In rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants Reel McKoi wrote:
:
: "AquariumFatasies" wrote in message
: ...
: On Dec 24, 7:55 pm, "Reel McKoi" wrote:
: I did add another rubberlip pleco to that tank today. Massive water
: changes
: and serious gravel vacuuming has made no difference either.
: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: OK, now were getting somewhere. Regular old shop lights with a with
: reflector. That is most likely the main problem. First off, the
: reflectors on those lights are made to reflect light from a height so
: yuo get decent light dispersion.

The typical shop light reflector isn't that good, but it's not
really much worse than the polished box reflector found in the
vast majority of commercial aquarium fixtures.

Ideally, something of a parabolic reflector for each tube works
best at sending light straight down into the tank where one gets
maximum penetration in deeper tanks. A commercial (and very
expensive) fixture that does an excellent job at this is the
T5 HO TekLight.

The typical polished rectangular box doesn't send light down into
the tank, but tends to bounce it around until it hits one of the
fluorescent tubes. (The exercise of comparing a pseudo-parabolic
reflector against a rectangular box via a geometry diagram is left
to the reader.) Manufacturers compensate for the bad reflector
by adding more tubes to the unit. These fixtures do work OK and
the extra tubes aren't really much of an issue unless you have
more than a few tanks which makes one much more interested in
conserving electricity to reduce a very high electricity bill.

I grow plants with highly efficient Tek Lights, and less effective
polished box reflector fixtures. Both do OK. Medium light tanks
are more forgiving, so those tanks get my old less efficient
reflector light fixtures.

As for algae and light, it gets tricker the more light you add
to the aquarium. So for beginners, I recommend starting out with
medium light level plants with a medium light level fixture.
A cheap shop light with a simple reflector will do the job for
this. It's not as effective as one with a parabolic reflector,
but for medium light, it will be good enough.

Bulbs are _not_ the primary cause algae, it's the water conditions.
Adding more light just speeds up the growth of everything (desirable
plants and algae). Poor water conditions under medium light will
require you to monthly scrape off ugly algae. Poor water conditions
under very high light will require you to daily scrape off ugly algae.

My philosophy is that for the first year, it's better to take the
cheap route and get some successes with easy-to-grow medium light
plants than to take the expensive high risk route where it takes
some real skill and experience to keep algae at bay.

