Good morning all,
I am running 90% power now on all tubes using the single unit and will report general PAR later... The PAR directly under the light is still 120 +> easy to have to be careful here...That said, I have lots of anubias and ferns, and they have been baking in high PAR since I got the lights. So far so good. I see no growth issues at all. Leaves actually seem to be getting larger...But, I don't think they need this much and want to back off as I can.
I will play with it today to find a nice level to use until the other fixture is replaced and online
Notes:
1. I removed another 50% of the clover and boy was it heavy! The root system was very thick, short, white and healthy looking. You can see why mowing is a good trimming technique. So, I removed another 15" or so, and have about the same remaining. I will remove it all this weekend. I will keep a strand or two going in case the ET doesn't do well.
2. The glass was nasty back there where the carpet had pressed against the glass for so long. So, much cleaner now. The dust cloud caused by this was MASSIVE and drifted around (with no flow) the tank. I simply turned ALL the flow on (after removal) including the MP40. Within a few hours all was settled out and all wood/plants/fish that had been dirtied by the cloud were all clean. I then rinsed the sponges in the overflow and sump and such and all was good.
I really like the simpler maintenance of quickly rinsing/replacing the sponge/filter pad material in the wet/dry setup. When I do these large replantings, I always simply replace the filter pads after. The sponges just get rinsed in a bucket of tank water....They do get nasty though and require several rinsings...
3. Of course the bare substrate is being moved around now by the MP40 like sand at a reef
You can really see where the root mass keeps this erosion effect at bay and is very interesting to see.
4. Tom sent a nice clump of ET. I will plant this today at w/c time and try it in different spots to see where it may take best. Is a pretty plant and I hope it will do well for me..
5. The downoi that Tom and JJ provided is a really nice amount and more than I expected! I will most likely squeeze the hygro a bit and use some downoi in the center area where conditions should be good. I will place others around the tank and see what happens next.
Got a PM (thanks for the tip/suggestion) from a forum member also in my area and suggested the use of a higher GH resulted in better growth for them and downoi. They had experienced the same 'shrinking' effect that occured with mine. Mine wouldn't just die, they would shrink over weeks, still remain green right up until they shrunk under the ADA or thin air apparently.
6. I intend to do a large W/C or two this weekend and hit as much wood with excel (via syringe and spray bottle) as I can. I really want to clean the wood as much as possible. It softens the branches over time and they fall off more easily. Plus, is ugly....
So, will have to configure the controller again using just the one unit. Is ez to do and is good practice to understand how the lights work. I will report on this later you can be sure LOL
I have lots of room around the border where the clover was, but will have to check the PAR in those areas before planting to see what I can get with one fixture.
So, will measure PAR first, then w/c and cleaning, then replanting once I know the PAR matrix
I also keep forgetting that with the cable mounting and light bar that I still have plenty of adjustment vertically and horizontally... I can move the fixture closer to one end if I want to plant those areas where the clover was removed. Just a few inches should suffice to provide brighter areas for the new plants to adapt. May LOOK silly, but until I have two units again, if it is better for plants, I do not mind for 1-2 weeks..