# do you think these will be ok



## zombie (Apr 14, 2004)

ive chosen some plants that are easy to keep and cheap heres the list what do you think vallis cork, crinum thaianum, elodea densa, amazon sword, salinia natans(floating), vallis torta. The reason i chose these is cos they get big and low maint will these be ok with 2.7wpg with or without c02 and if im to use c02 then could i run it through a power head(no under gravel) and if i use zeolite to get rid of nitrates and nitrites and ammonia amongst other stuff do you think this will kill off the plants or will it help (if was not to gravel vac)


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## edcal (Feb 19, 2005)

Zombie all those plants you mentioned will grow quite well with or without co2 at 2.7 wpg.

A powerhead is a good way to diffuse co2 bubbles into your water. it also adds another source of current which is always good for p's

I never heard of zeolite. but keep in mind when growing plants, you are going to want to keep your nitrate level at 10ppm. zero nitrates will trigger algae blooms. My filter works so good my nitrates are always near zero. I use an additive called Flourish Nitrogen from SeaChem.

Hope this helps bro


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## zombie (Apr 14, 2004)

cheers that did help so how many should i go for got a fair amount of drift too


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## edcal (Feb 19, 2005)

zombie said:


> cheers that did help so how many should i go for got a fair amount of drift too
> [snapback]996512[/snapback]​


Buy some tall ones to cover the background. some medium bushy ones to put next to the driftwood to make lil caves. strap some ferns and anubias to a few of your driftwood. put some short ground cover plants up front. Dude you are running enough lights to grow as many plants as you want. Soon you'll have to start trimming some of your plants back like me. I actually got rid of some of my plants cause my tank was looking too planted


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## zombie (Apr 14, 2004)

yeah but 2.7wpg=620watts thats alot of watt going for your choice of pc's but then i found a place that do double t8 140w 4 of these should do maybe 2.3 2.4wpg


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

When we talk about really big or really small tanks, it is best to not use the WPG rule so much. Basicly this rule works fine with tanks that are 20-75 gallons or so. Lets instead look at your lux per square inch. This information comes from RexGrigg. Hes got a good website here. http://rexgrigg.com/pg1.htm
Low light is 12-17 LSI
*
Medium light is 20-25 LSI
*
High light is 28-32 LSI
*
Very high light is over 35 LSI
"Now I know what you are thinking. I can do watts per gallon pretty easy. But how do I figure this LSI thing? Well find the surface area of your tank in square inches. Then take the LSI number you want to reach. Multiply the surface area by the LSI. Take the result and divide it by the LUX rating of your chosen light. I will admit that this system is not perfect by any means. But I think it gives a better idea than the WPG rule."

Hope this helps. You will need the LUX rating of your lights though.


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## Guest (Apr 25, 2005)

My Jesus! Post pics please

--Dan


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## edcal (Feb 19, 2005)

zombie said:


> yeah but 2.7wpg=620watts thats alot of watt going for your choice of pc's but then i found a place that do double t8 140w 4 of these should do maybe 2.3 2.4wpg
> [snapback]996560[/snapback]​


dude I used the 2.7 wpg amount caused you mentioned that figure on your opening post :laugh:

3 wpg rule is a just a guide to get us newbes aimed it the right direction. I knew an expert like ChannaFreak would chime in with the Lumen formula to save the day














back when i was buying my lights, I asked the LFS guy which lights to get. He rambled on about the lumen formula and I was like







I just asked him just to point at a unit that would work :laugh: I got a pc unit that puts me at 2.5 and im happy. im still unsure what my lumens ratio is but its all good


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## furious piranha (Mar 22, 2005)

ya this kind of post really could use some pics


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## FIRE Newt MIKE 767 (Apr 11, 2005)

furious piranha said:


> ya this kind of post really could use some pics
> [snapback]996882[/snapback]​


yea sir


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

edcal said:


> zombie said:
> 
> 
> > yeah but 2.7wpg=620watts thats alot of watt going for your choice of pc's but then i found a place that do double t8 140w 4 of these should do maybe 2.3 2.4wpg
> ...


Yea sorry forget what I said because it is rather confusing. With 620 watts zombies LSI will be very high. With higher light, comes more maintinece though. Heavy planting dosing/co2 injection is going to be a manditory regimine. Please post some pics of this bohemith.


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## zombie (Apr 14, 2004)

right i am going to order 150 plants enough or not and im still waiting to hear from ah supply(about the lights £160 p+p)these will be 3x dual 96w pc and what do you think to juwel str back grounds o and bear in mind i have chosen large growing plants(f*cking big tank) ill get some up to date pics to post and she is naked (edcal has seen it and channafreak)


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

So that would be 552 watts over that bad boy? sh*t, thats awesome bro. I remember the tank being stocked withsome larger RBP. That might make it possible to still have a cleanup crew for algea. Do your p's ignore really small fish?


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

zombie said:


> right i am going to order 150 plants enough or not and im still waiting to hear from ah supply(about the lights £160 p+p)these will be 3x dual 96w pc and what do you think to juwel str back grounds o and bear in mind i have chosen large growing plants(f*cking big tank) ill get some up to date pics to post and she is naked (edcal has seen it and channafreak)
> [snapback]997997[/snapback]​


lol... have you been drinkin some.


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## zombie (Apr 14, 2004)

they ignore most small fish like the number of different tetras and the plecs i have in there already so what about the juwel str and no it wasnt drink it was drugs


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

zombie said:


> they ignore most small fish like the number of different tetras and the plecs i have in there already so what about the juwel str and no it wasnt drink it was drugs
> [snapback]1000255[/snapback]​


Well, Im not a huge fan of the structured backgrounds but have seen them done nicely. If you will like the look of the STR then give it a shot. I sorta like the clean look of an open back. I guess you could add about 3 dozen ottos and some SAE to your tank to keep the algae off the leaves. You will probably need some with that much light. Just general matinence.


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## zombie (Apr 14, 2004)

maybe sucking loach i could try em cos in my comm tank they love sucking the leaves


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## zombie (Apr 14, 2004)

ok so ah supply let me down but i have found 80w that i can use here ballasts and bulbs but the 80w are 4100k will this be ok and im going for 8 bulbs totaling 640w this will be 2.7wpg which in previous posts we all agreed that this was enough for the plants i want its just the kelvins thats puzzleing me???????????


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

I wouldnt get them. What type of light fixtures do you have. What length bulbs. Im sure we could find something better. How did the retros at AH fall through?


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## zombie (Apr 14, 2004)

the retros at ah fell through cos they wont do the 6x96w lights for here they said i could have 6 seperate 1 but not 3 dual its cos of the volts US 110v UK 240v and the closest ive come to any compacts is the ones i mentioned above


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