Well, not necessarily -

I shut off the UVG in my 55g about 3-4 months ago. I had 4 risers on
it, 2 are now capped, and the other two are still there. I'll be
capping them once I get around to acquiring a couple corks or plugs. So
far no problems at all. The UGF had been in the tank running for around
2 years. I've got about 3-4" of substrate on top of it. I shut down an
external Whisper filter at the same time.

The new filtration is an Eheim 2026.

YMMV -
pete

Iain Miller wrote:
"william kossack" wrote in message
...

I have a powerhead with an underground filter along with a penguin 330


Growing plants with a UGF is never easy - Oxygen rich water flowing over
their roots, most don't like it much.

You could think about using some small pots to get around this or ditching
the UGF - don't just turn this off though - all kinds of bad things an
happen! You'd need to pretty much tear the tank down, clean it out & start
again.




--
--
pete

"It is unwise to insult a doughnut be refusing to eat it."

Here's my 1 watt per gallon, non CO2 injected tank:

But didn't you say your tank was 125 gallons or something like that?

1 watt per gallon for a 125 gallon is a different story from 1 watt per gallon
for a 65 gallon tank (which is very high for its "footprint").

However, I agree that CO2 isn't necessary. My 2.2 wpg 29 gallon tank is so
much easier to maintain than my high-light planted tank. There's no algae, the
plants look very nice, but grow slowly, so there's less pruning and replanting,
it needs less fertilizing, no CO2 system to maintain, etc.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Here's my 1 watt per gallon, non CO2 injected tank:

But didn't you say your tank was 125 gallons or something like that?

1 watt per gallon for a 125 gallon is a different story from 1 watt per gallon
for a 65 gallon tank (which is very high for its "footprint").

However, I agree that CO2 isn't necessary. My 2.2 wpg 29 gallon tank is so
much easier to maintain than my high-light planted tank. There's no algae, the
plants look very nice, but grow slowly, so there's less pruning and replanting,
it needs less fertilizing, no CO2 system to maintain, etc.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

I have some anachorous (sp) even it has algae growing on it.

what should I plant besides the swords?

Anacharis tends to be best in cool water. Goldfish temps.

Let's see, you said you had 110 watts over 65 gallons, right? That's still low
to moderate lighting. You might try some Hygrophila. Either H. polysperma or
H. difformis. It's a nice, fast grower that doesn't need super-bright light.

For other choices, look at the medium light selections on this list:

http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-list.html

Low-light plants are also okay, but they often don't help much with algae
control. They grow too slowly.

IMO, a moderate light tank is a good choice. A high-light, high-tech,
CO2-injected tank can be a bit overwhelming for a newbie. And it's a lot more
work, even for the experienced. But you can still grow a lot of plants with
moderate light, a lot more kinds than would be possible in a low-light tank. A
moderate light, non-CO2 injected tank can be the best of both worlds.




Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

I have some anachorous (sp) even it has algae growing on it.

what should I plant besides the swords?

Anacharis tends to be best in cool water. Goldfish temps.

Let's see, you said you had 110 watts over 65 gallons, right? That's still low
to moderate lighting. You might try some Hygrophila. Either H. polysperma or
H. difformis. It's a nice, fast grower that doesn't need super-bright light.

For other choices, look at the medium light selections on this list:

http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-list.html

Low-light plants are also okay, but they often don't help much with algae
control. They grow too slowly.

IMO, a moderate light tank is a good choice. A high-light, high-tech,
CO2-injected tank can be a bit overwhelming for a newbie. And it's a lot more
work, even for the experienced. But you can still grow a lot of plants with
moderate light, a lot more kinds than would be possible in a low-light tank. A
moderate light, non-CO2 injected tank can be the best of both worlds.




Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

LeighMo wrote:
But didn't you say your tank was 125 gallons or something like that?

110.

However, I agree that CO2 isn't necessary. My 2.2 wpg 29 gallon tank is so

And that's my point. When people go and say, oh, you can't grow swords without
high light and CO2 or you need CO2 to get lush tanks... that's nonsense.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

LeighMo wrote:
But didn't you say your tank was 125 gallons or something like that?

110.

However, I agree that CO2 isn't necessary. My 2.2 wpg 29 gallon tank is so

And that's my point. When people go and say, oh, you can't grow swords without
high light and CO2 or you need CO2 to get lush tanks... that's nonsense.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

And that's my point. When people go and say, oh, you can't grow swords
without
high light and CO2 or you need CO2 to get lush tanks... that's nonsense.

Agreed. Swords are generally very undemanding plants.

The plants that really need high light and CO2 are those "lawn plants" Amano
made so popular. Because they are so short, they're very far away from the
lights. Plus, they're usually in the front of the tank, and most people put
the lights at the back of the tank.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

And that's my point. When people go and say, oh, you can't grow swords
without
high light and CO2 or you need CO2 to get lush tanks... that's nonsense.

