How to tell if you really have enough lighting for your aquarium without using a par-meter.
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- Опубліковано 15 бер 2022
- My research findings.
As you know for the past 80-years hobbyist have been led to believe that Nitrates, an end byproduct of the nitrogen cycle, is harmless to fish and only becomes a problem if Nitrates exceeds 80-100ppm.Hobbyist are more worried about high levels of Nitrates not because of the fish being bothered by it but the introduction of cyanobacteria and algae. However, through my research this cannot be further from the truth, and just because a fish shows no outward signs of stress like they do with that of ammonia poisoning or too high of Nitrites, prolong exposure too Nitrates and even at low levels does do damage.
Here is one example: A long time ago I had a Goldfish that got caught in my skimmer and was severally beaten up to the point that euthanizing the fish would have been the humane thing to do. But instead, I placed the fish back into the Anoxic-filtering Pond to see if it would recover. Well, it did, and within 3-month the fish look as though nothing had happen to it. This got me thinking why this fish survived such a traumatic experience with no intervention from me in any way, and yet why do fish, cold and tropical, seem to get parasitic infections, fungus, fins rot and so on when they appear to be healthy other whys. What unknown stresses are our animals experiencing that we as hobbyist are overlooking? Why are we overlooking these stresses?
As you know a fish’s brain is much like that of a human brain and does contain a hippocampus and fish do produce the hormones secretion glucocorticoids or (GCs for short). This has been proven in Salmon fish after going upstream to spawn, and then shortly afterword’s die off. The excess amounts of glucocorticoids adrenal hormones secretion after spawning indicates the fish have been deeply stress and already bodily functions are shutting down and being damage from the overly abundance of this stress hormone glucocorticoids. The shrinking of the hippocampus is a sure sign that too much glucocorticoid is present, and the fish is under great stress.
Like us humans when we have insomnia, most of the time 75% is caused by stress and the overly production of glucocorticoids, a stress released hormone in humans, too. Yet, insomnia will not adversely affect its victim immediately but if persistent enough it may cause other side effects such as impairing our immune system and the shrinking of the hippocampus, memory loss.
What I found is that fish under sustained exposure to Nitrates, anything over 5-ppm produce an overabundance of the hormone glucocorticoids that cause the degeneration in the fish. In all fish, the hippocampus a neutral site that is always a spot for which glucocorticoids affect showed exacerbated neuronal damage. This means that Nitrates are a stressor and can be a potential modulator of the hippocampal degeneration that I was seeing in fish exposed to Nitrates for prolong periods.
Those fish that were exposed to Nitrates of under 5-ppm or less showed very little to no excessive glucocorticoids and their hippocampus was normal. As the Nitrate levels increased along with prolong exposed the hormone glucocorticoids increased and therefore caused neuronal damage over time. This would explain why my Goldfish recovered over its stressful mishap after being placed in the Anoxic filter because Nitrates were at 5-ppm or less.
I experimented with the Carassius auratus capability to ward off stress, diseases, and parasites exposed to Nitrates of less than 5-ppm and those of long-term exposed Nitrates greater than 10-ppm going as high as 80-ppm. Those Carassius auratus that live in low Nitrate and/or free Nitrate water, like they would in nature, were less susceptible to the biological and chemical insults and had lower Glucocorticoids than those Carassius auratus that lived in stressful Nitrates laden water. The hippocampal of the later Carassius auratus showed degeneration of the hippocampal and no damage to those fish that were exposed to the low Nitrates. This would explain why Koi show a greater sheen to their skin in low Nitrate water than those in higher amounts of Nitrates. No stress! The Nitrates are the cause of higher amounts of glucocorticoids that stress the Koi unknowingly to the hobbyist.
This also may explain why my Koi and others using the Anoxic Filter have Koi over 30-years old now. It may explain why my South American Bumblebee catfish, Microsynodontis batesii in my 20-gal antique aquarium is now over 25-years old using a plenum that keep Nitrates lower than 10-ppm with two water changes a year.
