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Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

Tom said:
Yes I wouldn't take their planted advice as absolute fact any more! They made me put a heater cable in that 5x2x2 you saw as well
No comment.

Any ideas on fish selection? I'm thinking dwarf chain loach, but they're so expensive (£10 to £15 each).
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

Rather perversely, might red in aquatic plants be the opposite of their terrestrial cousins, turning red to capture the most light, shifting their pigmentation to make use of the much more useful (in growth terms) red part of the spectrum? This would explain the reason low light slower growth set ups seem to bet better reds? At the end of the day par is par is par but spectrally they can be extremely different indeed.
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

After seeing the cherry barbs in marks tank i think they would look nice in yours,

john.
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

Hi George,
The scape is looking great, this style is right up my street! Will be interested to see if you get your lighting experiment works, I have always failed to get a good solid red colour in so called red stems. As for fish, my local MA had Dwarf Chain Loaches 2 for £10 nice looking fish.......
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

Tom said:
Glass Cats :)
I think they get too big mate (up to 15cm).

This tank is going in PFK and they'll be uproar if I stock fish that are potentially too big. I had a nightmare when I set up a goldfish tank for them, even with three disclaimers that the tank (160 litre for 6 goldfish) wasn't suitable for the fish once they grow to full-size.

B7fec said:
Hi George,
The scape is looking great, this style is right up my street! Will be interested to see if you get your lighting experiment works, I have always failed to get a good solid red colour in so called red stems. As for fish, my local MA had Dwarf Chain Loaches 2 for £10 nice looking fish.......
Wow! That's a great price. My local MA is 3 for £33! Maybe they'll do price-matching!

What lighting are you using? Which tubes?

Thanks, Ben. :D

john starkey said:
After seeing the cherry barbs in marks tank i think they would look nice in yours,

john.
Thanks, John. :D

The cherry barbs in Mark's tanks are nice little fish and suit his 'scape really well, but I prefer something that shoals, due to the simpler design of this layout. Also I'd like the red in the stems to be the highlight, as opposed to the red in the fish. Thanks for the thoughts though mate. :thumbup:
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

George Farmer said:
Tom said:
Glass Cats :)
I think they get too big mate (up to 15cm).

This tank is going in PFK and they'll be uproar if I stock fish that are potentially too big. I had a nightmare when I set up a goldfish tank for them, even with three disclaimers that the tank wasn't suitable for the fish once they grow to full-size.

Yeah that's true, you need to be so careful in PFK!!
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

Quick update!

The T8s seem to be working. Slowly the Ludwigia arcuata is turning yellow>orange. I'm hopeful it will get more red as it matures.

I have also noticed some minor signs of nutrient deficiency; pale and yellow new crypt leaves.

I'm dosing plenty trace and nitrogen via Tobi's ferts, so had added some potassium phosphate and potassium nitrate to the bottle of Spezial-N. This will give me more P and K (and N). I assumed I had enough P in my tap water, but in truth I haven't tested for so long, the supply may be different now.

I've also removed the needle fern that wasn't adding anything to the 'scape.

Overall I'm pleased with the progress. It amazes me that I've managed to keep this same rock layout going with an open foreground for almost a year now.

I'm still considering fish selection. Thoughts welcome!

5518331960_19ec2ec4c7_b.jpg


5517741119_b0d617a898_b.jpg
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

I really do like this scape more so, now it's filled in. It suit's the open front IMO. Is there any fish in there at the moment George?
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

ianho said:
I really do like this scape more so, now it's filled in. It suit's the open front IMO. Is there any fish in there at the moment George?
Thanks, Ian! :D

No fish right now mate. Just cherry shrimp that are, ironically, breeding better than in my shrimp-only nano!

Tom said:
You need to clean your inlet George :lol: Have you got any plans for shaping the stems? Sorry if I've missed an earlier post.
I was hoping you'd notice! :lol:

The plan with the stems is to have them form a convex shape over the main stone, a bit like a sunset. They're slow growing, so it will be another 8 weeks or so before they're at their peak. They'll need another prune or two to get the density I'm after.
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

I think the current lighting is still not enough for arcuata to go deep red / purple. The time since you switched should be enough to see red rather than yellow/orange colors. But looking forward to see the progresss in the upcoming weeks.

In the gallery i experiment the same thing above our plant holder tanks. We do use 0.5w/l T5 there to avoid algae issues and force slow growth a bit. And most of these plants including arcuata is not perform its best with this light. Proserpinaca do the same for example.

We do have arcuata and proserpinaca in our high light planted tanks, arcuata also placed in one of the mid-light one, and nowhere i see that deep red / purple color what i see with the 4xT5 1W/l (high-light) lighting.

Just my 2 cent, as always every tank is different. But a good experiment to see the same plants in different conditions.
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

mmm...scapy...
Maybe harlequins or chilli rasboras? I'm a big fan of the boraras species as they are pretty shrimp safe, add to the size illusion and you can accommodate a pretty impressive shoal even in smaller tanks, and the colouring in chilli rasboras would complement the planting (just for ref Chillis are 5 for £5 at MA South Leeds at the mo)
Cheers,
M
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

Hi George,dont know if you remember my 150cm setup,but when i grew ludwigia arcuarta it certainly went red with two 54w T5,s over the top,but i was doing a mid day burst of 2 hrs,here,s a pic to remind you,
PC160482.jpg


PC160487.jpg


Maybe a mid day burst with the T5,s would be the answer,looking good thought mate,

john.
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

Looking nice George.

Hats off to ya for choosing arcuata. IME, it's not the easiest to get looking good, like rotala rotundifolia/green of even HM or umbrosum...i dont think it lends itself to the 'bush' effect like the others

I'm sure you'll pull it off though. wait a while longer before butchering it.
 
Re: [IWAGUMI] Scree Evolution - T8 lighting experiment

Thanks, guys.

Viktor - so the red is intensity related?

Any ideas why it wasn't showing a hint of red with intense LED lighting (100 umol), but now is showing some red with relatively low lighting via T8?

Maybe I'll try 4 x 24w T5 next... :thumbup:
 
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