aquascape1987
Member
I’m using the Aquasky RGB at the moment and am having some issues with growth of certain species of plant growth and also now some diatoms.
Sorry this is a bit long winded, but unfortunately my thought process on the issues I’m having is long winded, so please bare with me 😀.
Firstly, I was torn between posting this in the lighting, algae or plants section, but decided to post here as I’m currently questioning whether or not to move back to my Twinstar 600s, but I’m at a bit of an impasse in my though process as to what to do next, which I’ll explain.
The growth issues:
Basically, I changed from using a Twinstar 600S to this light, when I rescaped about a month ago now, and I am currently questioning whether this light may be my problem. (Hoping that this isn’t the case though, as I really like the light)
I know that this thought is an unpopular one, as I’ve read a lot about people loving this light, and also everyone I’ve spoken to suggests that the light has more than adequate output for growing anything. I also love the colour rendition of the light. But none the less, I can see that it is not as bright as the Twinstar, and I can see that the actual area where the LEDs are under the light is significantly smaller than the twinstars, which may result in the spread of light not being as effective
Since planting, I’ve had a mixed bag of growth across the different species of plants in the tank. My stems, rotala macandra, rotala sp green, and also, ammania pedicellata gold seem to be doing well. Although it’s worth noting that I couldn’t not grow myriophyllum Guyana, which I have removed and replaced with rotala green.
My HC Cuba carpet in the foreground and Glossostigma mid ground , are not doing as well as the stems. The Glossostigma, although growing, doesn’t seem to want to grow and spread compactly, and a lot of it is growing upwards. At the first trim, I removed it all, re prepared and replanted it in individual stems rather than clumps, as I suspected that this may encourage more compact growth, but it hasn’t. You can imagine my frustration as this was no small task 🙄
The HC carpet is really struggling to establish its self , spread and thicken up. Growth is VERY slow, although it has grown a little, but I’ve had to add quite a bit more than I originally planted where some has melted and disappeared.
I’ve just realised today that the minimal diatoms that I thought I had, and was to be expected with a new scape, are a bit worse than I thought. The HC Cuba is riddled with it (brown fuzzy) and so is the Glossostigma which I hadn’t realised previously. I’d seen a bit of browning on the struggling HC leaves, and also the Glossostigma, but had only noticed a bit of a fuzz before, but on closer inspection, there is more than I had previously seen. The stems are currently unaffected by this, and there are no other algae issues.
A couple of points to note, are that before questioning the light, I firstly questioned C02 , flow and nutrients but I don’t think these are the problem here. I get a stable 1.3 pH drop and lime green drop checker throughout the photo period which has been proven by weeks of ph profiles, and moving multiple drop checkers all around the tank. I can also see that the mist from my twinstar distributes quickly to all areas of the tank. Filter turnover is also around 20x as I’m using 2 x Eheim 250s through spray bars on the back wall. Fertiliser, I’m using TNC complete, and am dosing based on the ‘double triple’ method to provide equal to EI. I am actually doing this method very generously as well, so I’m actually exceeding the double triple TNC method.
My initial thoughts on the HC Cuba being very slow to take off and establish was that the Aquaskys lower output maybe causing it. I can see that the Twinstar 600s is a brighter light, and I have grown HC carpets in the past with it that don’t struggle at all to establish and spread. I did get similar diatoms early on when I grew it using the twinstar, but it was always a transient phase that took hold, AFTER initial healthy growth and establishing of the carpet. But this time, the carpet seems to have failed to take off at all, and now the diatoms have started already. My thoughts have centred on that perhaps the lower light from the ADA had not stimulated the Cuba to grow initially and establish, which has encouraged the brown growth within it, before it has even got going.
The Glossostigma, I’ve only had a bit of experience with it in the past, so I really don’t have any reference experience, but my thoughts again were that the reaching growth could be a result of it not getting enough light. It is in an open area of the tank, and is right below the lighting unit which is puzzling me.
Impasse on what to do next:
So as I mentioned, I’m currently struggling to decide what to do next.
I’m considering either adding more clean up crew including Siamese algae eaters to try to get rid of the brown diatoms whilst I ride out the diatom phase, and hopefully then the Cuba will establish and spread, and also the Glossostigma will grow compactly.
Or, I am considering swapping back to the Twinstar, to see if the Cuba growth and spread improves, as well as the Glossostigma starting to grow more compactly, whilst at the same time riding out the diatom phase.
In terms of the ADA Aquasky, I know it is a dimmer light than the Twin-star, I can see that with my own eyes. But I’m struggling to rationalise that the light output is not enough, even though the Glossostigma reaching growth definitely suggests this, and the failure of the HC establishing and spread, may also suggest this. Struggling to rationalise because a) it is ADA and is supposed to be the pinnacle of quality, and b) because I cannot find anyone else talking about the same issues (although there aren’t many in depth reviews of the light)
Even though I have cause to suspect the light, surely it cannot be this beautiful and expensive bit of kit? Could the diatoms actually be the cause rather than the effect, and riding them out with a bolstered clean up crew the solution?
Or could it actually be the light, and I’m trying to ignore my intuition, because of the ADA brand hype, and because you would naturally expect a light from this company, and at this price point to be the pinnacle. And also because it looks pretty, and the colour rendition makes the plants look prettier? Confused.com
Again, sorry for the essay, but thoughts and experience very much appreciated if anyone manages to get to the end of that 😂
Sorry this is a bit long winded, but unfortunately my thought process on the issues I’m having is long winded, so please bare with me 😀.
