BioLux lamps in Centurion/Pretoria?

[Norio De Sousa]

Anyone know of an affordable supplier of BioLux lamps in Centurion/Pretoria?

I know Guppies for Yuppies in Roodeport does them for R75 and I'll go there if need be but would, of course, prefer a shorter trip

[tyronegenade]

Those are not the Osram Biolux tubes but another tube supplied by Daro and are not, I think, what you want. I suggest you contact a local lighting supply store they may be able to obtain them for you. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with a Gro-lux or any "pink" tube as long as it has a strong red and blue peak in the spectrum.

[Norio De Sousa]

Okay cool, thanks! There's a lighting store on John Vorster that I'll check out.

[tyronegenade]

Hi,

I've been thinking. If your plants are growing happily under the lights you currently have there is no need to get a different one unless you are planning on scaling up to T5s or something.

tt

[Norio De Sousa]

That's the thing - they're not :/ When I had the tank near the glass doors of my office, my plants were growing REALLY really well but I had problems with algae and temperature bounce which, I think, caused me to lose a number of fish. Since I moved the tank away from the sunlight, the plants are doing not so good but the algae is easier to control and the fish seem to be doing okay.

So I'm thinking the light I got just isn't enough. I've got roughly 9 small amazon swords, 1 java fern, 1 bog plant (grassy like plant) and 1 smallish bunch of bacopa. All of which are doing less well since the move. They've grown good root systems since being planted (I've up-rooted them once or twice to check and to prune them) but their leaves are weak, they're not pearling as much as they used to and they're just growing a LOT slower than before.

[Norio De Sousa]

No luck, so far, in finding BioLux tubes in Centurion.

Slagter, you know of a place near you that stocks them? Maybe I could transfer bucks and you could pick one up for me and I pick up from you on Sat? (I know I'm asking a lot - but I figure there's no harm in the asking bit )

[tyronegenade]

You best bet is one of those "pink" tubes like Gro-lux if you can't find Biolux. These have a strong red spectrum which the plants will appreciate.

The rampant algae growth is a reflection of having too much nutrients in the system. You can try it close to the window again but this time have some floating plants like water sprite which can suck out the excess nutrients, particularly the Fe and P in the water column. In spite of what some people will claim, high values of P and Fe in the water column are totally unnatural and almost always linked with algal blooms. There is almost always enough P and Fe in the substrate for the plants and what little the plants leach into the water is quickly mopped up in the natural system before algae can get out of hand. You can have 80 ppm NO3- in the tank and no algae as long as the algae are limited in the supply of P to synthesize DNA and Fe to synthesize chlorophyll.

tt

[Norio De Sousa]

You best bet is one of those "pink" tubes like Gro-lux if you can't find Biolux. These have a strong red spectrum which the plants will appreciate.

I've just spray-painted the inside of my canopy white to see if it helps (airing it out thoroughly of course). I'm going to run like that for a bit and, also, I'm waiting for a lady at my LFS to get back to me on the Osrams. If I don't come right, I'll definitely do a pink tube. Who makes the Gro-lux tubes?

The rampant algae growth is a reflection of having too much nutrients in the system.

How do I stop there being too much nutrients? I don't over-feed any more (a few flakes in the morning plus 2 bottom feeder tabs for my cory).

Is it possible for plants and algae to live in harmony? I'm getting Otos soon and would really like them to have some natural food as well as daily blanched veggies or algae wafers.

You can try it close to the window again...

I really don't want to do that because of the temperature issues I had. It would get really HOT there, every day. And then cool down to 25 or so degrees overnight, and then really hot again the next day. I'm told that could cause sickness in the fish and, at the time, I was experiencing a lot of losses.

...but this time have some floating plants like water sprite which can suck out the excess nutrients, particularly the Fe and P in the water column. In spite of what some people will claim, high values of P and Fe in the water column are totally unnatural and almost always linked with algal blooms. There is almost always enough P and Fe in the substrate for the plants and what little the plants leach into the water is quickly mopped up in the natural system before algae can get out of hand. You can have 80 ppm NO3- in the tank and no algae as long as the algae are limited in the supply of P to synthesize DNA and Fe to synthesize chlorophyll.

Thanks for all this info! I'm assuming guppy grass and hornwort would also suck out the excess nutrients, no? Also, won't having my plants all be healthier (with the aid of Prof's Druppels + better light) help them out-compete the algae?

[ghostsword]

The rampant algae growth is a reflection of having too much nutrients in the system.

tt

Hi.. Sorry to butt in, but algae has nothing to do with too much nutrients, maybe even the opposite. If your plants do not have enough nutrients, light and CO2 to grow, algae will take over, as they can make a better use of what is available.

Get CO2, either in liquid form or in gas. Also get some proper lights, you are on the good step, then work with the nutrients.

Follow this link for more information:
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

I use EI on my tanks, maybe the salts are expensive in South Africa, I am not sure, but here it works cheaper than buying new plants all the time.

Have a look at this:
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/dosing-methods.htm

Also check Hydroponics shops, they usually have a very good array of lamps to use.