Agreed. Swords are generally very undemanding plants.

The plants that really need high light and CO2 are those "lawn plants" Amano
made so popular. Because they are so short, they're very far away from the
lights. Plus, they're usually in the front of the tank, and most people put
the lights at the back of the tank.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

What I love about usenet newsgroups is that you can ask a question and
then read the discussion.

william kossack wrote:

After running a 65 gallon free water planted tank for a year I got tired
of buying plants and decided that maybe my 40 watt florecent light was
not enough light to keep amazon swords growing (unfortunately most local
stores sell large numbers of sword plants and not much else). When we
would buy new plants they would live but not really grow and we would
eventually have to replace them as the leaves got chewed up.

I upgraded my lights to a pair of 55 watt florecent lights from
ahsupply.com and bam! Everything was covered with algae. I also started
using a mineral supplement someones recommendation. I live in Denver
and I think they implied the need for more iron than the local tap water
would provide.

I'd been doing normal water changes and I did not think my nitrate was
too high but I decided to increase to daily water changes to get the
nitrate down further (it started at about 20 ppm and its now about 5ppm
and falling).

The amount of algae is less but it is still present. All of the old
plants took a real hit from the algae. I had some long filiments along
all the edges of the plants. It looked almost red in color. However
that stuff is gone as well as the leaves that it was groing on.

I've introduced algae eating shrimp, a few different smaller algae
eaters and even an apple snail (my clown loaches gobble up anything
smaller than an apple snail).

However most of the plants have a green covering of fuzzy algae and some
new plants look like they are getting it also.

Should I continue with the water changes? How low should I bring the
nitrates down? Or should I take other measures to get my display tank
back in line?

What I love about usenet newsgroups is that you can ask a question and
then read the discussion.

william kossack wrote:

After running a 65 gallon free water planted tank for a year I got tired
of buying plants and decided that maybe my 40 watt florecent light was
not enough light to keep amazon swords growing (unfortunately most local
stores sell large numbers of sword plants and not much else). When we
would buy new plants they would live but not really grow and we would
eventually have to replace them as the leaves got chewed up.

I upgraded my lights to a pair of 55 watt florecent lights from
ahsupply.com and bam! Everything was covered with algae. I also started
using a mineral supplement someones recommendation. I live in Denver
and I think they implied the need for more iron than the local tap water
would provide.

I'd been doing normal water changes and I did not think my nitrate was
too high but I decided to increase to daily water changes to get the
nitrate down further (it started at about 20 ppm and its now about 5ppm
and falling).

The amount of algae is less but it is still present. All of the old
plants took a real hit from the algae. I had some long filiments along
all the edges of the plants. It looked almost red in color. However
that stuff is gone as well as the leaves that it was groing on.

I've introduced algae eating shrimp, a few different smaller algae
eaters and even an apple snail (my clown loaches gobble up anything
smaller than an apple snail).

However most of the plants have a green covering of fuzzy algae and some
new plants look like they are getting it also.

Should I continue with the water changes? How low should I bring the
nitrates down? Or should I take other measures to get my display tank
back in line?

(Victor M. Martinez) wrote in message ...
wrote:
Adding Excel _is_ adding a carbon source. That's not a non CO2 tank.

It is a carbon source, but it's not CO2. IIRC, it's some sort of sugar
molecule. Instructions are to use it daily, but I use it once a week.
It *is* a non-CO2 tank.

Yea, I should stuck with the carbon source all the way, it is not a
non carbon enriched tank and perhaps only about 1/3 the week at most.
Then it's a non carbon enriched tank.

I don't fertilize my non CO2/carbon tank at all including traces etc.
I also don't do water changes, I only top off the tank and do a
cleaning once every 3-6 months.

Come to think of it, the tank doesn't even have a light so it's a non
artificial light, non CO2/carbon source tank. Sits in the window.

Regards,
Tom Barr

(Victor M. Martinez) wrote in message ...
wrote:
Adding Excel _is_ adding a carbon source. That's not a non CO2 tank.

It is a carbon source, but it's not CO2. IIRC, it's some sort of sugar
molecule. Instructions are to use it daily, but I use it once a week.
It *is* a non-CO2 tank.

Yea, I should stuck with the carbon source all the way, it is not a
non carbon enriched tank and perhaps only about 1/3 the week at most.
Then it's a non carbon enriched tank.

I don't fertilize my non CO2/carbon tank at all including traces etc.
I also don't do water changes, I only top off the tank and do a
cleaning once every 3-6 months.

Come to think of it, the tank doesn't even have a light so it's a non
artificial light, non CO2/carbon source tank. Sits in the window.

Regards,
Tom Barr