• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

floating plant recommendations

This is my current dilemma...
I have a Rio 180 with the stock T5 lights (which are way too strong really) and I have frogbit growing pretty well.

The first lot (I think I got 7 plants from eBay) did quite well and then died off. I suspect this was whilst I was trying a few different configurations. I then bought another batch and I now spend most weekends thinning it...

It seems fine under the Rio hood as I guess there is a reasonable amount of space under there. I think it was a lack of ferts and too much flow that killed off the first lot. Ferts are now fine but after my last filter clean the flow from my filter has gone up again and now the frogbit is being squished a little. I planning on a few changes to see if I can try and get a better balance. My first experiment will be to go back to having a full length spray bar along the back of the tank (it is currently on the side blowing lengthways) but to have it a good couple of inches under the water. I then would use a couple of air stones for surface agitation. If that doesn't work then I might start investigating the air hose method to section off part of the tank (there is a decent section of Anubias and Java Fern which I want to cut the light too)

If you are using the internal filter I might be tempted to section off an area near the inlet as that should be the lowest flow (and IIRC is a little way under the surface?)
 
Ideally i want to get rid of the internal and go with an external but i guess this would mean emptying the tank to rip out the internal. I will see if I can get some more frogbit and just play with the outlet to see if I can get a better balance
 
Back
Top