Like diabetes that doesn’t kill its victims outright but will cause secondary problems like kidney malfunction becoming stage 4 or higher, heart disease, eye impairment and so on. Nitrates over time increase glucocorticoids and although not directly will kill the animal, it will eventually cause another insult to take hold and do the job instead. Once again, more research needs to be done. - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
This is literally everything that I needed to hear. All the information I was looking for was all in this video.. I've searched for weeks on weeks... Thank you for this. You earned a sub 💪🏾
amazing info dr. kevin ... i am still thinking on my next aquarium setup and your ideas has influenced my decisions for sure
Great to hear! Just make the right one I hope.
Yes, finally something that does not take 2-4 weeks to find our if it works 🙂.
Had my lighting at around 70% , fear of algea, but after viewing the video, boosted all to 100 % and yes, bubbles are showing!!
So a big thank you Dr Novak !!
Was that 100% on a Fluval plant 3.0?
Are you using Co2?
How many hours a day?
I’m scared of the algae blooming to fast. Thanks
I've heard father fish say the same he said to leave the light at 100% intensity when setting up a new tank now dr Novak confirmed this theory
@jmp216 if your tank is heavily planted with adequate filtration n there shouldn't be a problem unless your substrate has silica
Yes, I also am experiencing fewer water changes. I had needed weekly changes to maintain my tank. With my BCB system that is approaching 1 year old I am now down to water changes once a month. I am very grateful Dr. Novak, thank you.
send photos at one year mark for me? Please.
Maybe some videos too if possible.
I will try to send a video to you Dr. Novak, it will be a learning curve as I have not tried this on UA-cam before.
Wow, that's an impressive result.
Just found you. Thank you for taking the time mate
Welcome! My UA-cam channel is different than others. I try very hard to educate the individual and leave out the nonsense. There's plenty of channels out there that can educate you on fish you may wish to buy in the future. I on the other hand try as hard as I can to educate the individual to be successful and not wind up killing the animals they have just bought.
Damn this advice was 100% correct in my case, repositioned my one light and put up my second thinner but just as king light next to it and then brought them a bit down from there stands and turned off co2, after ten min pearling started? Awesome video!
Very interesting and educating, Merci.
Many thanks!
Hi, I’ve been working through your videos over the last few days, really enjoying them, and learning a lot. Hopefully be setting up my first plenum in the not too distant future. Something I’ve been wondering for a little while now is the effects of noise from aquarium equipment on fish, and if it’s something we should be taking into account? Wondered if this is anything you’ve looked into before? Thanks for all the videos!
Don't really have to worry about the noise it doesn't seem to even bother the fish. Like all animals even ourselves we get used to it and we don't even notice it is there; it's like white noise to the fish.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums ok, thank you for replying
Nice video and thank you for sharing. How do you decide on the height you place your light at over the tank?
I have learned over the years the most important thing regarding the growing of aquatic plants is Lumens, I have modified my aqurium flourescent lights when they started making them to use 2 on each tank and have transitioned to LEDs which I also use 2 on top of most of my tanks. I prefer 6000 kelvin because I don't like the yellow that say a warm white would give. Second is using a plenum and substrate with the red clay Flourite and a bit of cat litter and iron and I also put a thin layer of soil with some potassium and a bit of osmacote some good bacteria, a bit of crushed coral toped with about an inch of sand. so I end ulp with about 3 inches total of substrate...oh I use a layer of bioballs with plastic screen and weed fabric on top that, NO up lift tube I find I don''t need it. Third thing I learned from you is the biggest thing my plants need is potassium and you don't have to spend a bunch of money on that either!
Exactly! Everyone tries to sell you on red, pink, green, blue and white. But all you need is the correct amount of lumens.
Lumens? Is it not PAR? And the blue and red spectrum is most important.
