lighting for carpets

[naz]

hi all...i have an arcadia 4 x39t5ho light only running 2 of the bulb,iv tryed a 2 hour midday burst but my hc and glosso carpet stil is not speading ,had the plants in there for 2 months now and nothing,i think its the lighting and the tall tank i have,q1 how would you experience people, run the lighting to get the carpet to spread.....realy want a lush carpet in my tank,but just cant seem to acheive it,no matter wot i do... :?

 

[daniel19831123]

Tank size, Co2 regime, fertilisation scheme and substrate can be very important in trying to grow HC well. If you get the balance of the first 3 right, the subtrate won't be much of a problem.

 

[naz]

hi there danial...the flow,ferts,and co2 in my tank are really working well,the sub is nature soil.iv up everything in the tank except the lighting,i think it is the one thing that is making my carpet not spread....im thinking of running a 5 hour midday burst to see if i can kick start the hc and glosso,and get it to spead,

 

[daniel19831123]

It's difficult for other to help if they don't know what exactly the specification of the tanks are. If the plants are not growing well then something somewhere must have gone wrong. So by knowing the spec and detail, the expert here might be able to shed more light into your situation.

 

[naz]

heres my tank specs.....
260l tank fluval osaka
4 x39w t5 arcadia otl[lighting running 8 hours a day]
co2 presurized 2 kg[3 or 4 bps
filt fluval 405 1200lph,ehiem 2000 compact2000lph running a reactor,koralia 2 2200lph
ferts are full ie,plus 10m easycarbo a day
drop checker lime greeny yellow
using tap water

 

[daniel19831123]

You have a 24" tall tank and you are using just about 1.3wpg lighting with T5HO. I have to blast my 50L tank with 48 watts T5HO to get them to grow horizontal. Why would you get algae outbreak if you increase your lighting? Even if you run all 4 tubes together, you are only getting just above 2.5 wpg in your tank. I suggest that you run all 4 tubes together but use some amazon frogbit to cover the surface.

 

[russchilds]

Hi,

I have the Osaka 155 and its the same depth as your 260. I use the the 2 T5 lights that came with it and my HC is growing really well (check out the pics in the gallery section). I changed the 205 filter to 305 and use a spray bar. I have pressurised C02 which runs under the spray bar so it gets spread around the tank. I have the lights on for 8.5 hours a day. I use Easy Life ProFito (about 5ml every day). I also do a 15% weekly water change.

Thanks,
Russ