pepedopolous
Member
Hi folks,
I'm starting a new aquarium soon so I moved my 60 litre cube to the spare room. To do this most of the hardscape was removed, then I put only some of it back. I took of the CO2 system too so it's running low tech until I can transfer the inhabitants (Amano shrimp and black neons) to the new setup.
I'm dosing Easycarbo sporadically and TPN+ weekly whereas before I used EI. Also I replaced the TMC MiniLED 400 with just one of the Dennerle 11W compact lamps that came with the tank.
Without the big, moss-covered branch wood that was in there, the flow is much stronger. I'm also using a spraybar instead of lily pipes.
Would you believe it? The plants are doing much better than before, with hardly any algae. I used to get a lot of BBA on the rocks and foreground plants (Staurogyne repens, Crypt. parva and Marsilea hirsuta). Obviously, this must be due to the improved flow and lower light right?
The thing is, I got a Seneye Reef recently and so I tested the PAR at the substrate- it was a respectable 40. Then I tested the PAR using the TMC tile at 100% without a controller and again it was 40.
The revelation? When I used the TMC tile before the move, I used the controller and never had it at more than 60% power. I kept getting algae and so I turned the light down to as low as 40% which would mean that there was much less PAR during this time (about 9 months).
The tank has been running with the TMC light at 100% now for 2 weeks with one small water change and there is no algae apart from a bit on the sides of the glass. The BBA that was on the foreground plants has almost completely disappeared.
I know that I have changed a lot of variables. However, I think the algae problems I had before the change to low-tech may well have been due to low flow and actually not having enough light.
So I think the Seneye has been a very good purchase! What do you think?
P
I'm starting a new aquarium soon so I moved my 60 litre cube to the spare room. To do this most of the hardscape was removed, then I put only some of it back. I took of the CO2 system too so it's running low tech until I can transfer the inhabitants (Amano shrimp and black neons) to the new setup.
I'm dosing Easycarbo sporadically and TPN+ weekly whereas before I used EI. Also I replaced the TMC MiniLED 400 with just one of the Dennerle 11W compact lamps that came with the tank.
Without the big, moss-covered branch wood that was in there, the flow is much stronger. I'm also using a spraybar instead of lily pipes.
Would you believe it? The plants are doing much better than before, with hardly any algae. I used to get a lot of BBA on the rocks and foreground plants (Staurogyne repens, Crypt. parva and Marsilea hirsuta). Obviously, this must be due to the improved flow and lower light right?
The thing is, I got a Seneye Reef recently and so I tested the PAR at the substrate- it was a respectable 40. Then I tested the PAR using the TMC tile at 100% without a controller and again it was 40.
The revelation? When I used the TMC tile before the move, I used the controller and never had it at more than 60% power. I kept getting algae and so I turned the light down to as low as 40% which would mean that there was much less PAR during this time (about 9 months).
The tank has been running with the TMC light at 100% now for 2 weeks with one small water change and there is no algae apart from a bit on the sides of the glass. The BBA that was on the foreground plants has almost completely disappeared.
I know that I have changed a lot of variables. However, I think the algae problems I had before the change to low-tech may well have been due to low flow and actually not having enough light.
So I think the Seneye has been a very good purchase! What do you think?
P