@@musiconvinylisbetter.1449 Lumens are definitely not the correct metric 😅. Yes, more lumens mean more light if the spectrums are identical, but in reality you could have two lights with the same luminosity to humans (lumens), yet they are very different to plants (par ratings would show this)
I use cheap Nicrew lights on my tanks and my plants are constantly pearling. I agree that people are wasting a ton of money on lighting. The only tank I have ever needed to put a high end top quality light on to grow things was on my salt water tank. On the rest of my freshwater planted tanks I use cheap Nicrew lights with awesome results. Actually sometimes I wish my plants didn't do so good because it would save me a lot of trimming. I don't put to much emphasis on just one factor for me it is all about balance and that my friends is where the secret lies in this hobby. You balance your tank and the rest will take care of itself. When people see my planted tanks they are like wow, what kind of lighting are you using? They are usually shocked when I show them that the lights are just cheap ass Nicrew lights. Balance my friends, lighting is just one part of the equation, you can have the best light money can buy but if the balance is off it won't make a lick of difference. Success in this hobby is not measured by how much your willing to spend. Most new people to this hobby spend way way to much money, way more than they ever need too.
P. S. My go to tank size is a 90 or 75 gallon. My 90's are two feet deep.
Great info!
Thanks for watching!
I have heard when youre plant is closed like you show it , it means it had enough light and close because it dont need anymore . But happy to see that more light doesnt means more algae. Is it also with an aquarium without co2 that more light isnt that bad .
I'm new and have a hard time figuring out what lights to get for a 55 gallon. I was going to get the fluval 3.0 but suspected that it wasn't really going to be enough to carpet dwarf hair grass. I'm still trying to figure it out..ty for this information....Yes I am going to use co2
Back in the hobby forty years later...
I grow so much Algae, duck weed and hornwort with my current fluorescent tubes..
BUT, the only oxygen bubbles from my floating hornwort are trapped in string algae. Not all over, like in your pics.
So. I was afraid to add more light.
Time to go anoxic!!! Then, will add lighting..
Thx again, Doc! -Scotty on Maui.
Messy eaters. Puffer tank.
thank you doctor
that was great information.
Glad it was helpful!
I am worried you are right. I have a Fluval Plant light with CO2 and the results are a bit dissapointing. There are oxigen bubbles, but not too much. For example, pogostemon helferi goes up too fast (distance between leaves knots), so It is clear a lack of light to maintain this plant low.
Regards
Thanks for sharing
Those bambooo look cool! I've heard of an invasive species in the US that grows like a small bamboo but I have not been able to find it since it's not sold. Murdannia genus.
go to any chinese grocery you will find some but what they call bamboo isn't actually a true bamboo I forget what it actually is...a type of draceana I think
The plants I got from a neighbor. I think they bought them at the hardware store like Lowe's.
Question when adding a high enough light to see plants pearl.
Is this mostly with "fast growing stem plants".
Not sure this applies to Java Ferns, Anubis, Amazon Swords. Val.
I'd love to put my led light to its maximum capacity on my 5G tank but the fishes get way too jumpy/nervous when I try. Got one honey gourami and 6 little tetras. The gourami get especially nervous when I try using stronger light. Any clues?
Fantastic video, thank you. I have been struggling with my Fluval 3.0 for a long time now on a Fluval 45 gallon bow front. When I purchased the 3.0 I thought I was going with a solid option :( Will be shopping for lights again. Thank you, very helpful content! Question: "If" I found a second used Fluval 3.0 for a cheap price and doubled my light output do you think the plants would still struggle? Would I just be throwing more $ at a lost cause?
If you're looking to increase the outflow of your Fluval 3.0, then buying the same kind will not help. In my archives, I do have how to increase the flow rate of a slow moving canister filter.. If your plants are struggling, it could be because lighting, CO2, and the lack of iron.
But he's asking about adding a second fluval 3.0 light, not canister filter. Why is the reply about a canister filter?
By the way guys, again I just confirm that Dr.Novak knows it's thing, I was using a cheap Chinese led light and I saw pearling but very little I had purchased a light that I wanted to use on a new tank that I am planning to build. It is a very strong light and I decided to give it a try on my current tank which has just undemanding plants and in a matter of 30 minutes all the plants started pearling like crazy and the CO2 wasn't running yet and now I am tempted to keep that light on my current tank.
If your light is strong enough to make your plants pearl even without CO2 then you know you have enough light. Thank you for the comment I hope others read it.
Perfect....that's all that needs to be said in this hobby
You have hit the nail on the head...thank you so much
The 75G tank I bought came with a white and Blue Nicrew light, not a full spectrum that covers only half of the tank. I noticed this when searching for another for the other side. Your thoughts?
