75g "Dutch" Weed Farm

slipfinger

Article Editor
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Article Editor
Jul 23, 2016
355
470
63
51
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Thanks for all the suggestions burr.

Put them in front of something green, not something brown or red.

I think this is one of my issues I need another green plant somewhere. What is the green plant up front to the right of the Lobelia in your tank?

Erios and my last remaining scraps of wallichii will be coming out. With the new AS and stabilising the Co2 in the grow tank I was worried about adding the Erios right away.

If I leave the Bacopa I was thinking, move the AR mini to the left of it and move the H araguaia to the right of it. Push the Ludwigia back to where the Rotala sp 'nanjenshan' and wrap the erectus around both sides of the Bacopa.

Start scaping they said, it will be so relaxing, they said! Oh my god my head hurts!

I really appreciate everyone's input. I've never really thought about scaping and layout. In the past I would stick groups of stems together and called that scaping, but when you really get into the meat and potato's of it, it's actually kinda fun!
 

burr740

Micros Spiller
Moderator
Feb 16, 2015
1,404
1,328
113
Start scaping they said, it will be so relaxing, they said! Oh my god my head hurts!

LOL, my sentiments exactly!

Penthorum sediodes. Spreads similar to Staurogyne repens, except its taller, and leafier. Easy to shape into different height levels

32527338085_941c301819_c.jpg
 

Greggz

Lifetime Members
Lifetime Member
Jan 6, 2016
450
591
93
Yup that's the one. I mow it down. Higher light might also be playing a roll in keeping it low and compact. In my other tank with less light it grows taller and less dense.
Interesting. Mine has PAR of about 135 at the substrate, and 200+ at the surface, so I would say pretty high light. Still grows very fast. Of course, I just let it go, so maybe if I mowed it more often it would get bushier and shorter?

Or maybe just another mystery of the planted tank.
 

slipfinger

Article Editor
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Article Editor
Jul 23, 2016
355
470
63
51
Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Moved a few things around which allowed me the chance to finally vacuum around the Bacopa, the mulm build up along the glass was driving me crazy.

I still have a few things to shape and move, including shifting the Lobelia so it curls in behind the H araguaia and continues a little further to the right. The left and the right sides in the front still need some work.

For the left I want to remove the regular AR poking up behind the Blxya and try the Nesaea Pedicellata 'golden' in that area, thats if it survives in the grow out tank.

As for the right, the helferi is being sold so it's just there temporally. The Rotala Mac will be removed, going to try and source Penthorum sediodes to replace it. (thanks @burr740) AR variegated is going to replace the AR mini I just moved. Might move a small group of AR mini somewhere in front of the what ever ends up on the front right side.

The plan is to move the last few things this weekend, then let everything grow out.

I also want to play around with my lighting. As it stands now, all six bulbs are only on for four hours a day and only two bulbs are on for the other four hours. I posted par readings a few posts back. I'm considering switching it so all six bulbs are running for a long time frame, maybe six hours but raise the light up so i'm only getting 100 to 120 par at sub. Currently six bulbs are giving me 160+ par at sub. I want to see if the longer photo period with less par will colour up my Pantanal a little more, sounds ass backwards but.............

I'd be interested to hear what others par readings are at sub and how long your photo period is at that par.
 

Greggz

Lifetime Members
Lifetime Member
Jan 6, 2016
450
591
93
I also want to play around with my lighting. As it stands now, all six bulbs are only on for four hours a day and only two bulbs are on for the other four hours. I posted par readings a few posts back. I'm considering switching it so all six bulbs are running for a long time frame, maybe six hours but raise the light up so i'm only getting 100 to 120 par at sub. Currently six bulbs are giving me 160+ par at sub. I want to see if the longer photo period with less par will colour up my Pantanal a little more, sounds ass backwards but.............

I'd be interested to hear what others par readings are at sub and how long your photo period is at that par.
Since you asked.....So I see you have the outer 2 bulbs and the inner 4 bulbs switched. That's a big difference between the high par and low par part of the day, but it really seems to be working for you. I'm guessing if you run all 6 bulbs for 6 hours, you will also see a significant increase in algae. No matter how much you raise them, that's a boatload of light on a 75G. At least in my experience.

And let me qualify my next comments in that I am more qualified to read and learn than give advice. But if it were me, I would rewire the fixture so that you have more control. In the scheme of things, not complicated to do. On my 120G, I have three 2 bulb fixtures. So 2 in the back, 2 in the middle, and 2 in the front. I kind of roll the lighting up and down. First just the back lights, then back and front, then all 6, then back and front, then just the front. I hope that makes sense. FWIW, here's what I am going with right now. Back bulbs on from 12:00 to 7:00, front on from 1:00 to 8:00, middle on from 3:00 to 5:00. So total 8 hour lighting, varying between 2 and 6 bulbs. Par is 135 at substrate with all 6 bulbs on.

And I am going back and reading this journal again. Some good food for thought throughout.
 
Last edited:

burr740

Micros Spiller
Moderator
Feb 16, 2015
1,404
1,328
113
Nice rework, looks much better!

