Plants not growing

[nemo]

[]
I just set up a new 2 ft plant tank.
I put some base fertiliser and liquid fertiliser in the tank
I use 2 x 15watts 'pink' FL lights
Ehiem canister filter
CO2 system bubbles abt 1 per 5 secs

The Ricci on my driftwood seems not to be growing at all. Infact I think it is losing 'hair' as the days passed.

I have tried to tied some Xmas Moss on plastic mesh on put them at the rear of the tank. They have not grown also.

.[]

I have abt 30 tetras n some shrimps in the tank too

I have also alot of short grass liked plants planted all round the tank.

Any idea wat I am doing wrong?

[PeterGwee]

Your lights are pretty low and not those of "daylight" or 6500K-8500K. You don't need to use those fancy lights..just normal daylight will do...Get about 40Watts of light in there if you wanna grow riccia. Besides that, you need to find out your CO2 level through measurements from pH and KH. The problems you are having now are probably cause by low light and inappropriate lights as well as low CO2 level..settle those and you can proceed on to nutrient control.

[nemo]

thks! let me try to change the light tubes. most LFS should have rite? so 2x40watts should do the trick rite?

CO2 i think is ok, i have a 'inverted bell' type of commercial CO2 lvl tester. the type where u add few drops of liquid n it changes
color accordingly.

How long will it take before i can see signs that i m at least on the rite track for Ricci?

[OUTLAW]

NO !! 2x40w = 80w! Unless u are using a high 2ft tank, if not it will be an overkill!! Why not provide us with info like tank dimensions..and water parameters..
Try to fill these fields in..so as to help u better

Beginners Info Sheet
--------------------

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH):
Tank Volume (litres or gallons):
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) :
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) :
No. of Hours your light is on :
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) :
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) :
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor):
Substrate Used :
How Thick is your base fert :
How thick is your gravel :
Liquid Fertilizers Used :
Frequency of fertilization :
Tank Temperature :
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) :
Filter media used :
How long has your tank been set up :
Other equipment :

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can) - Invest in test kits!!
---------------------------------------
Carbonate Hardness (KH):
Total Hardness (gH):
pH :
NH4 (ppm):
NO2 (ppm):
NO3 (ppm):
PO4 (ppm):
Fe (ppm):

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)
------------------------------

<State what fishes and plants you have to the best of your ability>


Describe your problem :

<problem description. If you have picture which could help then please post them>

[Goondoo]

----------------
On 6/4/2003 1:44:39 PM


thks! let me try to change the light tubes. most LFS should have rite? so 2x40watts should do the trick rite?

CO2 i think is ok, i have a 'inverted bell' type of commercial CO2 lvl tester. the type where u add few drops of liquid n it changes
color accordingly.

How long will it take before i can see signs that i m at least on the rite track for Ricci?
----------------

Hardware shop should have the tubes, not necessary LFS. And I think he meant total of 40 watts, like 2X18, and you might need to replace the ballast/transformer too, better off replace the whole lighting system.

Those tester are not reliable, I had boost my CO2 to about "loss count" per sec (was shocked the next day when I measured my PH, about 6) and it stills tell me I am under CO2 the next day.

Riccia are fast growers, it should fully cover a mesh by 3-4 weeks.

[eric_kclee]

About growing richia, I hope someon invent a slow bio-degradeble wire mesh, so that we can keep on adding wire mesh on richia and not stacking up the thickness.

[nemo]

Ok, I am at work, so this is abt wat i can remember

[quote]
Beginners Info Sheet
--------------------

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 60cmx50cmx50cm
Tank Volume (litres or gallons): 15L
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 2x15=30
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : FL
No. of Hours your light is on : 10
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 1bubble/3secs
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : tank
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): reactor/ spiral?
Substrate Used : not sure
How Thick is your base fert : pretty sparse less than 0.5cm
How thick is your gravel : 5cm
Liquid Fertilizers Used : yes. not sure type
Frequency of fertilization : twice/week
Tank Temperature : 30-28
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : canister
Filter media used : spongy type disc, plastic bio balls
How long has your tank been set up : 2 weeks / but so far alot of changes every 3/4 days.... still learning
Other equipment :

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can) - Invest in test kits!!
---------------------------------------
Carbonate Hardness (KH):
Total Hardness (gH):
pH :
NH4 (ppm):
NO2 (ppm):
NO3 (ppm):
PO4 (ppm):
Fe (ppm):

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)
------------------------------
-30 tetras
-10 shrimps
-Ricci on drfit wood
-alot of short grass like plants all ard
-another type of 'brush like' plants attached to drift wood (7cm tall). grows vertically n so far looks like growing.
- Xmas moss tied to plastic mesh on the back of the tank.

Describe your problem :

THE RICCI DOES NOT GROW N LOOKS LIKE LOSING MORE 'HAIR' EVERYDAY.

THE MOSS ALSO DOES NOT GROW. SLIGHTLY BROWNISH AT CERTAIN PARTS. (i have taken moss out n tried to grow them separately in a tray with access to sunlite)

[jacian]

80 watts for a 2ft tank is not an overkill.

I am using 2x36W for a standard 60x30x36cm tank.