Reply
Thank you everyone said the fluvial 3 was great so I went and bought 1 I knew from the start it wasn't enough for the plants then I got a load of already algea and after doing everything right I just got so disheartened with it all I had 1 kessil on previous to that but it was lighting all the tank up but plants midsection was doing perfect and was Peatling but listening g to you I know where I went wrong thanks once again
Glad I could help
on center of 49g breeder par on fluval 3.0 is about 70 at subtrate level
At what point are you using the highest lighting getting plants to pearl & injecting C02?
I just set up a new planted tank.
Still limiting my light period. Doing ma y water changes first month or so control extra nutrients.
Waiting for plants to root & get established.
So you start high lighting & aiming to pearl plants first week or after 1 ,2,3 months?
With Co2 I get the best growth with medium lighting. I swear with high light levels my plants go into suspended animation. I like to see pearling but not too quickly. (I’m growing undemanding plants).
With high lighting you also have to boost fertilization. If your plants are going into “suspended animation” that sounds exactly like a lack of nutrients.
I agree.
Hi, could you tell us how long do you keep your lights for? Do strong lights in non CO2 do cause algae if they left for too long? Thanks for your videos. They very informative 👍
On the 90 gallon aquarium the lights are on for 6 1/2 hours and on the goldfish breeder aquarium out in the lanai they're on for about 15 hours but they don't have to be on that long really. 6-8 hours would be more than enough. Anything really over eight hours is just a waste of electricity to be honest with you.
Thank you for putting this info out here. I have one question. How long after adding light should plants start pearling to know you have enough light?
Mine took around 30 minutes to start pearling, and at the 45 minutes mark my plants were pearling like crazy under high light.
Yes pearling was how we know we have enough lights.
My 4ft florescence converted to led only costs only 2 USD each.The chinese made LED in florescence tubes made the switch over in household easy as one has just take out the old tube and pop in the new. The starter is removed. For the more cost saving users. the choke or ballast in the casing is by passed.The new led tubes have miniaturized built in drivers at their ends.
6 of these will make the plants pearl.
Going to eBay and Amazon. Thx!!
can you please help me with setting up my light intensity ? i have an expensive Aqua Illumination freshwater light in my planted aquarium and my plants don’t look well, many are turning brown
AI when i asked didn’t even have a suggested percentage of light per color spectrum and i can’t even find anything online
my colors are red, blue,green,moonlight,warm white and clear white
thank you
I have a very lush Amazon Sword that only "pearls" after a water change or when the leaves are broken or split open
what does this mean?
Do you use CO2? After a water change the plants may have more carbon availability to them until it is depleted. This may take one or two days and then the pearling stops.
What lights may you recommend? I looked through some of your videos sorry if I missed it. looked up the asta lights you mentioned in this video but couldn't tell which to actually get.
I no longer use the Asta 120 lights due to the manufacture, not backing up their warranty. Out of the five lights that I bought three of them within the first year burned out. I now have a video on a light I've been using called GE ultra bright equal to a 300 W light bulb. I think they only use between 30 to 33 watch of electricity for each bulb. I will try to go back in my archives a little bit and you'll find the lights and my review on them and how I set them up.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums thank you!!
Hi Dr..After watching your video, I replaced my Fluval 3.0 to Chihiros WRGB 2 Pro for my 40 gall. The spectrum and intesity are sdjustable. If I want to increase my intesity until the pearling appears, should I increase Blue spectrum too? I never put more than 3% of Blue because I heard it may cause algae issue. And also, which color spectrum should I prioritize in increasing? Thank you.
Do not increase the blue spectrum of your light. It will just cause algae problems.
I’m getting ready to buy some new lights for my 120 gallon tank which is 4’x2’x2’ . Getting rid of my led strip lights. Which lights would you recommend for my tank so I can grow plants. Also getting ready to buy a210 gallon which is 6’x2’x29” tall any recommendations for that one also.
Asta 120 , my next video will have a link to the lights in Amazon. I have six of them and not a one them has giving me problems so far
What type of lights? Astra? Was wanting to see a link. My plants def don't photosynthesize and create bubbles. I too dialed back my lights because I thought it would cause algae.
