and lights at 144W. The lighting you have now only is about 2.8W/g. Not an over kill at all. Recommeded is 3W/g which you are quite close at the moment. Anyway, at this lighting level, it will be good enuff to cover most plants.

[jacian]

Check your pH, your CO2 could be used at a faster rate now. If your pH do rise, increase your CO2 bubble count to bring down the pH.

All the best and enjoy the bubbles.