Juwel Hi-Lite Colour Temperatures

[Glank27]

Hi I have a Juwel Rio 240 tank equipped with the standard light-unit which is the Juwel Hi-Lite 2x 54W T5s which come with a "Day" light set at 9000K and the other "Nature" light set at 4100K.

I am experiencing very slow plant growth even though i have switched to pressurized Co2 this week. The Heteranthera Zosterifolia simply doesn't show any signs of growth. Something wrong's for sure. I dose daily 2ml of Ocean's Nutrition Fertil+, Trace+, and even twice weekly Iron+. Substrate is supposedly rich with Aquamedic Volcanit. So now i'm suspecting that lighting is improper.

Is the colour temperature fine for successful plant growth? As i have always read that standard lighting that come with tanks are msotly not good for plant growth. Juwel offer other colours of tubes in this range (same wattage). The most ideal i believe would be the "Colour" light tube which produces 6800K. Must i use this along with the "Day" tube?

What light suggestions can you make for my Juwel tank please?

 

[Mark Evans]

The Kelvin rating makes no difference what so ever. It's just for personal taste.

i(Phone moment. Big fingers little screen. )

 

[Glank27]

 

[ceg4048]

As Mark says, you need to forget about colors and concentrate much more on CO2 injection rate as well as filter flow rate and flow distribution. Kelvin ratings have absolutely nothing to do with plant growth performance. Kelvin ratings are strictly a fashion accessory.

Additionally, as far as I can tell, Ocean Nutrition Fertil+ has nothing more than a bit of Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium and Sulfur, rendering it almost useless. This product doe not contain Nitrogen or Phosphorous, which are the most important elements for plant growth, so you really need to get serious if you want to improve your performance.

Cheers,

 

[Glank27]

As Mark says, you need to forget about colors and concentrate much more on CO2 injection rate as well as filter flow rate and flow distribution. Kelvin ratings have absolutely nothing to do with plant growth performance. Kelvin ratings are strictly a fashion accessory.

Additionally, as far as I can tell, Ocean Nutrition Fertil+ has nothing more than a bit of Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium and Sulfur, rendering it almost useless. This product doe not contain Nitrogen or Phosphorous, which are the most important elements for plant growth, so you really need to get serious if you want to improve your performance.

Cheers,

Infact i was going to open up another thread as i am experiencing a stunted or no growth whatsoever, even though i started injecting pressurized Co2 last Monday.
Plants are a Heteranthera Zosterifolia, Amazon Sword, Anubias, Vallis Asiatica and Crypts species. Crypts and anubias are doing fairly well, but heteranthera seems almost a plastic plant as their is no sign of growth event hough its a fast grower!
I am diffusing the Co2 through a Aquatic Nature fine glass-ceramic diffuser as i cannot connect the co2 output to the filter output being a Juwel internal filter (if you know such method please shed some light). I certainly expected quick results with Co2, but still no clues of a boosted growth.

The fertilisation methods are being adopted daily. Should i switch to Seachem range? What is the recommended dosage for a 240ltr tank?
Sorry for asking too much but certainly i'm feeling lost and in a dead-end alley!

 

[ceg4048]

Well, I mean, all these issues regarding nutrients and CO2 have already been explained to you ad nauseum. Do you remember this thread? ==> Ocean Nutrition Fertil+ vs Seachem Fluorish Did you actually read the responses and click on the links that were given in the posts or did you just ignore them? Do you understand the critical importance of Nitrate and Phosphate to plants? Nitrogen found in nitrate is the second most important element. Your body need Nitrogen as well, but you get it from eating protein, because protein is made out of Nitrogen. Is any of this sinking in?

Nitrogen is only slightly less important to plants than Carbon found in CO2. This is a Carbon based planet populated by Carbon based life forms. Poor carbon levels = poor growth and poor life. Imagine what your life would be like if you never ate chips or rice or cereal or nuts or potatoes or pasta or cake or bread or fruit or sugar. Plants have only one source of Carbon - and that is CO2, so you have to make it good or nothing else matters.

If you think that 2 measly bubbles per second can fill a 60 gallon tank fast enough with CO2 to satisfy fast growing plants you are mistaken. You probably need closer to 20 bubbles per second and this is why you are failing. Turn your blooming needle valve counterclockwise until you can hear the gas singing as it whizzes through the tube like a flute (whistling flute - suit - couldn't resist plugging my favorite Cockney rhyme )

Did you read the Dropchecker Tutorial? Did you get 4dkh water as instructed in the thread Is Co2 visible in aquariums? The people at Aquatic Nature will not have anything useful to say regarding this. It would surprise me if anyone there actual kept a planted tank. It's more likely that this is a marketing company based in Krakatoa and that they subcontract manufacture of their products to some local chemist. They cannot change reality, but you can change your procedure to comply with the reality of the tank.

There is no point asking the same questions over and over again, or waiting for a second opinion, unless you follow the instructions provided in the responses and see what happens. People here have been growing aquatic plants for decades, so when we tell you to stop using tank water in the dropchecker, or to add a higher injection rate, or to ditch your crummy fert liquid and to get NPK powders instead, we are giving you facts and data regarding the quickest way to achieve maximum performance.

Your limiting CO2 factor seems to be your internal filter which is probably very weak and does not allow good CO2 diffusion. What you can do is to add Koralias and to place the diffuser bubble output just behind the Koralia so that the Koralia sucks up and spits out the CO2 bubbles into the tank. In fact, for this size tank I would have two diffusers each feeding a Koralia. Its a big tank and it's difficult to spread CO2 into the tank. Most of it evaporates instantly so if an external canister filter is not feasible then you really need to concentrate you energies on finding ways to better saturate and distribute CO2 because that is your basic problem.. You need not look down self delusional dark alleys such as Kelvin temperatures or Aquatic Professionals, or Vulcan sediment or whatever.

Fix your CO2. Read the Tutorials. Just Do It. 8)

Cheers,

 

[Glank27]

I have read those answers ceg, sorry for questioning again, but was really lost when comparing other non-co2 tanks of my friends which had hetreranthera growing as fast as hell!
As for the bubbles per second i was a bit afraid into inputting large amounts instantly of co2, as they could harm the livestock. I'll push it further so......

Thanks and sorry.....