Firstly, I was torn between posting this in the lighting, algae or plants section, but decided to post here as I’m currently questioning whether or not to move back to my Twinstar 600s, but I’m at a bit of an impasse in my though process as to what to do next, which I’ll explain.
The growth issues:
Basically, I changed from using a Twinstar 600S to this light, when I rescaped about a month ago now, and I am currently questioning whether this light may be my problem. (Hoping that this isn’t the case though, as I really like the light)
I know that this thought is an unpopular one, as I’ve read a lot about people loving this light, and also everyone I’ve spoken to suggests that the light has more than adequate output for growing anything. I also love the colour rendition of the light. But none the less, I can see that it is not as bright as the Twinstar, and I can see that the actual area where the LEDs are under the light is significantly smaller than the twinstars, which may result in the spread of light not being as effective
Since planting, I’ve had a mixed bag of growth across the different species of plants in the tank. My stems, rotala macandra, rotala sp green, and also, ammania pedicellata gold seem to be doing well. Although it’s worth noting that I couldn’t not grow myriophyllum Guyana, which I have removed and replaced with rotala green.
My HC Cuba carpet in the foreground and Glossostigma mid ground , are not doing as well as the stems. The Glossostigma, although growing, doesn’t seem to want to grow and spread compactly, and a lot of it is growing upwards. At the first trim, I removed it all, re prepared and replanted it in individual stems rather than clumps, as I suspected that this may encourage more compact growth, but it hasn’t. You can imagine my frustration as this was no small task 🙄
The HC carpet is really struggling to establish its self , spread and thicken up. Growth is VERY slow, although it has grown a little, but I’ve had to add quite a bit more than I originally planted where some has melted and disappeared.
I’ve just realised today that the minimal diatoms that I thought I had, and was to be expected with a new scape, are a bit worse than I thought. The HC Cuba is riddled with it (brown fuzzy) and so is the Glossostigma which I hadn’t realised previously. I’d seen a bit of browning on the struggling HC leaves, and also the Glossostigma, but had only noticed a bit of a fuzz before, but on closer inspection, there is more than I had previously seen. The stems are currently unaffected by this, and there are no other algae issues.
A couple of points to note, are that before questioning the light, I firstly questioned C02 , flow and nutrients but I don’t think these are the problem here. I get a stable 1.3 pH drop and lime green drop checker throughout the photo period which has been proven by weeks of ph profiles, and moving multiple drop checkers all around the tank. I can also see that the mist from my twinstar distributes quickly to all areas of the tank. Filter turnover is also around 20x as I’m using 2 x Eheim 250s through spray bars on the back wall. Fertiliser, I’m using TNC complete, and am dosing based on the ‘double triple’ method to provide equal to EI. I am actually doing this method very generously as well, so I’m actually exceeding the double triple TNC method.
My initial thoughts on the HC Cuba being very slow to take off and establish was that the Aquaskys lower output maybe causing it. I can see that the Twinstar 600s is a brighter light, and I have grown HC carpets in the past with it that don’t struggle at all to establish and spread. I did get similar diatoms early on when I grew it using the twinstar, but it was always a transient phase that took hold, AFTER initial healthy growth and establishing of the carpet. But this time, the carpet seems to have failed to take off at all, and now the diatoms have started already. My thoughts have centred on that perhaps the lower light from the ADA had not stimulated the Cuba to grow initially and establish, which has encouraged the brown growth within it, before it has even got going.
The Glossostigma, I’ve only had a bit of experience with it in the past, so I really don’t have any reference experience, but my thoughts again were that the reaching growth could be a result of it not getting enough light. It is in an open area of the tank, and is right below the lighting unit which is puzzling me.
Impasse on what to do next:
So as I mentioned, I’m currently struggling to decide what to do next.
I’m considering either adding more clean up crew including Siamese algae eaters to try to get rid of the brown diatoms whilst I ride out the diatom phase, and hopefully then the Cuba will establish and spread, and also the Glossostigma will grow compactly.
Or, I am considering swapping back to the Twinstar, to see if the Cuba growth and spread improves, as well as the Glossostigma starting to grow more compactly, whilst at the same time riding out the diatom phase.
In terms of the ADA Aquasky, I know it is a dimmer light than the Twin-star, I can see that with my own eyes. But I’m struggling to rationalise that the light output is not enough, even though the Glossostigma reaching growth definitely suggests this, and the failure of the HC establishing and spread, may also suggest this. Struggling to rationalise because a) it is ADA and is supposed to be the pinnacle of quality, and b) because I cannot find anyone else talking about the same issues (although there aren’t many in depth reviews of the light)
Even though I have cause to suspect the light, surely it cannot be this beautiful and expensive bit of kit? Could the diatoms actually be the cause rather than the effect, and riding them out with a bolstered clean up crew the solution?
Or could it actually be the light, and I’m trying to ignore my intuition, because of the ADA brand hype, and because you would naturally expect a light from this company, and at this price point to be the pinnacle. And also because it looks pretty, and the colour rendition makes the plants look prettier? Confused.com
Again, sorry for the essay, but thoughts and experience very much appreciated if anyone manages to get to the end of that 😂
Last edited: