wah... very beautiful...

Hey Ruslan, what does PLL stands for? Can a ballast meant for 4ft 36Watts fit for a 2ft 20Watts tube? I tried searching for information regarding that but I couldn't find any. Wondered if any DIY person has actually tried that.

Btw, wow! Your riccia garden rocks. How did you manage to keep them grounded (riccia floats easily from what I've seen). Also, when the riccia spreads, do you have to re-tie them to new areas again?

Wah Abang Ruslan,

The riccia and the other back ground plants look very healthy too. I guess your theme for your setting is to highlight the riccia as the main plant in your aquarium (correct me if I'm wrong). The riccia provides a good place for fish to lay eggs and the tall plants at the back provide a good place for fries to escape predators or for shy fish couple for "making love". This is a good setting man. Have you achieve any success seen your fish produce new generations?

hmmm, very nice and healthy tank...the riccia are pearling nicely.

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I am not sure what PL-L actually stands for but it is used by Philips to denote a type of fluorescent tube. The Osram equivalent is Dulux L. Some people call them Power Compacts. There are several wattages available but the common ones for aquarium use are the 36 W and the 55 W. The 36 W bulb is 18 inches long and is a good fit for 2 foot aquariums. As mentioned earlier, I use 2 bulbs for my 2 foot tank. The first picture shows my light casing and the various 36 W tubes. The second picture is a close-up shot of the ballast that is used in the casing and the ballast is sold separately in some LFS. Would be a good candidate for a DIY project because minimal wiring is needed. Third picture includes an electronic ballast that can drive 3 or 4 18 W tubes which I have been planning to incorporate in a DIY project.

I have no idea whether it is possible to drive a 20 W tube with a T8 36 W ballast. Are you trying to achieve greater output intensity with this configuration?

To keep the riccia 'grounded', I sandwich the riccia between a stainless steel mesh (available at certain hardware stores, got mine from the hardware store near Maybank in PJ Old Town) and one of those plastic meshes that are available in any hardware store. The stainless steel mesh is heavy and helps keep the whole thing on the bottom. The plastic mesh has larger holes to allow the riccia to grow without much obstruction. The sandwich is then secured with nylon line at the edges. Some of the Holland Sand was also used to bury the edges of the mesh so that it would not be visible. This worked fine until one day the amount of pearling created so much oxygen that it lifted the whole thing off the substrate. Hence the stone which is not there purely for aesthetic reasons...

To maintain the riccia, it has to be kept relatively short so the lower parts which are secured in the mesh still get enough light to stay healthy. Hence, a haircut once in a while...

I'm now trying a new method of securing the riccia. Some LFS (I got mine from Irene) sell a plastic enclosure with a mesh top and bottom (see picture No. 4). I put Holland sand to weigh it down and a thin layer of riccia on top. The enclosure is relatively costly but it is much faster to set-up than the other method which involves messing with nylon line (although some people do use staples instead, making things easier). The riccia in the picture has only been sandwiched for two days. Alternatives are using netting or nylon line to secure the riccia to rocks/driftwood.

Attached Images

	PLL01.jpg (69.5 KB, 130 views)
	PLL02.jpg (79.6 KB, 130 views)
	PLL03.jpg (81.8 KB, 131 views)
	riccia004.jpg (171.0 KB, 123 views)

Yes, you are correct. The riccia is the main plant that I am trying to highlight because I just love the pearling. At the moment the tank is fishless but there are some cherry red shrimp and some Yamatos to deal with algae but most of the time they stay hidden. The only thing that seems to be taking the opportunity to multiply are the snails...

Let me clarify, hood for the first picture you showed me was supposed to be for normal tubes, but you wired them to suit PL tubes isn't it?

So normal ballasts work for PL too correct? Btw, how much did it cost you for your Philips Ecotone?

Nope. I'm not planning on overdriving. In fact I'm worried that the tubes get overdrived. I was just wondering if it was backwards compatible. ie. If I have a 40Watt ballast, but if I load a 20W tube, the ballast will adjust itself to the load driving it at normal output (20Watt). The reason I ask this question is because I have several old ballasts lying around in my house, but its all 40Watts rated ballasts.

On riccia:
Can riccia propagate over a wire mesh horizontally, or does it only grow vertically? For example: I have a 2ft² wire mesh. I plant only one small 0.5ft² portion of riccia, will it eventually fill the whole wire mesh?

May want to try riccia out after completing some additional lighting. I just like your "garden" hehe.

Hi Ruslan,

Where do you bought your OSRAM eballast? I can find it in most electrical shop, an eballast that support 3-4 18W FL. How much is it?

The light casing was actually designed for PL-L tubes. I did not have to do any modifications. East Aqua in Ikano and Batu Karang in Subang Jaya have them but make sure you get the white tubes. There's also a tube for marine where one half of the tube is white and the other half is blue.

For PL-L sources: http://www.myfishforum.com/thread2825.html

The riccia won't grow horizontally. It's main tendency is to go upwards and float. So your wire mesh will remain bare where there was no riccia initially. I also suggest that you make a few smaller meshes than one large mesh. Gives you greater flexibility. Make sure your wire mesh does not rust though.

The good news about riccia is that it grows extremely fast in the proper conditions so you will have plenty to cover the 2 sq feet (I guess some would say this is bad - very high maintenance).

Easy to cover 2 ft², as in
a) Cheap to buy 2ft² of riccia.?
b) Or the riccia grows very fast, by proper cultivation getting 2ft is easy. But then how do you cultivate riccia?

Btw, thank you Ruslan. You've been of great help.