I have been trying to achieve a decent looking planted tank for a couple of years now but I am still getting something wrong! This manifests itself as a variety of different algae on plants and glass alike.
The set up consists of a 120 x 45 x 45cm tank with an Arcadia Luminaire (4 x 54w T5 tubes) .
I recently changed the tubes and the cost came as a bit of a shock! I don’t mind spending a few bob more to support a local shop but Arcadia are taking the ****! Their 10k tube sells for £28 locally but these are only re-branded Sylvania Aquastars available elsewhere for a tenner. They are difficult to source in the UK as Arcadia have an arrangement with Sylvania. Anyway, I have used vanilla 6k daylight tubes and iAquatics 14k (50:50) tubes and I think they look spot on at a fraction of the price.
The fish always look healthy and, as I have shrimp in the tank, I use a 9w UV lamp to control white spot etc. I live in a hard water area so I use 50/50 tap and RO, this is held in a holding tank that is plumbed in to make water changes a doddle.
I think my remaining issue (after reading through a lot of info here) is water circulation. I use an Eheim 2173 and this would appear to fall well short of the 10x capacity per hour by over 50%.
It would have been fantastic to have a mentor over the last couple of years but I seem to be on my own in this area. This hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm, it has just made getting there harder.
My thoughts now are leaning toward adding a circulation pump to increase movement of water in the tank rather than trying to convince senior management that I need a larger filter.
Lighting is on 7 hours per day and I use (currently) Easy Life ProFito. CO2 is via solenoid and bottle liberated from my local delivered by an inline diffuser. I try and keep gear out of the tank where possible.
If I have missed anything or I am just plain wrong please don’t hesitate to say.
Regards, Ian
The set up consists of a 120 x 45 x 45cm tank with an Arcadia Luminaire (4 x 54w T5 tubes) .
I recently changed the tubes and the cost came as a bit of a shock! I don’t mind spending a few bob more to support a local shop but Arcadia are taking the ****! Their 10k tube sells for £28 locally but these are only re-branded Sylvania Aquastars available elsewhere for a tenner. They are difficult to source in the UK as Arcadia have an arrangement with Sylvania. Anyway, I have used vanilla 6k daylight tubes and iAquatics 14k (50:50) tubes and I think they look spot on at a fraction of the price.
The fish always look healthy and, as I have shrimp in the tank, I use a 9w UV lamp to control white spot etc. I live in a hard water area so I use 50/50 tap and RO, this is held in a holding tank that is plumbed in to make water changes a doddle.
I think my remaining issue (after reading through a lot of info here) is water circulation. I use an Eheim 2173 and this would appear to fall well short of the 10x capacity per hour by over 50%.
It would have been fantastic to have a mentor over the last couple of years but I seem to be on my own in this area. This hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm, it has just made getting there harder.
My thoughts now are leaning toward adding a circulation pump to increase movement of water in the tank rather than trying to convince senior management that I need a larger filter.
Lighting is on 7 hours per day and I use (currently) Easy Life ProFito. CO2 is via solenoid and bottle liberated from my local delivered by an inline diffuser. I try and keep gear out of the tank where possible.
If I have missed anything or I am just plain wrong please don’t hesitate to say.
Regards, Ian