- Messages
- 15
- Location
- Santa Barbara, CA
Hi all, I'm still struggling along with my 75gal tang tank with just over 1W/G of lighting. Although they're certainly not strutting, my Val seems to be surviving... each plant seems to have one or maybe two leaves that are getting quite long, so i started pruning the deadish looking leaves today. Is it okay just to break off the leaves that are brown on the end, or is it important to cut them? Also, can you prune a Val leaf in the middle if its only the end thats all narsty, or do you need to take the whole leaf?
With low-lighting and appropriate low-light plants (which i realize the Val probably isn't, but any future plant purchaes will be java fern, anubias, and the like) will i need to add ferts? Will the 0-0-3 with iron from the aquarium store suffice, or do I need to put together a concotion like PMDD? I have one anubias, i believe it's a barteri but I'm not sure, since my wife bought it, and several (~10) Jungle Val plants, each with one or two long leaves and several ones that have broken off/rotted away/been pruned.
Since I don't plan to go the power compact route, I doubt this tank will ever have more than 160 watts on it, more likely 128W from a quad T-8 fixture, with an absolute max of 208W if I manage to cram a quad T-8 and find room left over for a pair of T-12s. Unfortunately I am starting with an existing canopy so i don't have much choice in optimizing it for my desired lighting. Will it need CO2 at those light levels, or can I keep it in balance and avoid algae blooms without CO2?
With low-lighting and appropriate low-light plants (which i realize the Val probably isn't, but any future plant purchaes will be java fern, anubias, and the like) will i need to add ferts? Will the 0-0-3 with iron from the aquarium store suffice, or do I need to put together a concotion like PMDD? I have one anubias, i believe it's a barteri but I'm not sure, since my wife bought it, and several (~10) Jungle Val plants, each with one or two long leaves and several ones that have broken off/rotted away/been pruned.
Since I don't plan to go the power compact route, I doubt this tank will ever have more than 160 watts on it, more likely 128W from a quad T-8 fixture, with an absolute max of 208W if I manage to cram a quad T-8 and find room left over for a pair of T-12s. Unfortunately I am starting with an existing canopy so i don't have much choice in optimizing it for my desired lighting. Will it need CO2 at those light levels, or can I keep it in balance and avoid algae blooms without CO2?