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#16
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Red Plants, Iron Dependant???
Like everybody else, I've read this in many many places too. I got a
reddish/purplish plant and it died in my low-light tank within a couple weeks. At low light, the effect of CO2 are still great, yet many do not use it. The lower light slows the growth down a considerable amount while still maintaining health. While people hear that low light tanks do not need CO2, they still reap the same great benefits from CO2 additions, something I suggested about a year prior to Tropica. Then I mentioned that the clear hard water springs in Florida had the best plant growth in natural systems, not soft water, Claus also show the same thing in the Mato Grosso, which have identical spring types but different fish. The effect is maintaining good CO2 and nutrients and maintenance, while lowering the light. It takes more than just light to drive plant growth. This maximizes the light usage by the plants. This method shows the max and min levels of light that will produce good plant growth. Swords have always done extremely well at 1.5-2w/gal, D diandra has been grown to very high levels at this range also. Red Cabomba, Glossostigma etc.... My point is that the plants could have died, not done well for reasons other than low light. Even proper trimming/over shadowing etc can cause some plants to not grow well besi9de just the light/CO2 and nutrient issues alone, there are other factors that are hard to address unless the person mentions it or you can see their set up in person. Unless you address the other parameters that influence growth and consider them and test for them, you do not know.......you are are guessing and assuming. That will cause you to believe that correlation = causation. That is a huge myth factory that serves to confuse, exacerbate and muddle plant growth issues with planted tanks. Isolate, go down one by one to improve your plant growth......this will help you to become a much better grower even if simply adding another lamp on solves your immediate problem. The total effect is the sum of the best levels for CO2, NO3,K,GH, fish load, mainteance routines/water changes etc. Yes, you can get away with not doing a couple of things, but if you do them, the tank will be that much more stable and you can always improve the growth some generally. If you cannot improve growth or think you have no room left for that, then you should be able to produce any design you have in mind with any plant etc. If you are having issues, then you can improve the method. Regards, Tom Barr Regards, Tom Barr |
#17
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Red Plants, Iron Dependant???
Well... whether you're right or you're wrong... I'll buy into it because
you stated your case well. I just wish I would have participated in this conversation 2 weeks ago before I bought the lights for my 75 gal. tank. -- Craig Brye University of Phoenix Online " wrote in message om... The Tropica website lists a ton of plants. You'll see many descriptions like.... "this specie falls into the 'high light' catergory like other red plants". I obviously didn't copy this word for word, but generalizations like that are riddled throughout the Tropica website. The Kasselmann book also gives many such generalizations. E. Osiris for example, where she states the red/brown color "...develop under intense light". I'm just curious because your statements blew my entire "red plant" theories! I'm not a chemist, so I take what I read/hear to heart. This is why I'm fairly confused at the moment. Craig Brye University of Phoenix Online I know Claus and Kasslemann personally. So I have no issues going head to head with them on the issue either. I've stated why their observations occured. Now it's time for them or others to say why I have good color at low light with red plants...................and why I can have red color at deep depths but green at higher depths and why most red plants are low light plants. I have not found any plant that does not do well at 2w/gal which is often the low end iof the lighting spectrum these days. Thing is.......2w/gal of NO FL light was "high light" 9-10 years ago! So when much of the books/species write ups were written, that was the case. But people seem to think "more light is better". Not true at all. There's a range of lighting that is best and easiest to deal with. This is for all plants. There might be one or two that are finicky that we may run into, but 99.9% of the time, the needs are similar to other plants. At least with most of the 300 or so species we keep right now. If that is not enough to play with, well, you must have a lot of tanks and do a lot of work on planted tanks. I think the average aquarist can figure things out themselves on this issue. If I can do it at moderate to low light consisently, and have excellent color and health, is high light really required? No. Claus said most people's tanks had trace deficencies when he came here, he did not say "not enough light". I'd been adding 5x the recommended amounts of traces. People felt 0.1ppm of Fe was a good amount at the time, I had 1.0ppm depending on which test kit used and time after dosing etc. People thought excess traces in and of themselves would cause algae. These days, people add a lot more traces in their CO2 enriched plant tanks. Folks are slow to realize that less light is fine, 2-3w/gal is plenty for any plant you might want. PC/MH's are going to have even more light so you can go lower on these. Regards, Tom Barr |
#18
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Red Plants, Iron Dependant???