[hwchoy]

you will want to switch to PL tubes instead of FL, don't think 40W FL will fit over your tank. Also good to have two seperate sets of lights so you can elect to turn on one or both, or do staggered timing.

Jacian is right, 80W for 2ft is good if you want to have light demanding plants, although you also need to have good and consistent CO2 injection. The main thing is to keep the lighting hours around 10 otherwise you will have a lot of green spot algae.

[new2planting]

Hi Nemo,

I'm having e same 2ft tank as you, 2 x 40W is not a overkill for ur Riccia & Fishes. With this 80W, ur riccia should bloom like mine. but temperature will rise to 30-31 degree celsius if u dun hv D.I.Y fans or chiller then ur Yamoto Shrimp or other Shrimps will die. Anyway, right now ur Riccia is suffering fr not enuff light but ur Xmas Moss died bcos of high temperature which u said ur tank is 28-30 degree celsius wif juz 2 x 15W = 30W. Cant imagine if u got 2 x 40W = 80W, it will raise to 30-31 degree celsius. Xmas Moss will bllom in temprature ranging fr 24-26 degree celsius. U can try Java Moss cos it can tolerate high temperature plus only require mddle lighting plus it's hardy too! []

For your reference, here pics of my riccia:
http://www.arofanatics.com/members/riccia_craze/

[geoffrey]

[quote]
----------------
On 6/4/2003 2:24:50 PM

NO !! 2x40w = 80w! Unless u are using a high 2ft tank, if not it will be an overkill!!

[quote]

I don't think that's overkill too. Like Jacian, I use 2 x 36W PL for my current 2ft too. If you have more light, you just need more CO2 and fert because of the higher metabolism. And it's great for light loving plants.

[PeterGwee]

Those tester are not reliable, I had boost my CO2 to about "loss count" per sec (was shocked the next day when I measured my PH, about 6) and it stills tell me I am under CO2 the next day.

Erh Goondoo..which is unreliable? Using pH test kit to test can be a bit tricky as you would need to shake abit of the sample which would cause gassing off of CO2 in the solution...the more you shake the gassing off and hence a higer pH. As for KH test kits, they should be reliable as long as the buffer is only carbonate and not otehr buffers like phosphate and etc...but do note that it takes quite alot of phosphate to skew the KH reading.

[Goondoo]

----------------
On 6/4/2003 11:46:14 PM

Those tester are not reliable, I had boost my CO2 to about "loss count" per sec (was shocked the next day when I measured my PH, about 6) and it stills tell me I am under CO2 the next day.

Erh Goondoo..which is unreliable? Using pH test kit to test can be a bit tricky as you would need to shake abit of the sample which would cause gassing off of CO2 in the solution...the more you shake the gassing off and hence a higer pH. As for KH test kits, they should be reliable as long as the buffer is only carbonate and not otehr buffers like phosphate and etc...but do note that it takes quite alot of phosphate to skew the KH reading.
----------------

I use digital PH tester... I got the buffer solution to calibrate the test pen too. However, like you said, if your tank uses Coral Chips, Driftwood or peatmoss, you willhave problem again.
I'm just stating what happened during my previous set up with only, Lapis sand, JBL ferts and plants.

[PeterGwee]

LOL..then you shouldn't blame those test kits do you? Its other buffers that affect them and also age of the kit do count...do not want to mislead newbies...[] No offence.

[Goondoo]

----------------
On 6/4/2003 11:54:52 PM

LOL..then you shouldn't blame those test kits do you? Its other buffers that affect them and also age of the kit do count...do not want to mislead newbies...[] No offence.
----------------

No problem mate, but did I mislead anyone in any of my previous post?

I was saying, even thou my tank ,4x2x2, with only Lapis gravels, JBL ferts and plants, no drift wood, no crush corals, no peatmoss, measured insufficient CO2 by those CO2 kit, when my KH is 5 and PH is 6, CO2 counter bubbling till impossible to count.... Can't that proof that those kits are not reliable?

Any BTW, my PH is 8 from tap

[PeterGwee]

Not all pH test kits are bad but majority are (Not really bad but lacks the precision..they lack the narrow range precision.)...I use a digital pH test pen as well and got around the problem with precision needed with pH/KH relationship.

[Goondoo]

----------------
On 6/5/2003 12:27:24 AM

Not all pH test kits are bad but majority are (Not really bad but lacks the precision..they lack the narrow range precision.)...I use a digital pH test pen as well and got around the problem with precision needed with pH/KH relationship.
----------------

I was refering to his post
"CO2 i think is ok, i have a 'inverted bell' type of commercial CO2 lvl tester. the type where u add few drops of liquid n it changes color accordingly."

And I am referring the CO2 kit are inaccurate, not PH test kit

[PeterGwee]

Ahhhhhhh...okay..hahahaa..I thought what...sorry.

[Goondoo]

----------------
On 6/5/2003 12:56:49 AM

Ahhhhhhh...okay..hahahaa..I thought what...sorry.
----------------

no prob man... i too thought I must be wrong till I noticed you keep mentioning PH.[]

[nemo]

Ok seems like I need to change my Lights to higher intensity. 6500k and above and I will have total 36x2 watts. I just need to buy the FL tubes rite? I think i saw some at Mainland Fish Farm in Pasir Ris...is this place expensive? think 2ft one is abt 19sgd each.