6g Led Tank

Little Update on my progress, I got plants today, unfortunately not those I was hoping to get but nonetheless something. I got Ludwigia (not sure of which sp. maybe you guys can ID?), plant that the guy called Japanese star rush (again no ID), some water sprite for the "refugium" and some cabomba which is also in the fuge since I have no clue if I even want it. Also a tiny bit of Taiwan moss that I anchored under an anubias rhizome.
Anyways have a look at my tank and any advice on my scape would be much
appreciated.





and the water sprite plus cabomba in the HoB

Hey guys got a problem with my anubias, when I got them I dipped them in a hydrogen peroxide solution to get any hair algae off. Now the leaves look like they're dying. I'm not sure if it was the h.p. dip but dont think itd be regular excel dosing or too little light.

Any help on what I should do? Do I cut off the effected leaves?

I decided to try something bold to save them so I grabbed an empty fluval edge tank that I had sitting around to make an emersed set for them. So I put the rhizomes in a pot of soil and covered the top with some plastic wrap. So far the single leaves left on the two rhizomes seen to be doing fine.

I have a few concerns however because the air in the tank smelled bad and I have no heater in the water. Room temperature is 78 and I live in the tropics so humidity should be 76% outside according to a weather forecast. Is a heater absolutely necessary for the water to warmer than the air?

I discovered one of my anubias had the tip of the end of its rizome rotting, so I cut off the tiny bit and the end looks green and solid now.

I spay the plant occasionally with club soda (carbonated water with potassium bicarbonate, potassium citrate and potassium sulfate).

Any advice on how to continue?
Some pics:

Ive got a few new java ferns and also added 3 glowlight tetra as well as 3 neons. I got rid of the Japanese rush plant since I didn't like it.

Here's a picture of the setup now:



the anubias are slowly gowing big roots now in the emersed setup and one has grown a new leaf. No signs of rhizome rot either. I added diy co2 which releases the co2 into the air in the container and growth on the ludwigia definitely increased. Also added in some Taiwan moss which is doing good. Humidity is more or less 85%

update:

Big_Fish said:

Really nice DIY LED project there...
I've just placed an order with RapidLEDs.com
we'll see if we can get a sticky going.
(tank looks very nice as well! I love the hardscape)

Click to expand...

leds rock, be sure to add pictures!! I used only three on this 6g run at a 750ma current and the plants are growing without co2. I'd say this is a low-med light setup but I like that because I can keep algae under control. If I'd added three more leds, for like 18 dollars more, I'd have a high light setup.

The setup only cost 36 dollars for the leds and driver (plus 20 shipping), like 20 for the aluminum and 30 for the tools to build it. The driver can run up to 14 leds so I could always modify the fixture and add more If I wanted. If you get a dimmable driver, like the one I got for a reef tank I'm setting up, you can adjust the brightness. So for 100 bucks I got this fixture that'll last for years. Also like the shimmer effect! I put a 30w compact florescent over my tank to compare and not only did it look dimmer but it also looked lifeless without the shimmer.

I also really like how you can get dim-able drivers and chose the exact configuration of color temperature by either dimming them separately or simply choosing the color led (warm, cool, neutral etc.).

AheartlessFish said:

love the setup...love the LEDs

please keep us updated on how the plants grow under LED

Click to expand...

I will post a pic soon to update growth, Ive been trimming old leaves off my java ferns since they came with black spots. They regularly put out new leaves and develope baby plants at their roots.

My moss had to trimmed since it was getting huge.

My Ludwigia is growing new shoots and is slowly growing too. I think it'd have appreciated a more nutrient rich substrate but I'm sure it'll grow faster once I get some diy co2 running. I'm finally gonna get my co2 diffuser soon so I look forward to seeing how that changes the growth.

Leds grow both plants and corals well, It's important to buy good quality ones, like the cree 3w leds I use and use enough of them for what you're growing. If you have a big and deep tank you should get some optics for them as this will vastly increase the light penetration and par values at the bottom (these are usually sold on the same websites that sell the leds). Do a search for 'diy cree leds aquarium' on google and you'll definitely come across alot of diy led threads for both reef tanks and planted tanks.

pics

An update!





My anubias is recovering well, like 4 new leaves and lots of new roots. I think adding a teaspoom of liquid r/o right per gallon has helped it alot!



I changed my light, I now have 1 royal blue, 2 cool white, and 1 neutral white led attached to this CPU heatsink. I wanted a cooler color mix and like it so far! Plus there is more light too!



My yeast co2 reactor is working well with the nano diffuser. My only issue is that the bubbles dont pop at the surface but rather stick to the surface and are then pushed back under water by the filter flow and then stick to plants..

Update: ludwigia looking much more red and gave away of few java ferns