Is my lighting sufficient

[Mark12345]

Hi all,
I often wonder whether my lighting is sufficient for the size of my tank, the tank itself is 300 litres, its an oase highline 300 and I'm running the oase led 100 lighting. The specs for the lights say it's 2980 lumens, but it never looks particularly bright to me, especially when I see some of the photos on this forum, I've taken a couple of photos to show what I mean.
Thanks Mark

 

[MichaelJ]

Are you injecting CO2? are you plants particularly light demanding? If no, I would say 10 lumens per liter is about right. You appear to have quite a bit of algae in there which may suggest in part that you actually have light in excess, nutrient imbalance and waste buildup - or any combination thereof.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Mark12345]

Are you injecting CO2? are you plants particularly light demanding? If no, I would say 10 lumens are per liter is about right. You appear to have quite a bit of algae in there which may suggest in part that you actually have light in excess, nutrient imbalance and waste buildup - or any combination thereof.

Cheers,
Michael

Thanks for the reply, I've had an algae issue for about a month and it's driving me mad, I'm changing 40 litres of water every other day, cleaning the internal filter and the pre filter when I do the changes. I'm dosing 5 squirts of tropica fertilizer with the water changes, but ive got to admit I find this aspect really daunting, and it's pure guess work. The lights are on for about 8 hours a day.
Thanks Mark

 

[MichaelJ]

tropica fertilizer

What type of Tropica Fertilizer ? Premium or Specialized?

Again, are you injecting CO2?

How old is the tank?

What type of substrate do you have?

What's your water source for WC?

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Mark12345]

What type of Tropica Fertilizer ? Premium or Specialized?

Again, are you injecting CO2?

How old is the tank?

What type of substrate do you have?

What's your water source for WC?

Cheers,
Michael

Tropica premium, no co2, the tank is about 3 months old, its a soil based substrate I couldn't tell you the brand, and I use tap water, I believe its quite soft round here.
Thanks

 

[MichaelJ]

Tropica premium, no co2, the tank is about 3 months old, its a soil based substrate I couldn't tell you the brand, and I use tap water, I believe its quite soft round here.
Thanks

With Tropica Premium you're not getting any Nitrogen or Phosphorus (both are key macro nutrients for the plants). Even though your tank is fairly well stocked it's generally a bad idea to rely on food and fish waste to feed your plants. I would suggest getting some Tropica Specialized and target ~1.0 ppm of N/week (thats 12 squirts or 24 ml for a 300L tank), or 4 squirts (8 ml) every time you do the 40 L WC (assuming your doing that 3 times per week) - That amount of N & P should suffice considering your plant mass / low tech environment / WC amount.

Your water is likely very low on Magnesium so you probably need to add some in addition to your regular fertilizers. My advice is to get some food grade Epsom salt (MgSO4) such as this and target say 5 ppm (thats 2 gram for every 40 liter) - that will slowly build up your tanks Mg level - on the first application you can add say 6 grams to immediately raise the level 2 ppm in your tank.

It would be great if you have a water report so we can confirm that your tap water Magnesium level is indeed very low?

I would dial down the light a bit as well, or at least consider adding some floating plants such as Frogbit; they are great at providing shade for both fish and plants and assess your nutrient levels.

One more thing; make sure you have adequate flow around the tank - areas with poor nutrient distribution is a spawning ground for algae.

If you make sure your plants are fed well, your water parameters are stable and your maintenance is up to par the algae will eventually go away!

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Mark12345]

Thank so much, not only have you given me some invaluable advice , but it was also in terms I could understand.
I'm indebted
Mark

 

[MichaelJ]

Thank so much, not only have you given me some invaluable advice ,

I’m just passing on advice that’s been working for me, that I was given by the luminaries here on UKAPS!

but it was also in terms I could understand.

Thanks! 🙏

I'm indebted

Well, let’s see…. Please keep us posted on the progress and don’t forget to pass it on!

Cheers,
Michael

 

[foxfish]

Low tech tanks seem to be even more vulnerable to over lighting than C02 tanks, I would follow Michaels advice and add lots of floating plants but, with that amount of algae it will take a while to sort out!

 

[Hufsa]

Seconding the advice already given, "lack of light" is the last thing I suspect is an issue here 🙂

 

[Wookii]

Thirding it here also - providing the plants with the full range of nutrients is the first essential element you need to sort, adding surface plants will just help the tank in general also, and definitely not increasing the lighting!

Using an old toothbrush to manually remove as much of the algae as possible (winding it like a fork in spaghetti) will also help speed up recovery.