Now I use GE bright Light from LOWES which I have a video on. The Astra 120 NOT SO GOOD, three of them have burnt out on me and I have tried to contact the company because they're less than a year old and no response. Another Chinese company selling on Amazon that should be pulled off.
Where can I buy this
Thank you for sharing. Although this level of light is excellent for the plants, isn't it too bright and uncomfortable for the fish?
Koi and goldfish need sun in order to exist and show their best colors. However, they also need shade to prevent them from getting sunburn. These high output lights can cause sunburn too. This could be because the infrared light coming from the new LED lights. More has to be looked into these lights because with the Fluval LED light my fish did become a little sunburn if they sat underneath it on top of the water. Yet with fluorescent bulbs this never happened.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums Thanks for the clarification. 🙏👍
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums Any sunscreen for fish you would recommend Dr? Haha. Joke aside, it's a detail I never thought of, that some fish could get sunburns.
Hi! Thank you for your video! I have a fluval tank that has the Aquasky light built into the hood. What light parameters would you recommend for such a tank that is about 15 inches deep from light to substrate? When playing with the “pro” mode I notice there are several color spectrums. I have mainly medium light plants, no CO2, and fighting off some green algae. I recently added a second Aquasky light bar to the hood as well.
From my experiments I would definitely leave out the blue and have very little red because it causes problems also.
Does the high lumen o2 pearling thing work without co2 injection as well? Or am i misunderstanding something?
exactly my question too
Hey Dr. which one of those lights would be good for a heavily planted 75 gallon without c02
Watch some of my newer videos on some of the homemade lights that people can make without spending an arm and a leg on lighting systems for the aquariums
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums Thank you
What if I put my light on max intensity and just get algae blooms?
What if I get pearling and algae blooms?
I hope after I try it my plants pearl or I’m calling Fluval and claiming scam…
What is the name of the light you are using in this video? I would like to purchase one.
Okay here goes... it's called a RADION by : Ecotech Marine and will set you back about ... $ 1000.oo US dollars. Or you can buy two Asta 120 for $160.oo and they will do the same thing @12000 L.
If my lights are bright enough to cause pearling then do I require co2? Or will the plants be okay without.
If your plants are pearling then apparently, you must have enough CO2 in your aquarium that you don't have to add more.
what light is he using? not the fluval 3.0.
Were lower power lights causing algae? Do you have algae issues with all that light?
Actually, I don't have algae problems with the lights. Most my Algae problems comes from lights that I bought by manufacturers that make lights for aquariums.
Which is more important? Lumens or # of hours of light?
Definitely get the highest luminous output you can get in a light. Most plants only need about 6 to 8 hours of light a day and that is it.
doctor don't you think oxygen bubbles are because of Astra's right PAR values not it's lumen intensity ?
Does high light causes green spot algea? or its because low phosphate level?
You know that's a very good question. I did get some green spot algae when the tank was new. However, it kind of has eradicated itself as the tank matured and got older, I no longer have green spot algae problems at all.
What is more important? The lumens or hours of light?
Plants need no more than 6 to 8 hours of light a day and that is it. As long as you have bright enough light you'll be just fine.
I always felt that the fluval lights were overrated, I am glad that I didn't invest my money into their light because I know that I would need more power to accomplish what I want to accomplish, I can tell the massive difference between the Radeon and the Fluval lights.
Well I told it the way it really was in the video, far eight months the Fluval light will grow the plants but really they never pearled ever. That means I would actually have to buy another one at $180. No thanks!
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums Yeah I agree Dr. Novak.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums YES I have always gotten cheaper versions of LEDs and just put two of them on my tanks. Even then you don't get the high output you would need for some of your plants that really need it. Some are more adaptable to low light but, you get what I am saying...I have anubas that blooms every year. and Crypts do fine in low light but many others just slowly waste away
Frankly I notice when I set my light to 80% I see photosynthesis bubble oxygen coming out from the plants. When I set less than that it doesn't have that bubble.
I'm lucky my led come in 3 section.
