# What brand?



## Antipofish (10 Dec 2011)

I am off to lfs in an hour where I have some store credit. What ferts shall I buy? Tank is 150l and will be planted about 60 to 70 percent with am swords, crypts, java, and a few others


----------



## Westyggx (10 Dec 2011)

Tropica TPN+


----------



## danmil3s (10 Dec 2011)

must be a good lfs to offer a choice, mine are still in the mind set that ferts cause algae.


----------



## Antipofish (10 Dec 2011)

danmil3s said:
			
		

> must be a good lfs to offer a choice, mine are still in the mind set that ferts cause algae.



Actually the place I went did not have a lot of choice .  All they had was Colombo Floragrow and Colombo Easycarbo, although they didnt have the carbo, but that doesnt matter cos Im not getting my carbon from them.  And then they had Fero something or other.  So i didnt get any ferts today, LOL.  I couldn't get seachem flourish or TPN+ from them.  Ended up buying a blue LED light instead haha.


----------



## Alastair (10 Dec 2011)

Order an all in one from one of the suppliers for now mate. Then look into going down the ei route which in the long run saves a fair bit of money :0) 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## nayr88 (10 Dec 2011)

Got to second what Alastair posted.

Tropica TPN+ is a great fertiliser but for a tank your self yourll really want to do your own mixing with salts or buy one from our sponsor and not worry yourself with the maths just yet haha.

Peiceoffish is selling 1l bottles of carbon extremely cheap so give him a pm


----------



## Antipofish (10 Dec 2011)

nayr88 said:
			
		

> Got to second what Alastair posted.
> 
> Tropica TPN+ is a great fertiliser but for a tank your self yourll really want to do your own mixing with salts or buy one from our sponsor and not worry yourself with the maths just yet haha.
> 
> Peiceoffish is selling 1l bottles of carbon extremely cheap so give him a pm




Got the carbo sorted with pieceoffish   
Where can I order TPN+ from ?

Is TPN+ macro or micro or both ?


----------



## Mark Evans (11 Dec 2011)

Try aquaessentials.

TPN+ is a great product. I came from the EI background, but more recently, i'm finding an all in one product such as TPN+ is doing my tanks the world of good....from the perspective of 'lower dosing' 

That said, match your fert dosing to your CO2 and light input.


----------



## Antipofish (11 Dec 2011)

"That said, match your fert dosing to your CO2 and light input."

How do I do that ?  Im guessing light, which is partially fixed (in terms of wpg), is the starting point ?  I have 2x24w T5's.


----------



## nayr88 (11 Dec 2011)

Basically the more light you have the faster the plants will uptake nutrients and co2

But if someone could back me up on that, not quite sure if I worded it right haha.
Yourll get TPN+ from one of our great sponsor  
I'd still start with a double dosing recommended amount and see if you noticing any yellowing or holes in leaves or even algae. Then you can See what you lacking or in need of.

Your lights are fine aswell  do they have reflectors?


----------



## Antipofish (12 Dec 2011)

nayr88 said:
			
		

> Basically the more light you have the faster the plants will uptake nutrients and co2
> 
> But if someone could back me up on that, not quite sure if I worded it right haha.
> Yourll get TPN+ from one of our great sponsor
> ...



No reflectors on the lights as they rest under a very flimsy plastic lid (much like the Juwel lids).  Does anyone have any suggestions how I can sort reflectors in this scenario ?


----------



## Viv (12 Dec 2011)

The juwel reflectors clip onto the tube itself so the flimsiness of the flaps isn't a problem from that aspect. Could you use reflectors like that?

Viv


----------



## Antipofish (12 Dec 2011)

Viv said:
			
		

> The juwel reflectors clip onto the tube itself so the flimsiness of the flaps isn't a problem from that aspect. Could you use reflectors like that?
> 
> Viv



Thanks Viv, does that apply to T5's as well ? I will check how much clearance I have.  Sounds like that could be a goer.  Does having reflectors effectively increase the WPG ?


----------



## Viv (12 Dec 2011)

Definitely applies to T5's as well    Don't know about the wpg but it makes sense as you're directing all the light downwards.

Viv


----------



## Antipofish (12 Dec 2011)

Viv said:
			
		

> Definitely applies to T5's as well    Don't know about the wpg but it makes sense as you're directing all the light downwards.
> 
> Viv



Cool I will check it out   

Meanwhile my damn tank still looks like something out of a Stephen King novel


----------



## Alastair (13 Dec 2011)

To be honest I never saw that much diffetence when I used the reflectors when I originally had t5s.


----------



## Antipofish (13 Dec 2011)

Alastair said:
			
		

> To be honest I never saw that much diffetence when I used the reflectors when I originally had t5s.



Hey Alastair.  Do you mean difference in growth rate or no diff in tank illumination also ?  I dont want to waste money if its not needed.  Actually, I could always just put crinkled tinfoil on the underside of the lids.  Having said that, the undersides of the lids are a reflective white colour.  Do you think this is the manufacturer's effort to cause reflection of the lights ?

As an aside, do LED's cause a useful light increase ?  I have a smidge over 1wpg with my tank as it is, and at some stage I will want to make it a high tech tank (just cos I like gadgets lol), just can't afford to at the moment.


----------



## Alastair (15 Dec 2011)

I believe that crinkled foil is no way near as good as plain white. Off the too of my head I can't remember where I read it but I'll definitely find the link. It was tested and proved. 

I didn't find much in the way of better growth from the reflectors. A bit more light went in the tank though. If you have white under your lid then that'll be the reflector. As to LEDs, yes they give a brighter look, are they better I don't know. Never used them and don't feel the need too either. You could always add an extra tube with starter further down the line though.


----------