: * No. They have the shade thing on the sides to direct the light downward.
: They come that way. The tanks are very bright.
:
: The light reflected is made to
: disperse out and cover a wide area (cone of dispersion) and that they
: are that close to a tank and only have a short distance to travel
: until the light hits the substrate and is reflected out or back,. odds
: are the majority of your light is being reflected "OUTSIDE" the tank
: itself,
:
: * The light is reflected down due to the side things on the reflectors.
:
: and not as much inside the tank as you really think is there.
: White reflectors is sufficient in most cases for a shop light however
: it does little to nothing for good results in a fish tank, but its
: still better than black. I'll bet you a coffee that proper bulbs (no
: more than 2x40Wattaers of the correct kelvin temps and "PROPER"
: reflectors will be more than enough light for "ANY" Freshwater palnts
: you can possibly grow in a 55 gal tank.
:
: * These provide enough LIGHT to grow plants successfully - until the algae
: starts growing on them. Once the algae attacks them, either the red (I call
: black) or green algae, their growth stops. I was told that Flourish Excel
: would kill off the algae by an old timer on these groups. That wasn't true.
: It seems to stimulate the algae.
:
: .............People
: underestimate the reflectors on a fish tank and next to the proper
: lamp itself they are very important. If yu have the right light bulb,
: and can not get it to disperse properly you may as well use any old
: lamp as your not getting the full benefit out of them.
:
: * Which is the right bulb in preventing red and green algae? And are they
: guaranteed to work? If one doesn't work do I have to keep buying and
: throwing out one bulb after another? I honestly never heard of a bulb that
: allowed aquarium plants to thrive but not algae.
:
: I am sure you or your better half can nail and cut a few boards.Why
: not get some 1 x 6 pine and fashion up a quick and dirty wooden hood
: for a fish tank (do one tank to start) nothuing needs to b e fancey,
: and just look at how some hoods are made in places like Petco er ah
: make that Deathco. A simple wooden frame box, with a few slats of 1 x
: 2 spaced apart on top to allow heat and ventilation to escape, and
: also provides a place to mount lights under. If yu want some pics I
: can post URL of a few sites that has simple yet effective aquarium
: hoods that are easy enough to make. Then pay Big Als or another online
: vendor a call, and purchase proper reflectors and attach them to the
: metal white reflectors all ready on yuor shop lights......or retro fit
: ballast and sockets etc from shop lights into the wooden hood..and
: install proper bulbs.
:
: * I'm not at all handy with tools and making things out of wood. And how
: will that get rid of the algae? Also, I really don't want to have to lift a
: heavy wood hood every time I feed the fish or want to remove algae from the
: front glass. I never heard of any reflectors or bulbs that caused plants to
: thrive but not algae. I can't afford to try one bulb after the other.....
:
: .....................done..............a quick
: stain is all thats needed to finish it off..............and maybe a
: top coat of clear sealer like polyurethane or varnish............I can
: just about guarantee, your black algae problems will be over and you
: can grow virtually any freshwater plant around then in these
: aquariums.
:
: * Why would the algae problems be over? The Flourish Excel was supposed to
: do that and it does nothing. It doesn't even help the plants grow. It's a
: rip-off like so many products these days. I don't follow your logic here
: with the wood reflector. The units come with shade type reflectors that
: direct the light downwards.
:
: The lights would be a much different inmprovement that
: will be benefical and work. Flourish Excel may work but its not going
: to take the palce of having a proper lighting setup.
:
: * What bulbs are the proper bulbs that allow plant but not algae growth? I
: found no such bulbs online. Which are you using?
:
: The lights you
: have now are fine and dandy for a fish only tank or with a few low
: light requirement plants, but still leave a lot to b e desired overall
: as the color specturm and kelvin is totally wrong.
:
: * Then what is the correct spectrum and Kelvin to allow plant but not algae
: growth and do they guarantee them or will I go broke replacing bulbs?
:
: Your plants as well
: as your fish will all look and grow better, well the plants will
: anyhow, because fish for thr most part are not reliant on linghts like
: a plant is, but I bet the colors in the fish will be much more
: vibrant. I believe lighting is about the most important item that can
: be done to a fish tank that is going to have live plants or corals in
: p lace and the person with the tank is totally committed to having
: nice plants and corals growing, than almost any other thing that can
: be done to a tank. Heck even the cheapest filters around will do a
: decent job of what they are designed for, but a light is not that
: way.............a cheap light setup will not do a thing for a fish
: tank other than provide illumination for the tanks owner to see whats
: inside..................
:
: Once proper lights are in place
:
: * Which are the proper lights and do they guarantee no algae? The Flourish
: Excel was supposed to take care of algae.
:
: it may take a
: few weeks to a month or two to get lighting schedule worked out, but
: odds are in that time frame your plants are gonna start to kick ass
: and things will look better every day...........
:
: * Yep! That's what they said on the plant NG (RAFP) about the Flourish
: Excel.
:
: ..Like I said propper
: bulbs and reflectors in a home brew hood is not even in the same
: league as adding supplements to a tank..........
:
: Eveyone tells me something different. The FE was supposed to do magic along
: with water changes and gravel vacuuming. They swore that was the answer. A
: homemade hood is out of the question. I don't know anyone who could make it
: for me and I don't want to have to lift down a heavy wood hood every time I
: want to feed my fish. I see no connection between a homemade hood and alge.
:
: So which bulbs are guaranteed to get rid of the algae and did you have the
: same conditions I have? If they're not guaranteed to work I wont keep
: throwing money away on bulb after bulb.