90 Gallon S.A. Discus/Pleco Tank Journal

[jeebus]

Just a little New Year's update..

Everything is doing great, and all our plants have exploded in growth..

[Darbex]

In my experience you can get some good growth with a combination of daylights and the pink bulbs cant remember the name. They give a good spectrum of colors.

[TaTeR ToT]

i agree with mzungu on this, i grew plants like mad in my old 5g tank with a oddysea 24watt 50/50 compact flourescent, i was growing ferns, pennywort, vals, anubias, hygro, and various mosses including flame moss without any problems.

the actinic is benificial just at a different end of the spectrum.

[jeebus]

So my set up now hits them on the high, middle x2, and low end. Okay. I'll just have to watch and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice everyone! The forum has been such a big help to me over the last year.

[Mzungu]

My Quote button isn't working, sorry. But...

"Glen, your actinic is not doing nothing for the plants, maybe just pop you discus colors. For your plants you have only 3x54w=162watts =1.8gpw."

Not true. Actinics ARE beneficial to plants. However, they just provide light in the lower end of the spectrum, not in the 650+nm range that plants ALSO need.

[TaTeR ToT]

geismen bulbs

[jeebus]

Is there any type of bulb that I could swap the actinic with and it still give the Discus their color yet still be able to contribute to the over plant growth? A 50/50 bulb maybe?

[mgarrido]

Glen, your actinic is not doing nothing for the plants, maybe just pop you discus colors. For your plants you have only 3x54w=162watts =1.8gpw.
Not all the brands has the same visual spectrum, ie: hamilton 10000k looks yellow if you compare with a coralife 10000k.

[jeebus]

Oh, some will be happy to know that angled my spray bar further downward creating less movement at the surface (just a slow tank long turning motion is all it does now - no rippling like before). I also drilled a hole on the bottom of my intake strainer and ran my co2 airline tubing up into my intake. Now 100% of my co2 is being diffused in the biggest reactor of them all, an Eheim 2262!

[jeebus]

In that case I'm going to stick with what I have and when I end up changing the 12k's I'm gonna look at the 10k Hagens.

Thanks!

[Mzungu]

Oh, I was asking about 10Ks because you asked if there was enough difference to switch the 12Ks out to 10Ks.

I'll have to google it, but I think the Aqua-Glos had a pretty low K-rating. Although it never looked low, it's pretty white/bluish looking to me. That's what I was saying about the brands - technically, the K-rating is supposed to be a scientific value (something about heating a black body, way too I-didn't-go-that-far-in-that-class-in-college for me. ) ) But it's become more of a rating that the brand feels it needs to put on the product's box.

And as to "what works best versus what looks best," that's the question of the century, apparently! So you're no noob in that. It's an evergoing debate. Mostly, from what I've read over the years, yes, spectrum does matter, but most lights out in the market today have enough wide/full-spectrum components in their makeup that plants can make do. So, when it comes down to it, just go with what you think looks good. :) At least, that's what I've taken from the tomes of stuff I've read.

[jeebus]

Yes, the Hagen is a Life-Glo. I really like the color of it as well.

I'm not using 10k's but rather 12k's and they are the stock Odyssea brand bulbs. They are more of a dull white with a bluish tint. What k rating is the Aqua-Glo? Is that the 10k?

The color to me looks great but I am a complete noob when it comes to hi-tech planted so I feel clueless as to what works best versus what looks best.

[Mzungu]

Unfortunately, one brand's 10K can be vastly different in color than another's. That's not how it's supposed to work, but it does, lol. Which brand's 10K are you thinking of using?

How's the light on the Odyssea 12K's? Is it pretty white?

Is the Hagen 6700K the Life-Glo light? I love the color on that light - it's always seemed pretty white and pure-looking to me. I also always loved their Aqua-Glo (I think that's what they're called) bulbs. Do they have those available in T5-HO? I always had great results with those bulbs over plants.

All in all, how do YOU feel about the arrangement? How does the color look to you? Does it make your discus look great and colorful and highlighted to their best advantage, or do they look washed out?

I'm going to try to look for a spectrum graph on those 12Ks, but in the meantime, I think it's more a matter of personal preference. Unless those 12Ks put out just a horrible spectrum, lol, I think your plants should do well.

[jeebus]

Mary Beth, Fish Gallery has the Geissman's for 36 a pop. I just couldn't pull the trigger so I went with a Hagen 6700k instead.

Now I've got from front to back:

12k White
20k Actinic
6700 Red
12k White

Thoughts on the arrangement? Does anyone think there's enough difference between 10k and 12k to switch them out?

[jeebus]

Found this: http://www.saltwatercritters.com/4_foot_ho_t5_bulbs?b=1