Tex Gal

Well, they are 24w- supposedly putting out 100w each. So at 24W that would be about 5wpg, but in a small tank the wpg rule doesn't really work well, according to the experts.

The ADA AS Amazonia II was a mess. It looked like that at the beginning. It got to like a white algae bloom state and never got better, even after 4-5 months and a diatom filter. It looks like you have gravel in there. What is causing all that dust?! Your fish need one of these!

ZooTycoonMaster

That was when I changed the substrate to Flourite

But I meant when you do regular aquascaping, such as moving plants or planting new plants

Tex Gal

No cloudy water when I scape. I might get a little debris float here or there if I up-root a heavy rooter like a sword or something but it clears up in about 10 minutes. If it's just a stem plant or something I don't have any cloudiness. It's great!

Tex Gal

A few new residents

Notice baby RCS in background

More babies everywhere

CRS, new zigzag nerite, berried RCS

ZooTycoonMaster

Nice A-S grade CRS! The Rasboras don't eat the shrimp?

What species Rasbora are they?

Tex Gal

I just bought the shrimp from Kangshiang. They are great! I'm hoping that I can get them to breed. The tank has been very stable for a long time.

No, the rasboras are too little. I have 2 types in there. I have Boraras Merah (Phoenix Rasbora) and Boraras Micros Brigettae or Maculatus. They are about 1/2" in size. They do well with the shrimp and are very colorful.

SpeedEuphoria

Wow nice tank, I like the rasboras. I'm working on a 10G w/ RCS and Endlers also and did a DIY to the hood b/c it came w/ a 15w T8, now I'm running 2x20w GE spiral bulbs(only been a week). I ended up using 44oz cups and aluminum reflective tape to make some reflectors It was cheap and seems to work OK(better than stock for sure). Heres a pic, hope you dont mind


I've been looking for some U-shaped bulbs but all I find are low Kelvin. I could not find the number on the bulb your using but the one on Feit's site that match the description seem to be 2700K. So I guess it seems to be working.
http://www.feitelectric.com/tripletu...ipletubes.html

A couple companies used to make those U-shaped bulbs in a daylight or 6500K but most seem to be discontinued. The only ones I found currently are these by Lights Of America and not even sure these are available.
http://www.esplighting.com/2220s-2vp.html

Anyway the tank looks great!! I'm trying to grow mine out and add some more plants since I'm kinda new to this hobby. I

Tex Gal

SpeedEuphoria - Thanks for the compliment.

The lights I'm using are only 2700K. (Px of bulbs in post #61. I gave a link to get them in post #63, online at Frys Electronics.) While the K seems low my plants are doing great in there. Even downoi which I have had melt on me THREE times in THREE different tanks is now growing in there!!! I'm sold on these. I also get less heat from these than I did the spirals. I'm not sure why but it's true. I've thought about getting a "serious" light, but when I think about it I can't see why I should. There was a 4th of July sale on Big Al's with a light that was like $30-$40. I decided this one was doing fine.

newbie314

I use 10W marineland bulb 5100K, which are great. Plants love them in the 2-2.5gallon tanks.

dgphelps

I use Flourite too. The plants love it and so do I. But it is cloudy stuff. I rescaped my tank and pulled out some well established roots, it took 1 day to be able to see ok, and 3 to clear completely. Basic, weekly maintenance does not kick up dust though.