Fluval Plant 3.0 Scheduling and Programming

[CalmedByFish]

4 hours ago, Frank said:

What size is your light? 

My 24" - 34", 32 watt light is barely warm to the touch.

Same: 24" - 34". 32 watt. Does your barely warm comment refer to when it's been at full brightness for hours? 

 

[Frank]

13 hours ago, CalmedByFish said:

Same: 24" - 34". 32 watt. Does your barely warm comment refer to when it's been at full brightness for hours? 

 

It wasn't. But after 3hrs, with all colors at 100%, it wasn't hot enough to be uncomfortable. 

[CalmedByFish]

@FrankThanks for checking for me. I guess I'll ask Candi if she knows anything about it - just to be safe. 

[Streetwise]

Was this with or without a lid for each of you?

[Frank]

1 hour ago, Streetwise said:

Was this with or without a lid for each of you?

I took mine off the tank and set it on the floor. 

[ScottEsh]

I wish fluval would open up the software a bit for us to share light profiles and the ability to group lights into one tank... 

[Gonz]

This the basic settings I use on my 75 and 20 gallon long.   Haven't had an algie breakouts since I went to this.  I do have low light plants so you can adjust if needed.  The bacopa in my 20 gallon grows very fast.  

Also my tanks are in a basement so no real natural light from windows.  

Edited May 11, 2021 by Gonz
Misspelled word.

[satisfiedghost]

I love the siesta idea to extend viewing times - brilliant. Is there a rough number on how long you should turn the lights off?

I'm on my first ever planted tank after not keeping fish since I was a kid (and had no idea what I was doing), and am now coming off the tail end of battling algae likely caused by my overlighting. I'm WFH now and I am a little frustrated with the viewing windows. The room the tank is in has nice ambient light so turning off the lights midday would still allow for nice viewing.

[Streetwise]

Hi @satisfiedghost,

This thread dives a little deeper into the siesta details:

 

[Avery Tharpe]

I have a Fluval Flex 15 tank that is heavy planted and I’m having trouble finding the right light settings. 

[FrozenFins]

2 hours ago, Avery Tharpe said:

I have a Fluval Flex 15 tank that is heavy planted and I’m having trouble finding the right light settings. 

The best way a forum member can help you is if your provide the following:

• How deep is the tank? (I think the flex 15 is 16" deep, can you confirm)
• Your fertilizer schedule: What kind of liquad fertilizer? Do you use root tabs? how often do you dose?
• Your water parameters?
• Do you have Co2 Injection?

 

 

[Flytrap]

Thank you @Streetwise, @StephenP2003 and others for sharing your insight, settings and more re: the Fluval 3.0.  I recently bought my Fluval 3.0 and am excited to get it up and running.  My tank has not arrived but it will be approximately 55 gallons with a height of 18", length of 30" and depth (front to back) of 20".    I will be planting the tank with mainly low light plants: foreground: crypts (Parva and Lucens, I hope) and Anubias, Java Ferns, etc. glued on to spider wood in the mid tank area, and hopefully some Pogosteman Stellatus Octopus in the back.  Also water sprite, wisteria, etc.   I know the crypts, java ferns, etc. call for much lower light settings/percentages on the Fluval 3.0 but am unsure of what to begin with, since it will be new plants cycling the tank and how high of a percentage to ultimately end up with once the plants are established.  I will also be fertilizing with Easy Green.

Many Thanks for your thoughts,

Flytrap

[Flytrap]

Does anyone have recommendations at what settings I should set for these mainly low light plants?  They are listed on my previous post.  See all tank dimensions in the previous post .   The gravel will be around 2" deep and my water is generally hard, ph 7.6.

I will be cycling the tank using plants and fertilizer (easy green), no C02.  Since it's starting out does that mean the beginning percentage of light should begin at 25% and brought up higher every few weeks or should it begin even at a lower setting?

Thanks

[aquachris]

This May have been mentioned but Bentley pascoe has a great the part series on YouTube

[Frank]

On 5/22/2021 at 5:27 AM, Flytrap said:

Does anyone have recommendations at what settings I should set for these mainly low light plants?  They are listed on my previous post.  See all tank dimensions in the previous post .   The gravel will be around 2" deep and my water is generally hard, ph 7.6.

I will be cycling the tank using plants and fertilizer (easy green), no C02.  Since it's starting out does that mean the beginning percentage of light should begin at 25% and brought up higher every few weeks or should it begin even at a lower setting?

Thanks

I think that you're on the right track with the 25% starting point. My guess is that you'll end up at around 50%; maybe higher if you add floating plants.

