10 gallon walstad method

[mnemenoi]

Jamal should definitely have what you are looking for or just have him hit up Roy and I can make sure he does, lol

[Cruzual ID]

How are you guys doin this? I can't keep plants in my tank for ****. I have substrate, and add liquid co2 daily but none hang around for more than a month or so. Best I had was a water Lily and a wisteria. What articles are y'all reading that I'm missing?

[mnemenoi]

My guess is you are not having enough lighting, plants need a high end fixture with some high wattage, Power Compact,T5, or high end LED like a Finnex Ray2 at least. Even a low tech tank (liquid CO2, Excel) needs at least 1-2 watts per gallon in power. For non-LED lighting its a good indicator, check your bulbs wattage, add them all up and divide by you tank size in gallons to determine your watts per gallon (1.e. 2-16watt bulbs on a 10 gallon tank, 32 watts total/10 gallon tank is 3.2 watts per gallon, or high lighting. (0-1 - Low, 1-2 - medium, 2+ - high), GHAC (Greater Houston Aquarium Club) will be having a planted aquarium focused meeting in April (hopefully) that will cover a lot of the basics and complex systems for planted tanks and might be helpful for all level of hobbyists.

[Triangle08t]

you can have the watts per gallon but not enough light penetration. having a bunch of 10watt lights on a tall tank may not do the trick. Same goes for LED's, which most companies out there will tell you what their lights can handle. Also how were your water changes? I had a similar problem with my first tank where i had alot of medium to high light plants melt away because i did not have high enough lighting. switched to the current freshwater+ and my plant grew like crazy!

[mnemenoi]

I agree Triangle08t, many plants and tanks seen online are really high tech (injected CO2) and without it just fail in any low tech set up. Stores can be bad about selling it and no one ever succeeding. Dwarf hair Grass, HC (Baby Tears), UG, and most of the carpeting plants and colorful stems are just not good in a low tech set up. Sounds like you just need to hang out with a planted tank person for a few hours and pick their brain a bit to determine what you are lacking and what sort of tank you desire to have and how to make that happen.

[Cruzual ID]

Thanks everyone. I just checked, I have two T8s, each 17 watts, but my tank is a 65 tall so it does seem like the plants must be under-lit. Is there any chance of keeping the current hood assembly and just finding new bulbs? If so, you say T5s are the way to go?

[Triangle08t]

Ok that is the problem. hopefully someone else can chime in but i dont think LED's can handle that kind of light penetration but T5HO's would def be the way to go. Just see what length you would need and then see what watt is available. Also i dont think T5's can use the same ballast as T8's but i could be wrong. After you get that fixed you should be in good shape. luckily wisteria seems like it will grow in any condition but once you add more light be ready for some explosive growth from it.

[agamberutti]

Definitely can't fit a t8 tube in a t5 fixture or visit versa. All the t sizes just mean how wide the bulb is. I would go for a dual t5 or quad t5 fixture for planted tank. You will need to get a 6700k or 10k spectrum bulb.

[ptran]

Thanks everyone. I just checked, I have two T8s, each 17 watts, but my tank is a 65 tall so it does seem like the plants must be under-lit. Is there any chance of keeping the current hood assembly and just finding new bulbs? If so, you say T5s are the way to go?

T5 & T8 are different in size. There are some LED light that is designed for planted tank. Check out Aquatraders.com. They have some with good prize.

[barrettsline]

Certain fixtures will allow for t5 use in a t8 fixture.


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[Austy16414]

Ok that is the problem. hopefully someone else can chime in but i dont think LED's can handle that kind of light penetration but T5HO's would def be the way to go. Just see what length you would need and then see what watt is available. Also i dont think T5's can use the same ballast as T8's but i could be wrong. After you get that fixed you should be in good shape. luckily wisteria seems like it will grow in any condition but once you add more light be ready for some explosive growth from it.

You can find LEDs to work at that depth, you just need to look into higher wattage diodes (I recommend 10W & up) and obviously for best growth you would need an LED with a mixture of whites and reds. Something along these lines: https://www.energyavenue.com/LED-Lig...att-LVGRO38WFL

[Triangle08t]

Update: Added alternanthera reineckii and have just been trimming and watching it grow. Thinking about dosing Excel but not sure just yet. From what ive learned and seen so far is that it takes a few months for dirted tanks to level out and im approaching two months of set up time.

[mnemenoi]

Excel dosing has never done anything but good in my tanks. It acts as an algaecide so its very effective on most tanks. It also acts as an alternative carbon source for hard water set ups. Just dose according t directions and I don't see anything it would interact with poorly. Vals and fissidens seens to dislike it for some reason, but that is about all the issue I have ever had.

[Triangle08t]

i did not no it acted like an aglaecide but i had been using it on my 20L but i was worried about it causing an algae bloom in this tank. Guess i have nothing to worry about now! hoping to get some fancy guppies soon and some cherry shrimp.

[mnemenoi]

Right on, well I am not too far from Humble and have a sizable cherry shrimp colony. I'll be getting back on shore after the 10th so if you are still hunting hit me up and you can have enough to get you going and some assassins snails in case you get any pest snails. No guppies but know a few spots for the better breeders in Houston