 

[Mark12345]

It would be great if you have a water report so we can confirm that your tap water Magnesium level is indeed very low?

Is this the information required, please please don't ask me anything about it,because it appears to be written in some language I don't speak.

 

[MichaelJ]

Is this the information required, please please don't ask me anything about it,because it appears to be written in some language I don't speak.

At first glance it looks like your magnesium levels are OK - min 4.4 ppm average 12 ppm max 20 ppm… (ppm is the same as mg/l) So even if you would be at the min level I wouldn’t worry about it - with the addition you get from Tropica you would be around 5 ppm. Again, considering your plant mass etc.

So just concentrate on feeding your plants properly by switching to Tropica specialized as suggested, lower your lights a bit, add floating plants and keep up the maintenance! And see if you can manually remove some of the algae as suggested by @Wookii above.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Mark12345]

Thanks yet again.

 

[Mark12345]

At first glance it looks like your magnesium levels are OK - min 4.4 ppm average 12 ppm max 20 ppm… (ppm is the same as mg/l) So even if you would be at the min level I wouldn’t worry about it - with the addition you get from Tropica you would be around 5 ppm. Again, considering your plant mass etc.

So just concentrate on feeding your plants properly by switching to Tropica specialized as suggested, lower your lights a bit, add floating plants and keep up the maintenance! And see if you can manually remove some of the algae as suggested by @Wookii above.

Cheers,
Michael

I'd already ordered solufeed 2,1,4 on the advice of someone else in this site, would that have the same effect as the tropica specialised.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

because it appears to be written in some language I don't speak.

It is quite interesting reading, you <"have a blended supply"> from more than one source, at least one of which is hard, alkaline water (probably from an aquifer) and another of soft (Lake District / Pennine / Welsh reservoir?) water.

I'm guessing your water supplier is <"United Utilities?"> <"United Utilities - Water supply">.

....... Of the 1.8 billion litres of water we supply to our customers every day, well over half is from Cumbria and Wales.
We gather our water from reservoirs in the Pennines and the Lake District, from Lake Vyrnwy in Wales for customers in Merseyside and Cheshire and from the River Dee, from boreholes and streams.
Our two biggest reservoirs are Cumbria’s Thirlmere and Haweswater. Haweswater holds more than 84 billion litres of water - equivalent to around 33,800 Olympic swimming pools. We own and manage over 56,000 hectares of land (the equivalent of 70,000 football pitches). The majority of this land surrounds our reservoirs.......

This is why your min. and max. values are so variable for calcium (Ca) (15 - 62 mg / L), conductivity (microS) etc.. If you just work out the <"dGH from the calcium">, that ranges from 2 dGH to 8.5 dGH.

I'd already ordered solufeed 2,1,4 on the advice of someone else in this site, would that have the same effect as the tropica specialised.

Exactly the same, but <"a lot cheaper">.

Last one, <"as times are tough">, just a quick working of cost, based upon the figures above (adding 20 ppm NO3 a week) and the cost of the fertiliser (I'll go with the £13 I paid earlier in the year for a kilo (1000 g) of fertiliser).

@kellyboy47 would need to add 5.4g of fertiliser a week (20 ppm NO3 as 2 * 10 ppm doses). I'll round that up to 6g to take into account spillage etc.

So 1000 / 6 = 167, so that is enough fertiliser for 167 weeks (or 3.2) years <"at a cost of ~8p a week">.

£13 / 167 = 7.8 p.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mark12345]

Hi all,

It is quite interesting reading, you <"have a blended supply"> from more than one source, at least one of which is hard, alkaline water (probably from an aquifer) and another of soft (Lake District / Pennine / Welsh reservoir?) water.

I'm guessing your water supplier is <"United Utilities?"> <"United Utilities - Water supply">.

This is why your min. and max. values are so variable for calcium (Ca) (15 - 62 mg / L), conductivity (microS) etc.. If you just work out the <"dGH from the calcium">, that ranges from 2 dGH to 8.5 dGH.

Exactly the same, but <"a lot cheaper">.


cheers Darrel

Is it just a case of mixing with distilled water and what quantities, sounds simple but please bear in mind my knowledge on this subject is zero. I'm sure the subject has been posted before, but I have trouble finding the correct thread. And yes you are correct, my water is supplied by United Utilities.
Thanks Mark

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Is it just a case of mixing with distilled water and what quantities, sounds simple but please bear in mind my knowledge on this subject is zero.

Yes, it is. You can actually use rain water if you don't have easy access to RO or DI water. We have a thread <"Solufeed 2:1:4 and Solufeed Sodium Free TEC Combination">.