Duration is important, as well. I think that most people are running their lights for eight hours. Mine is in a 12" tall, fifteen gallon tank. I'm running it for about 6hrs 20 min., at my highest settings, with very extended ramp up and down times.

If you wouldn't choke at the expense, I think that you'd benefit from having two lights.

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Frank

[Flytrap]

Thanks, @Frank so much for your response.  I was wondering the same thing about possibly ramping it up higher when hopefully some floating plants begin to fill in.   Thanks also for including your settings.  Do you think that beginning at 25% will be enough for the P.S. Octopus in the back?  I also was thinking about Dwarf Sag. in the foreground but think that will be a bit complicated for now in the beginning since ideally I would like it to be carpeting.

[Frank]

53 minutes ago, Flytrap said:

Thanks, @Frank so much for your response.  I was wondering the same thing about possibly ramping it up higher when hopefully some floating plants begin to fill in.   Thanks also for including your settings.  Do you think that beginning at 25% will be enough for the P.S. Octopus in the back?  I also was thinking about Dwarf Sag. in the foreground but think that will be a bit complicated for now in the beginning since ideally I would like it to be carpeting.

Well, I've had a planted tank for five months, so I'm not much of an expert. I don't have any experiencs with Pogostemon because I don't want my little tank to get overwhelmed. 

I think that you'll come up from 25%, but that it's a good place to start. Plants, just like fish, seem to benefit from lower lighting while they are getting accustomed to their new surroundings. 

[Flytrap]

Thanks again Frank. The reminders of plant and fish benefiting from lower light settings were needed.  I've had tanks since I was 10 yrs. old and last month I hit the big 60.  What's funny, and I have no idea of your age but you have a lot more experience in using the Fluval 3.0 than I do.  One of the things that makes this hobby for me at least so fascinating.  Every time something new arrives I become a beginner all over again.  

 

[Prajwal]

Hey @Streetwise.

First of all thanks a lot for sharing this! I am very new to the hobby and I have taken a great liking to the Fluval lights. I have been searching for a good setting for my 10 gallon tank (45L*27B*30H cm) (im running co2 in) and this helps a ton.

I do however wished to ask you if you think the new settings (siesta from your pic but different brightness) are suitable for the kind of plants I have? I am trying to grow a monte carlo carpet that I added 2 days ago.
The pic with the auto mode is the setting I have been presently using. I raised the brightness by 5% on the whites every week starting at 25, (this is the 4th week).

My new settings is the siesta one you shared for nano cube except I kept the brightness to be from 50-45-40 as opposed to 35-30-25 as youve posted (pic in pro mode). Would you say this works? I did this because I was not sure if my plants especially since carpetting and co2 required more light. But as you can see I also got a bunch of narrow leaf java ferns and anubias and buce starters in.

Also attaching a pic of my tank. I would highly appreciate if you have any inputs! I am new to the hobby so these light settings are still a tad much for me to work out independently
 

[Streetwise]

@Prajwal, your tank looks beautiful! I have not tried to grow your carpeting plants. I would try your new schedule for a few weeks and see what happens. My variations on the white lights are just for variety, so you could consider them at the median level. See how your plant growth compares to your algae growth and adjust from there. Let us know how it goes.

[Prajwal]

Will DO! Hopefully I do not get a ton of algae 🙂

[Streetwise]

I like to have some algae, for all my shrimp, snails, and grazers, but just enough.

[Streetwise]

You can use the Nano directly on a glass lid, with four felt pads to be safe with heat. The included mount does not fit rimmed tanks without modification. The 3D-printed rimmed mount design in this thread is free to use.

[Leo2o915]

Setting for a pleco breeding tank and duration has some Java fern and cripts 

[mouseturd13]

On 7/14/2020 at 6:18 PM, Streetwise said:

Dual siestas have a few reasons, but the human one is, that adding darkness and low-light periods can stretch your viewing time without creating problems. Perhaps you are working from home these days...

These are the schedules that I use for my low-tech, organic-soil tanks. Updated for new firmware which shows all colors.

Plant 3.0 Nano in short configuration, for 2.5 to 10 gallon tanks:

Plant 3.0 Nano in tall configuration, for 2.5 to 10 gallon tanks:

Plant 3.0 15-24" on the rim, for 15-20 gallon tanks:

I’ve been trying out this dual siesta thing for my 10 gallon and I’m really enjoying it. I had really been struggling to balance my fluval light since I got it.  I can see my fish almost all the times I’m home and not at work. I also feel like it has helped with algae. I get to enjoy my fish a lot more now that we are on the same schedule lol. Thanks for sharing this.