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Too little light?

oldbloke

Member
Joined
23 May 2013
Messages
518
I'm having a real job getting plants to grow in swmbos nano 30. The light looks really poor and I wondered if this is the problem. It's a 9w tube over 30l.
I'm using EI and Easycabo and even the wisteria is struggling, and that's one plant I can now grow!

Apart from anything else it really looks dull.

Cheers.
 
My guess would be that the light is not the issue, the only reason I say this is ive got a dennerle 30l cube which is pretty much the same dimensions as yours and mine runs a 11watt light and im 100% convinced its a bit to bright, I have no doubt at all that a 9watt would be more suited to my tank size,

Ive read I think on here somewhere that wisteria doesn't do well with liquid carbon not sure if this is right or not im sure someone more experienced will have a better idea than me

Hth

Mark
 
I have a 30 litre fluval nano with the same light probably and I had to cover the glass with a clear plastic and add some floaters to keep the intensity down. The easy to grow plants are doing fine and at a much nicer rate than my co2 tank!

what substrate are you using?
 
Remember that our perception of light is different to the plants. Just because it looks dull to us doesn't mean that the plants aren't getting enough of the right spectrums for them. When you say they are struggling what exactly do you mean. Slow growth? Leggy growth? Visible deficiencies?
 
Plants liquid carbon will melt (complete list)

Heres a link to where I saw about wisteria as I said I dont know if this is the cause though
This link doesn't say that Wisteria has a problem with liquid co2. He asks which plants in the list might be affected and further down the thread someone says they have wisteria and it is fine.

How long has the lighting been at 5 hours? When are you adding the liquid carbon? Any pictures of the tank?
 
Ah yes, the macrame Fourth Bridge!

I'm going to have to leave this one to the more knowledgeable on here. Although personally, I would have increased the photoperiod from 5 hours long before now. I thought that a short photoperiod was a good idea for new tanks to allow emersed plants to adjust to being submersed but I would have thought they would have adjusted by now. But then, I could be wrong.
 
Ceg, I have been paying attention and doing my homework, so that was the conclusion I came to.
However, I am dosing 4ml easycarbo daily into the tank (20l) and thought this must be enough.
I am a bit reluctant to up it because of the fish.

Cheers.
 
Good-on-ya mate.The next thing to look at is flow/distribution. Even in a small tank it can be possible to have poor distribution.Is that a spraybar seen on-end? Sorry, I can't quite make it out. If yes, then try raising it to almost the level of the water. Also try mounting it on different walls of the tank.

The other possibility though is that the plants are responding negatively to the Excel. The stem plants shouldn't have a problem though. Also, when are you dosing the Excel.....and, of course, you are dosing it every day....aren't you?


To solve your bulb looking dim problem, try getting a bulb that has a lot of green/yellow. Then it will look brighter to you.

Cheers,
 
OK, like I mentioned, it' looks a bit lo. Definitely also look at different walls though, just to check.

Cheers,
 
Also, not sure because of reflections and so forth, but can you confirm the spraybar holes are pointing horizontally and not down? And that you don't have another filter outlet point crosswise or opposite the direction of the spray?

Cheers,
 
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