PAR at the sub in the 120 and 75 gal around 115-120. 50 gal in the 90s. 8 hour photo periods

All 6 bulbs run for the duration in the 120. Its about 9" above the surface, 31" from the sub. The actinic plus all the red/pink type bulbs cut the par way down, otherwise it'd be a lot higher
 

Phishless

Lifetime Member
Lifetime Member
Jul 13, 2017
1,103
972
113
Arnold, MD
I'd be interested to hear what others par readings are at sub and how long your photo period is at that par.

I use 7 LED pucks over 8 square feet
Photoperiod is 6.5 hours @ full lighting with 20 minute ramp up/down.
Right side is 110 PAR 50%(right half), Left 25% is 80 PAR, Far left 25% with Buce is 60PAR.
All of the "zones" bleed over a bit but PAR was taken right under a puck.

It is a true shame that the PAR meter is not used more often.
Kind of a set it and forget it for me
I would be completely blind without it though.

Spoke with Cavan at a GWAPA meeting a few months ago and we were discussing a 200PAR blast during the middle of photoperiod.
I have not tried this at present.
Thought it may be pushing the limit.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Greggz

slipfinger

Article Editor
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Article Editor
Jul 23, 2016
355
470
63
51
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Slipfinger, I have read through all your thread and you have done an excellent job. What I haven't understood yet if the increased B has helped with your whitened tips?

Thanks Fablau, appreciate the comment.

Whitened growth on the helferi has improved to point were it is hardly noticeable. Was it the added B? Or was it the fact that the tank went without any nutrients for 10 plus days? I'm leaning more towards B, I didn't see any improvement after a full week or so at my regular dosing routine. I took @burr740 recommendation to bump my B up. I ended up adding an extra .025ppm B on top of what ever i was dosing from Flourish Trace 3x a week. Within a week there was a marked improvement.

On another note, I've been dosing .25ppm urea daily for the last week and the helferi has exploded! Damn things are 3+ inches in diameter, and new side shoots are poping up everywhere. Helferi has always grown well for me, but this is a new level well....
 
Last edited:

fablau

rotalabutterfly.com
Staff member
Moderator
Sep 13, 2008
3,015
679
113
53
Laguna Niguel, CA
www.fablauplants.com
Thanks Fablau, appreciate the comment.

Whitened growth on the helferi has improved to point were it is hardly noticeable. Was it the added B? Or was it the fact that the tank went without any nutrients for 10 plus days? I'm leaning more towards B, I didn't see any improvement after a full week or so at my regular dosing routine. I took @burr740 recommendation to bump my B up. I ended up adding an extra .025ppm B on top of what ever i was dosing from Flourish Trace 3x a week. Within a week there was a marked improvement.

On another note, I've been dosing .25ppm urea daily for the last week and the helferi has exploded! Damn things are 3+ inches in diameter, and new side shoots are poping up everywhere. Helferi has always grown well for me, but this is a new level well....

Fantastic! I think your additional of B didn't hurt for sure, and could also be a delayed reaction of the missed 10 days.

I am impressed instead by what you say of added urea and I am wondering if Helferi is the only plant that showed such strong signs of improvements because of that.
 

slipfinger

Article Editor
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Article Editor
Jul 23, 2016
355
470
63
51
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
@fablau

I would say that everything showed a surge in growth but I noticed it most in helferi. I've grown it for a long time now and have never seen it so big. I am also watching the tank closely, as of today I have started to notice a little GSA on some leaves of Lobelia 'compact'. I have always notice a spot here and there when I clean the glass but this is the first time since planting the Lobelia that I have noticed GSA on it. Its been in the tank for at least 2 months. I am going to dose urea for one more week and see what happens. If GSA gets worse or remains I will stop it next week and see it GSA disappears.

Anyone else dosing urea notice an increase in GSA when they first started?

I did start dosing my home made micros this past Monday. I used the exact same ppm that I was dosing when using Flourish Trace except I upped B to make sure I was dosing full EI levels of B .025ppm. Iron remained the same, .1ppm DTPA and .1ppm Fe Gluconate. I think I'm safe to rule out micros as a cause for the GSA on Lobelia.
 
Last edited:

slipfinger

Article Editor
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Article Editor
Jul 23, 2016
355
470
63
51
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Moved a couple things to see how they look. Water is a little cloudy, took the picture before my water change.



I moved the AR mini out and replaced it with AR variegated. Not to sure what to think! It may look better if I add a few stems of P. erectus between it and the Pantanal.

I temporally added the Nesaea Pedicellata 'golden' behind the Blyxa japonica to see how the contrast would look, I think if I can grow it out enough for a full grouping it would look good. Problem is 'golden's' not doing so hot, slowly melting on me. I'm hoping trying to grow it out in the 75 is the answer.

Farming some helferi on the right side, got an order for 20 stems, need to grow a few quickly in less then two weeks.

Right side is still a work in progress.

Thats about it..
 

Greggz

Lifetime Members
Lifetime Member
Jan 6, 2016
450
591
93
That's a home run!! Really just beautiful.

I hope people appreciate how much time you must spend carefully trimming each bunch so it is just right.

You should be proud of your efforts, and the results speak for themselves.