5g Fluval Chi Nano (Updated 06.26.13)

[mistahoo]

Oh and I also found a cheap blue clip on light fixture that uses a 60w light bulb (the ones that you use in household lamps?) for $4 when I was out in Damon helping out my parents. It was an impulse buy, but maybe I could put it to use for this tank?

[mnemenoi]

You can always get the CFL lamps in 6500K and I imagine a 20-30 watt would do the trick, maybe even a bit more then you imagine... (26/5=5watts per gallon... way high light...) Idealistically a 13 watt would be perfect 13/5=2.6watts and still high light

[mistahoo]

You can always get the CFL lamps in 6500K and I imagine a 20-30 watt would do the trick, maybe even a bit more then you imagine... (26/5=5watts per gallon... way high light...) Idealistically a 13 watt would be perfect 13/5=2.6watts and still high light

What's considered "high light" and "low light"? I want to try out the lights I have instead of going out to buy more. I had a feeling 60watt would be overkill. I could swap the bulb for a lower wattage bulb or have it on a timer for a couple hours a day. The light bulbs for it are cheap and I could get one that's closer to 6500K

[Parzival]

27w CFL in my 6 gal seems fine. Then again it's all in the middle, lol

[mnemenoi]

On most planted tanks the easiest manner to determine light intensity is with a simple formula. Total Wattage (Bulb wattage divided by gallons = Watts per gallon) The scale is roughly 1wpg = low light, 1-2 = medium light, 3+ = High light. PAR meters and PAR readings are a bit better, but meters can be expensive and the readings require a very good working knowledge of light density.

High lighting can be very good for many hard to keep plants, but the trade off is abundant algae growth, especially if it is not accentuated with CO2 injection. Excel can inhibit algae growth to a small degree in a non CO2 tank.

Light schedule is very important when combatting algae. Once a problem begins it is best to reduce your hours per day. I usually begin a tank with a 10 hour cycle and adjust as the plants require (adding time if there is no issue and reducing once an issue begins). Once you have an algae issue (it will happen, lol) its best to determine your course of action as each tank is vastly different, but there are a variety of techniques that we have found to be effective and simply trial and error though it will eventually be controlled. Many of the techniques you learn in this aspect of the hobby will assist you in almost every tank you set up from that point on.

[allysangels]

I don't think I saw that tank while I was there. I'm planning to have blue/red(?)/black/white against a black/green background with a salt and pepper substrate. Gonna go over the livestock list with the boss tomorrow since she's back from NY. Hopefully I find out some more nice looking fish while I'm waiting on plants and shrimps.

its the only tank I have upstairs...

[Parzival]

High lighting can be very good for many hard to keep plants, but the trade off is abundant algae growth, especially if it is not accentuated with CO2 injection. Excel can inhibit algae growth to a small degree in a non CO2 tank.

That's why I'm really surprised I'm not battling algae in my tank.

[mistahoo]

On most planted tanks the easiest manner to determine light intensity is with a simple formula. Total Wattage (Bulb wattage divided by gallons = Watts per gallon) The scale is roughly 1wpg = low light, 1-2 = medium light, 3+ = High light. PAR meters and PAR readings are a bit better, but meters can be expensive and the readings require a very good working knowledge of light density.

High lighting can be very good for many hard to keep plants, but the trade off is abundant algae growth, especially if it is not accentuated with CO2 injection. Excel can inhibit algae growth to a small degree in a non CO2 tank.

Light schedule is very important when combatting algae. Once a problem begins it is best to reduce your hours per day. I usually begin a tank with a 10 hour cycle and adjust as the plants require (adding time if there is no issue and reducing once an issue begins). Once you have an algae issue (it will happen, lol) its best to determine your course of action as each tank is vastly different, but there are a variety of techniques that we have found to be effective and simply trial and error though it will eventually be controlled. Many of the techniques you learn in this aspect of the hobby will assist you in almost every tank you set up from that point on.

That really cleared up a lot! Thank you again!

[mistahoo]

I was expecting to run into algae problems. My 100g has algae but I purposely grew it. The 30g I have setup is near a window that gets some sunlight but not much. The light is on about 15hours? There is no algae in it which surprises me.

[mnemenoi]

Hmm, could be a few things though not sure which it might be.
1. No nitrates (A defeciancy in these will basically starve algae)
2. Low Wattage/possibly low spectrum (Most 30 gallon tanks have a 24 watt flourescent bulb and thus .8watts per gallon or the bulbs will slowly shift in spectrum over time and the lower they are the less light is available for plant use. Plants usually utilize between 5000-8000K spectrum light and most below that are not very effective for their growth and photosynthesis)
3. Nutrient defecient (Possibly missing a key Phosphorous ingrediant or the tank could have very low flow, inhibiting either oxygen or CO2 exchange)
4. Inhibited Light Cycle (Some plants and algae do very poorly when their light cycle is broken into smaller times. I have seen it used as an alternative to black outs in tanks. Basically they only turn the lights on for 2 hour periods and allow 4 dark hours between)

[Parzival]

Doesn't purigen soak up nitrates? I have a huge 100ml bag in the AQ20 on my Edge.

[Totenkampf]

On most planted tanks the easiest manner to determine light intensity is with a simple formula. Total Wattage (Bulb wattage divided by gallons = Watts per gallon) The scale is roughly 1wpg = low light, 1-2 = medium light, 3+ = High light. PAR meters and PAR readings are a bit better, but meters can be expensive and the readings require a very good working knowledge of light density.

i am a fan of 'rules of thumb' as being useful since we dont all have PAR meters lying around. some other things to consider when using the WPG rules are: (1) only compare bulbs of the same technology. 3 WPG T10 is not nearly as effective as if it were T5HO (2) its not a linear scale, 3 WPG in a 10 gallon tank is not going to support high light plants with the same efficiency as if you had 3 WPG over a 100 gallon so err on the high side with the smaller tanks (3) depth to substrate, dont compare a T5HO setup over a 16" deep tank to one over a 22" tank. water refracts radiation well, especially the vital red peaks so go higher if your tank is taller

[mnemenoi]

+1, very good points as well....

[mistahoo]

Got it sorted out a bit. Here's the order of what she likes the most. The * is what I want. I want to get a pair of Black pearl killifish. Other than that, how many fish could I pack the tank with? There will be lots of plants, shrimp, and a nice piece/s of DW as a center piece. If I can't get a 2211, I'm going to get a Zoo Med 501 for filtration.

*-Black Pearl Killifish
1-lampeye
2-pseudomugil gertrudae
3-Oryzias woworae
4-Microrasbora Kubotai
5-Striped Panchex
6-Bluefin Notho

[black_knight]

Got it sorted out a bit. Here's the order of what she likes the most. The * is what I want. I want to get a pair of Black pearl killifish. Other than that, how many fish could I pack the tank with? There will be lots of plants, shrimp, and a nice piece/s of DW as a center piece. If I can't get a 2211, I'm going to get a Zoo Med 501 for filtration.

*-Black Pearl Killifish
1-lampeye
2-pseudomugil gertrudae
3-Oryzias woworae
4-Microrasbora Kubotai
5-Striped Panchex
6-Bluefin Notho

I searched for over a year for a good supplier of black pear killies (Cynolebias nigripinnis) and could not find any. I only found european suppliers. Most suppliers are european. They priced on aquabid in Euros for eggs. The adults I hear ship very badly.

microrasbora kubotai- are very delicate- don't like temp flux.
Have your looked at microrasbora erythromicron (emerald rasbora)- they are blue- http://www.danios.info/fish/erythromicron.aspx