Personally I use Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 and the <"Duckweed Index">, I'm <"pretty slap-dash with it">, but most members will make up a stock solution that supplies 10 ppm NO3 etc. or use <"dry dosing with the fertiliser">. We have a <"lovely spreadsheet">, that includes Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4? @Zeus. and a <"user guide">.

the tank itself is 300 litres,

Easy enough, this is the calculation for dry dosing and teaspoons.

To cut to the chase:
A flat teaspoon of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 in 300 litres gives ~10 ppm to 15 ppm NO3 (13.3 ppm if you go with 6g) and that is ~3 ppm (13.3 / 4.43) nitrogen (N).

These are workings for nitrate NO3

• Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 is 15% nitrogen (N).
• There are 1000 mg in a gram, so 1 gram of Solufeed contains 0.15g or 150 mg N, "mg / L" and "ppm" are equivalents.
• 15% N equates to ~ 66% NO3- (nitrate), you multiply by 4.43 to go from N to NO3.
• One gram of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 contains 665 mg of NO3 and you have a 300 litre tank, so you have 2.22 (665 / 300) ppm (mg / L) NO3 when you add 1 gram of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 to your tank. I'm going to say that 2.22 is near enough 2 so 5g (accurately "4.51g") of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 will give you ~10 ppm (accurately "11.1ppm") NO3- and
• 5g (or 6g) is pretty near a "teaspoon". So a flat teaspoon of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 in 300 litres gives ~10 ppm to 15 ppm NO3 (13.3 ppm if you go with 6g) and that is ~3 ppm (13.3 / 4.43) nitrogen (N).

You can work out how much you've supplied of all the other nutrients from <"their relative percentages"> (below). The workings for phosphate (PO4---) are here <"percentage for dry fertilizers"> just because phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) are expressed as oxides in agricultural fertilisers.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mark12345]

Hi all,

Yes, it is. You can actually use rain water if you don't have easy access to RO or DI water. We have a thread <"Solufeed 2:1:4 and Solufeed Sodium Free TEC Combination">.

Personally I use Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 and the <"Duckweed Index">, I'm <"pretty slap-dash with it">, but most members will make up a stock solution that supplies 10 ppm NO3 etc. or use <"dry dosing with the fertiliser">. We have a <"lovely spreadsheet">, that includes Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4? @Zeus. and a <"user guide">.

Easy enough, this is the calculation for dry dosing and teaspoons and I'm going to give the workings for nitrate NO3.

• Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 is 15% nitrogen (N).
• There are 1000 mg in a gram, so 1 gram of Solufeed contains 0.15g or 150 mg N, "mg / L" and "ppm" are equivalents.
• 15% N equates to ~ 66% NO3- (nitrate), you multiply by 4.43 to go from N to NO3.
• One gram of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 contains 665 mg of NO3 and you have a 300 litre tank, so you have 2.22 (665 / 300) ppm (mg / L) NO3 when you add 1 gram of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 to your tank. I'm going to say that 2.22 is near enough 2 so 5g (accurately "4.51g") of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 will give you ~10 ppm (accurately "11.1ppm") NO3- and
• 5g (or 6g) is pretty near a "teaspoon". So a flat teaspoon of Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 in 300 litres gives ~10 ppm to 15 ppm NO3 (13.3 ppm if you go with 6g) and that is ~3 ppm (13.3 / 4.43) nitrogen (N).

You can work out how much you've supplied of all the other nutrients from <"their relative percentages"> (below). The workings for phosphate (PO4---) are here <"percentage for dry fertilizers"> just because phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) are expressed as oxides in agricultural fertilisers.

View attachment 208512

cheers Darrel

Thanks, I'm looking forward to getting started, I think I've probably been under dosing my tank at times due to the cost. 500ml bottle of tropica was setting me back £20

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

500ml bottle of tropica was setting me back £20

That is really the problem I have, it isn't whether the product works or not.

Plants can only take up nutrients as ions from solution and every potassium (K+) ion is the same as every other K+ ion, there aren't any special <"ADA or Seachem ones">. My opinion is that all these companies are engaged in a contest to sell the <"World's most expensive water"> and that it isn't to anyone's <"advantage in the long term">.

People will say that they can only sell their product for this mark-up because that is <"what the market will pay">, but I'm going to argue that selling price is a barrier to growing that market.

I think I've probably been under dosing my tank at times

I'd guess that is what a lot of <"people do">. If we can point people towards cheaper solutions they are more likely to <"dose appropriately"> and have better plant growth and, my opinion, is that plant growth is the single factor that makes <"aquarium keeping easier and more enjoyable">.

cheers Darrel