" wrote in message om... Like everybody else, I've read this in many many places too. I got a reddish/purplish plant and it died in my low-light tank within a couple weeks. At low light, the effect of CO2 are still great, yet many do not use it. snip I have CO2 injection in my tank, and all my other plants (anubia, java moss, crypts, banana plants, moss ball, water sprite, vallisneria, a couple unidentifieds and even an aponogeton bulb - still new but HUGE) do just fine in my tank. Other than changing from normal to full spectrum fluorescent (before I even put plants in) and trimming dead leaves, I don't do a single thing specifically for my plants...even my CO2 injection was more for my pH than the plants. Maybe the plant was doomed before I even took it home. Who knows. |
#19
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Red Plants, Iron Dependant???
"Harry Muscle" wrote in message ... "RedForeman ©®" wrote in message ... || I know Claus and Kasslemann personally. So I have no issues going || head to head with them on the issue either. I've stated why their || observations occured. lucky guy.... || Now it's time for them or others to say why I have good color at low || light with red plants...................and why I can have red color || at deep depths but green at higher depths and why m d plants are || low light plants. Here's a 2cent peice... in a 10g, no floro-3500k, my red tiger lotus, is actually red.... 1.5wpg, whereas, im my 29g, 65W 6700kPCF, Co2, the same plant, looks less red at times, almost purple other times... || I think the average aquarist can figure things out themselves on this || issue. || If I can do it at moderate to low light consisently, and have || excellent color and health, is high light really required? || No. I'm beginning to see the light... or the lack of.... -- | RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!! | ========================== | 2003 TRX450ES | 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale) | '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted.... | ========================== | ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø | ((((º`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸. ((((º ·´¯`·. , .·´¯`·.. ((((º | for any questions you may have.... | www.gmail.com If I remember my biology correctly, don't red plants use a chemical other than chlorophyll to absorb light, hence the different color. And apparently this other chemical is less efficient, meaning you need more light to produce the same amount of food/energy/etc. So if my memory serves me right, this would explain why people would think that red plants need more light, which they do if they have to produce the same amount of food/energy/etc., but maybe they don't need to produce the same amount, maybe they are fine with less. My biology wasn't very involved (just regular high school stuff), but I remember that Carotene (orange-ish) and Xanthophyll (yellow) were said to be responsible for the red color we see in plants (and in dying leaves when chlorophyll breaks down, the other pigments can be seen more clearly)...but it was high school, and *public* high school at that so the entire statement may be completely inaccurate. I'm sure someone will promptly point out any errors in my learning. :-) |
#20
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Red Plants, Iron Dependant???
On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:35:36 -0500, "Craig Brye"
bubbled forth the following: Well... whether you're right or you're wrong... I'll buy into it because you stated your case well. I just wish I would have participated in this conversation 2 weeks ago before I bought the lights for my 75 gal. tank. -- Craig Brye University of Phoenix Online Think of it this way -- you now have an extra set of lights that need a new 75 gal. tank to go under them;-) Jerry |
#21
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Red Plants, Iron Dependant???
If I remember my biology correctly, don't red plants use a chemical other
than chlorophyll to absorb light, hence the different color. And apparently this other chemical is less efficient, meaning you need more light to produce the same amount of food/energy/etc. So if my memory serves me right, this would explain why people would think that red plants need more light, which they do if they have to produce the same amount of food/energy/etc., but maybe they don't need to produce the same amount, maybe they are fine with less. Harry This is certainly true also as a reason ro part of the story. Some red plants grow at break neck speeds. Light transfer is mighty efficent and extremely fast also. Beta carotene is the main pigment. This is different and serves a different function than anthocyanin, but neither colored pigment possess Nitrogen wereas Chlorophyll is rich in it. The main point about the plant being "fine with less" is also very true. I had a list on the APD I posted some years back about the differences between a shade plant and sun plant which might be applicable here as well. http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plant.../msg00293.html Regards, Tom Barr |
#22
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Red Plants, Iron Dependant???
snipped a bunch of stuff I've already saved on my computer
|| Regards, || Tom Barr Dang Tom... could you adopt me? jk.... -- | RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!! | ========================== | 2003 TRX450ES | 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale) | '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted.... | ========================== | ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø | ((((º`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸. ((((º ·´¯`·. , .·´¯`·.. ((((º | for any questions you may have.... | www.gmail.com |
#23
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Red Plants, Iron Dependant???
I bought a PC strip... Now have over 3w/gal.
Plants are doing good, however. -- Craig Brye University of Phoenix Online "The Outcaste" wrote in message ... On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:35:36 -0500, "Craig Brye" bubbled forth the following: Well... whether you're right or you're wrong... I'll buy into it because you stated your case well. I just wish I would have participated in this conversation 2 weeks ago before I bought the lights for my 75 gal. tank. -- Craig Brye University of Phoenix Online Think of it this way -- you now have an extra set of lights that need a new 75 gal. tank to go under them;-) Jerry |
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