So I have a 125g I think I'm going to start with 4 50w flood lights. See how that does my current Amazon light ain't doing crap
Before you buy a floodlight, watch my video on the GE ultra bright lights that I put over my aquariums. They are far brighter, and have a white, bright light that shines in the aquarium.
I wonder how your hornwort are still there. Doesnt the Goldfish eat them?
It's funny how some goldfish will eat the plant and other goldfish will leave it alone. My goldfish seem to have left it alone, and therefore it grew out of hand.
F.Y.I. Wattage only measures the amount of energy the light uses. Has nothing to do with Lumen or Kelvins or anything else that really matters besides how much its going to cost to use.
I think most people understand that wattage does not correlate to Kelvin degrees or luminous output. However, wattage does correlate very closely with amperage that is being used. For example, 100 W lightbulb will use about one amp.
How do I message Dr Novak? About anoxic layering for plenum in 40 gallon marine
I don't understand the question.
I meant is the laterite applicable to marine systems to remove nitrates?
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums
I 💕 plenums and anoxic zones
Using a 5000k 9 watt 800 lumen daylight bulb, with the plastic cover removed, I get pearling on my guppy grass and hornwort, even my spiral val will pearl
I show the same thing in some of my older videos. The trouble is trying to find LED lights like that at the hardware store that do not have a lot of blue light in them.
Someone point me in the direction of the type of like he has on this tank 😅 i need a light for my octagon tank that is way deep. Seems like every plant i put down there doesnt make it 😢
A light that's on the tank is a Radion XR30W. Way too expensive for what you're getting. If you watch some of my newer videos, I show how you can add a GE ultra bright 600 W light to your aquarium and cost you a fraction of the money you would spend on one Radeon light.
@anoxicfiltrationplenums watched many of your vedios as of yesterday. Trying to figure out if your kessil goose neck is a Mini goose neck or A series.
Are you really growing lucky bamboo underwater 😮?
I've got bcb baskets in my sump, no co2 and a chihros wrgb2 light on 40% because if I go higher I get algae. I don't see any purling, am I doing something wrong?
If you're not getting any purling the lights may be turned down a little too low.
I've cut my light down. The algae was pearling but the plants don't.
There's something to plant need that that is missing.
I bought a $200 twin star sa series's led which is 33 watts..its on a 10 gallon aquarium.....its not enuf light... And that's how the aquarium led light manufactures get you.....u have to buy 2 lights so u spend 400 for light strength... That should cost under $200.......so on one tank I have a fluval and a twinstar...and that's still not nearly enuf....I'll never buy twinstar or fluval led ever again...spend the money get a ada solar rgb
Why doesn't this occur in nature, why must this be done in our artificial nature setup?
That's a very good question. It's because natural Ponds that are is not man-made Ponds have fluids moving in and out of them all the time at the intersection of topography of ground water. So, in our aquariums, we must go off of what waste water management has taught us.
niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I'm using a 16 dollar 3000 lumen led spotlight on one of my odd shaped tanks...pearling like crazy and I wasted so much money on so called full spectrum led lights NOPE and I refuse to by anything Fluval they are just way too expensive, most name brand stuff is so expensive it is way out of my budget to be wasting my time on...YUP YUP YUP no high teck for me. I don't want my plants growing so freakin fast I have to trim them every 3 days NOPE my horn wort takes over all my tanks if I let it ha ha
I show that in one of my old videos about cheap LEDs doing the same thing in a 12" tanks. Maybe all together less than $20 worth of LED lights from the hardware store.
I really like the shimmering effect with those types of lights hanging over a tank and they're definitely cheap and easy to get online. If my tank didn't have a built in hood and filter I'd definitely go with those. Unfortunately I'm limited to cheap waterproof led tube lights that just aren't quite bright enough for higher light plants. I need a tank upgrade for sure lol.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums It works on way deeper tanks too I have what they called an 8 gallon octagon it's about 10 by 10 by 20 inches and I am so happy with my cheapo 6000 K 20 watt spotlight...I know I paid too much for the tank but I love it, expecially now that I found this light...and it was wired already too with a plug
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I will look for that video cause I don't remember if I saw that one or not.