Peter, we had our first big discussion way back a couple years ago when Matt started the thread High Water Turnover - discuss This wasn't necessarily my idea though. Barr was an advocate of high flow way before that. I just plagiarized his ideas.
I'm always suspicious of claims that contradict the fundamental principles though, so even though George states that folks abroad report great success with varying combinations of high light, low flow and lean dosing if we were to do a more thorough investigation (you know, like those guys in Crime Scene Investigation) I'm betting that we'd find either inconsistencies, mitigating circumstances or tradeoffs.
For example, using a low light, lean dosing approach is not an impossible task, but we should find that the hobbyist would require a lot longer to achieve the level of plant mass that is displayed in the final product.
Another claim is that lean dosing and high light works a charm, but if we were to look deeper at the tap water properties, we might find that the hobbyist is unaware that his water is very high in NO3/PO4 which may or may not be revealed by hobby grade test kits.
Low flow could work, but what kind of scape is it? An open Savannah is much more forgiving of low flow, low CO2.
As bright and impressive as metal halide lamps look up close, the energy falloff is significant so that a 6 inch or 1 foot difference in placement height lowers PAR due to the inverse square property of light. I recall Barr taking measurements of some official Amano tanks where the data revealed the tanks were actually low light.
Because we are normally seeing the finished product, we not be aware of all the trials and tribulations that the hobbyist went through with that particular tank. Does Amano get algae? You bet! Does he have to clean it? No, he has an army of devotees that do the elbow work for him. I'd be very careful about drawing conclusions just because we are told something or just based on the finished product.
We already have plenty of empirical evidence which shows us how effective high flow, good distribution techniques and adequate dosing are at solving problems. We see the results of excessive lighting. Physics and biochemistry cannot work differently in UK than it does elsewhere. We know, in our tanks that when we tick all the major boxes, the tank becomes algae free.
Experienced and clever hobbyists can make a purse out of a sows ear, so that particular tank, although seemingly paradoxical is a result of that hobbyists understanding of how to get around the particular limitations.
We also know that all the boxes must be ticked. High flow alone, without regard to the other requirements won't solve all problems. On the other hand, if high flow were the only box not ticked this might not cause that many problems. We have to approach tank husbandry holistically, not from an isolated or tunnel vision perspective. Some people can't afford a bigger filter or perhaps it won't fit in the cupboard. Well, that means they'll have to pay special attention to light, injection and distribution techniques.
We don't know how much elbow grease, terry cloth towels and newspapers were used on a tank to clean the surface of scum and to clean the glass or rocks just before that spectacular award winning piccie was snapped.
Cheers,
I'm always suspicious of claims that contradict the fundamental principles though, so even though George states that folks abroad report great success with varying combinations of high light, low flow and lean dosing if we were to do a more thorough investigation (you know, like those guys in Crime Scene Investigation) I'm betting that we'd find either inconsistencies, mitigating circumstances or tradeoffs.
For example, using a low light, lean dosing approach is not an impossible task, but we should find that the hobbyist would require a lot longer to achieve the level of plant mass that is displayed in the final product.
Another claim is that lean dosing and high light works a charm, but if we were to look deeper at the tap water properties, we might find that the hobbyist is unaware that his water is very high in NO3/PO4 which may or may not be revealed by hobby grade test kits.
Low flow could work, but what kind of scape is it? An open Savannah is much more forgiving of low flow, low CO2.
As bright and impressive as metal halide lamps look up close, the energy falloff is significant so that a 6 inch or 1 foot difference in placement height lowers PAR due to the inverse square property of light. I recall Barr taking measurements of some official Amano tanks where the data revealed the tanks were actually low light.
Because we are normally seeing the finished product, we not be aware of all the trials and tribulations that the hobbyist went through with that particular tank. Does Amano get algae? You bet! Does he have to clean it? No, he has an army of devotees that do the elbow work for him. I'd be very careful about drawing conclusions just because we are told something or just based on the finished product.
We already have plenty of empirical evidence which shows us how effective high flow, good distribution techniques and adequate dosing are at solving problems. We see the results of excessive lighting. Physics and biochemistry cannot work differently in UK than it does elsewhere. We know, in our tanks that when we tick all the major boxes, the tank becomes algae free.
Experienced and clever hobbyists can make a purse out of a sows ear, so that particular tank, although seemingly paradoxical is a result of that hobbyists understanding of how to get around the particular limitations.
We also know that all the boxes must be ticked. High flow alone, without regard to the other requirements won't solve all problems. On the other hand, if high flow were the only box not ticked this might not cause that many problems. We have to approach tank husbandry holistically, not from an isolated or tunnel vision perspective. Some people can't afford a bigger filter or perhaps it won't fit in the cupboard. Well, that means they'll have to pay special attention to light, injection and distribution techniques.
We don't know how much elbow grease, terry cloth towels and newspapers were used on a tank to clean the surface of scum and to clean the glass or rocks just before that spectacular award winning piccie was snapped.
Cheers,