[R.C.]

Who makes the Gro-lux tubes?

Osram Sylvania (Osram acquired Sylvania in '93).  

How do I stop there being too much nutrients?

I think what Tyrone meant was an excess of 1 or more nutrients.

Is it possible for plants and algae to live in harmony?

That's what you should strive for, finding that balance.  No tank will be completely algae free and as mentioned, it does play it's role.

Also, won't having my plants all be healthier (with the aid of Prof's Druppels + better light) help them out-compete the algae?

Correct.

[Norio De Sousa]

Cool, thanks guys I feel I'm on the right path by improving the nutrients and lighting. I'll stay this path and report back on my results. I have a low pH and so, based on what I've learned here, don't feel that dosing CO2 will be necessary.

(Of course, if I've executed my entire plan and given it time to produce results and end up with unhappy plants, I'll then look at CO2.)

[tyronegenade]

The Indian ferns would do a better job as they have access to air CO2. I have several in my tank right now busy cleaning up my mess (of trying to "fertilize" the plants to out compete the algae). My GSA on the glass has pretty much stopped and if there is any more hair/thread algae lurking in my tank it sure isn't making an effort to take over the tank as before. This is probably bad news for my Otos as this will mean less brown algae as well but they have learnt to take food from the surface.

Luis, algae are poor competitors for the most part. They need far more light than vascular plants* and in general only occur in aquatic habitats when the nutrient level limitations are overcome*. Given adequate nutrition fast growing algae like hair/thread algae (aka Clado) and BGA quickly take over. Over coming BGA is easy: reduce the nutrient load. I have had tackled BGA this way several times with success and without any harm to plants. Of course the plants are planted and thus have access to an abundant store of P, N and Fe in the substrate that algae do not have via their roots*.

If algae have any competitive edge of plants it is their ability to stock-pile HCO3-*. In tanks where CO2 is limited this enables algae to quickly out compete the plants for nutrients in the water column (particularly K, Ca and Mg)*. This is why the easiest way to deal with most fast growing algae is to increase the CO2.

Quite frankly, a lot of one reads on the net about planted tanks is BS (I do not mean brine shrimp). The ideas are not scrutinized and the best evidence for this is that people can do exactly the opposite to the "expert" advice and still achieve excellent results. I will now undo all this sage free advice and say that my opinions are just as poorly scrutinized but I have the references for the info indicated with an asterisk.

[Norio De Sousa]

Tyrone, you and the page Luis linked to brought up an interesting point - I think I had my lights on for too long. (4am to 8pm). I was trying to do a GOOD thing but I think I ended up tipping the balance over in favour of the algae instead of the plants. I've now adjusted the timer to have the lights on from 8am till 6pm. Hopefully this kills off some algae without leaving the plants with too little light.

What would you suggest I set my timer to?

[ghostsword]

Luis, algae are poor competitors for the most part. They need far more light than vascular plants* and in general only occur in aquatic habitats when the nutrient level limitations are overcome*. Given adequate nutrition fast growing algae like hair/thread algae (aka Clado) and BGA quickly take over.

Thanks Tyrone,

Point taken on the above. My tank has a lot of nutrients, but it has a lot of CO2, and about 10 hours of light, but I keep an eye on algae, and perform a lot of water changes, twice a week, to minimize any buildup of nutrients.

Had a spot of hair algae, but increased the CO2 and light and decreased the nutrients, and it was brought in control.

From my experience what I have seen is that the plants need food to grow, obviously depending on the type of plant, and without that food they will not grow. I believe that there is a batle on the tank for nutrients, between the algae and the plants, and the algae grows faster with less nutrients that plants.

I wouldn't say that what we read on plant forums is BS, more like different points of view, and we need to experiment in order to see from ourselves what works and what doesn't.

If a guy that has a tank like this tells you that nutrients aren't the cause or algae, I will listen to him, and try to understand the reason of his claims.

[ghostsword]

Tyrone, you and the page Luis linked to brought up an interesting point - I think I had my lights on for too long. (4am to 8pm). I was trying to do a GOOD thing but I think I ended up tipping the balance over in favour of the algae instead of the plants. I've now adjusted the timer to have the lights on from 8am till 6pm. Hopefully this kills off some algae without leaving the plants with too little light.

What would you suggest I set my timer to?

If the tank is at your home I would set it up for the times that you are there.

For example, my AquaFX leds come at:
The AquaFX follows the default setup:
07:00 - Fade ON to ‘Sunset’
10:00 - Fade to 100% White
18:00 - Fade to ‘Sunset’
21:00 - Fade to ‘Night time’
00:00 - Fade OFF

But I also got a 30W daylight lamp comes on at 1000 and goes off at 1600, coming again at 1800 till 2200.

I got two AquaFX led bars with about 20W each, plus the 30W, giving me 70W of light to use, as my tank has only 100L, this would be 2W per gallon, which is seen as low light. The plants do good and I do not have issues with algae.

As I said, I do large water changes, twice a week, Sunday I do 50% water change and Wed or Thursday I do 20%.