faizal
Member
Hi,...after my last attempt at a co2 enriched tank went down badly I sort of went into Low tech mode for sometime due to time constraints mainly,....the tank is lit by 2 CFLs @ 8 watts each,...and currently about a month into setup,...most of the stems melted ( Ceratopteris Thalictroides,cabomba caroliniana, limnophila, and recentely the bacopa caroliniana) . I had reduced the lightig level by turning the CFLs towards the wall at the back of my tank. My reason for doing that was:
1. There were some hair algae on some of the Ceratopteris thalictroides,..followed by stem melt of the plant some 2-3 weeks into the set up.
2. Some diatom algaes on the hardscapes and front glass,...despite the fact that I had kept old my filters running prior to the non co2 restart phase.
Here's how the tank looked as of 3 days ago:
Today,...I finally got my Apogee MQ200 that I had long been saving up for.
When I took the measurements ,...I was quite shocked to find out my PAR values at various parts of the tank,....
At just below the water surface level 4- 6 mmols/sec/m2
Average PAR at substrate level is horrible,.... 0- 4 mmols/sec/m2
If you look my grainy picture above ,....you could probably make out 3 stems of Bacopa Caroliniana at the Left Midground area of the tank,...the PAR at the stem base is 1 mmol/sec/m2 and the PAR readings at their apical shoots are around 4-5 mmol/sec/m2
Is this the reason why most of my stems slowly melted away over a 2-3 week period? Too low light levels (i.e. Below light compensation point)???
If so,...how does this explain why the other plants are doing well.
Please don't get me wrong though,...most of the other plants are doing quite well,...like Crypt Tropica, Hygrophila Difformis (PAR near these plants are between 2-4 only),..The large Anubias at the left bachground (PAR reading ranges between 4 - 0 here) and H. Polysperma at the right background area ( PAR range is 2 - 6) are doing surprisingly well,..infact 2 of the C. Tropica is giving off a new shoot on each of them.
But another crypt tropica situated at the same area of the tank (i.e. foreground centre with a PAR of 1-3) is somewhat melting slowly as of today.
What would be an ideal substrate level & below water surface level PAR values that one can work with in a non co2 set up please?
I'd really appreciate any inputs.
Faizal
1. There were some hair algae on some of the Ceratopteris thalictroides,..followed by stem melt of the plant some 2-3 weeks into the set up.
2. Some diatom algaes on the hardscapes and front glass,...despite the fact that I had kept old my filters running prior to the non co2 restart phase.
Here's how the tank looked as of 3 days ago:
Today,...I finally got my Apogee MQ200 that I had long been saving up for.
When I took the measurements ,...I was quite shocked to find out my PAR values at various parts of the tank,....
At just below the water surface level 4- 6 mmols/sec/m2
Average PAR at substrate level is horrible,.... 0- 4 mmols/sec/m2
If you look my grainy picture above ,....you could probably make out 3 stems of Bacopa Caroliniana at the Left Midground area of the tank,...the PAR at the stem base is 1 mmol/sec/m2 and the PAR readings at their apical shoots are around 4-5 mmol/sec/m2
Is this the reason why most of my stems slowly melted away over a 2-3 week period? Too low light levels (i.e. Below light compensation point)???
If so,...how does this explain why the other plants are doing well.
Please don't get me wrong though,...most of the other plants are doing quite well,...like Crypt Tropica, Hygrophila Difformis (PAR near these plants are between 2-4 only),..The large Anubias at the left bachground (PAR reading ranges between 4 - 0 here) and H. Polysperma at the right background area ( PAR range is 2 - 6) are doing surprisingly well,..infact 2 of the C. Tropica is giving off a new shoot on each of them.
But another crypt tropica situated at the same area of the tank (i.e. foreground centre with a PAR of 1-3) is somewhat melting slowly as of today.
What would be an ideal substrate level & below water surface level PAR values that one can work with in a non co2 set up please?
I'd really appreciate any inputs.
Faizal