mark4785
Member
Due to work and miscellaneous commitments I am now finding that I have less time to devote towards the maintenance of my high-tech aquariums. As such, I am now drifting towards the idea of maintaining a low-tech aquarium that doesn't need as much rigorous cleaning and pruning.
The footage embedded below shows one of my high-tech aquariums with c02 injection, an EI dosing regime (potassium nitrate and phosphate dosed every other day), weekly 50% water changes and a photoperiod of 6 hours of 1.8 WPG of light each day.
Recently the timer for the aquarium failed which, on top of me being very busy with other hobbies and duties, creates a situation where the photoperiod varies turbulently between 4 and 8 hours. While there is no resultant algae issues from this, I have had to remove most of the plants due to yellowing, thinning and pin holes appearing in the leaves.
Having decided to go low-tech I am naturally wondering what would need to be changed in terms of the frequency and the percentage/dosage of the water changes, and macro/micro fertilisers. Also, how long should the photoperiod ideally be? Note: I have decided that I will still continue to injection c02 as the minor acidic effect that this has on the pH will be beneficial to my Discus in my opinion.
In terms of the aqua-scape, I am looking to go about introducing an environment that is natural to Discus. This entails, most importantly, the water temperature being 30 degrees C or above for my juvenile pigeon blood discus. Are there any plants that would not cope well in 30 degrees C water?
Lastly, in terms of the size of the aquarium I am looking at getting a 300 litre aquarium with a WPG rating of no more than 1 WPG. Are there any aquarium brands that I should be focusing on that would allow me to install a singular T8 bulb to achieve the aforementioned WPG rating? Note: I am looking for an aquarium that does not hardwire the filter, lights and heater through one plug as should one of these products fail, as is the case with me (see 3rd paragraph), it is impossible to replace the product without a qualified electrician with the patience to get their hands dirty and also invalid the system warranty.
The footage embedded below shows one of my high-tech aquariums with c02 injection, an EI dosing regime (potassium nitrate and phosphate dosed every other day), weekly 50% water changes and a photoperiod of 6 hours of 1.8 WPG of light each day.
Recently the timer for the aquarium failed which, on top of me being very busy with other hobbies and duties, creates a situation where the photoperiod varies turbulently between 4 and 8 hours. While there is no resultant algae issues from this, I have had to remove most of the plants due to yellowing, thinning and pin holes appearing in the leaves.
Having decided to go low-tech I am naturally wondering what would need to be changed in terms of the frequency and the percentage/dosage of the water changes, and macro/micro fertilisers. Also, how long should the photoperiod ideally be? Note: I have decided that I will still continue to injection c02 as the minor acidic effect that this has on the pH will be beneficial to my Discus in my opinion.
In terms of the aqua-scape, I am looking to go about introducing an environment that is natural to Discus. This entails, most importantly, the water temperature being 30 degrees C or above for my juvenile pigeon blood discus. Are there any plants that would not cope well in 30 degrees C water?
Lastly, in terms of the size of the aquarium I am looking at getting a 300 litre aquarium with a WPG rating of no more than 1 WPG. Are there any aquarium brands that I should be focusing on that would allow me to install a singular T8 bulb to achieve the aforementioned WPG rating? Note: I am looking for an aquarium that does not hardwire the filter, lights and heater through one plug as should one of these products fail, as is the case with me (see 3rd paragraph), it is impossible to replace the product without a qualified electrician with the patience to get their hands dirty and also invalid the system warranty.
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