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New 6ft planted tank setup advice needed

Bigtank

Seedling
Joined
24 Feb 2011
Messages
12
Hi everyone
Just became a member so be gentle with me.
I am a little confused and was wondering if anyone could offer some advice

I've recently upgraded to a 6ft fish tank. 6ft long 34" deep. I Bought the tank then a unit and finally made the top. I originally made a lid to attach 4 t5 54w. 46" long. But to be honest I wasn't happy with the brightness of the tank. I managed to get two aqua medic ocean lights 150w each. I got rid of the lid and have put the lights over the top. The tank looks amazing shimmering water effect looks like sun rays coming through the water. I have heavily planted and also pressurised co2. But after about 1 week I have noticed some of the plants going brown as if too much light . I know I have a lot more to learn especially dry ferts. That's my next learning goal. At present just dozing with a bottle liquid mix

Do you think I am using too much light or would these metal halides be alright. Also what is causing some plants to go brown

Any advice would be great. Will try to get a pic soon
 
I'm running the lights 9.00am to 9.00 pm

I've got a fluval fx5 running for filtration

I've gone for mixture of plants to see what works and what doesn't. Varieties of stem plants. Mosses and some grasses

I'm doing a 25% water change weekly

Hope this helps
Thanks
 
I have used MH lights in the past & with your tank being so deep they are properly what you need.
However you also need lots of flow around the tank, lots of Co2 & lots of ferts.
Most folk dose their fertiliser daily using the EI method (estimated index) & carry out 50% water change every week!
You really need to use several power heads inside the tank & a very efficient C02 reactor or external diffuser to make sure the gas gets every where around the tank.
Your light period is probably to long as well, try 7-9hours.
Those are just some ideas, it would really help o see a picture of the tank & the light position.
 
I'm so glad about the lights I thought I'd overdone it but to be honest they make the tank look so good. I'll try and get some pics to give a better idea.
Thanks again
 
That sounds a long time to have the lights on.
My lights are on for 6 hours a day , with the present amount of C02 I am injecting and the food I feed the plants thats plenty.
You are going to need a lot of CO2 in a tank that size and deep, along with some powerful pumps to get it down .
Look forward to seeing your pictures.

Si
 
Hi - look forward to seeing the pics :)

As already said, cut the photo period down to 6 - 8 hours max. Then work on your CO2, in a tank that size ( you havent mentioned the depth front to back, but I'm going to guess its 24", which would give you something like 800 L volume) I'd split the CO2 to 2 diffusers, one at each end of the tank, and would also recommend 2 filters as well. Aim for a flowrate of 10x volume ie 8000 LPH by combining filters and powerheads, then move your dropchecker around the tank on different days to ensure the CO2 is getting everywhere.

Good luck with it, and keep us posted :thumbup:

Tony
 
Great advice thank you.

The tank is a little deeper than what I wanted but it was second hand and the price was right.

A little bit more about me. I have kept fish tanks for quite a few years. I've tried different sizes small and the largest today the 6ft one.

I also have a jewel rio 180. I've not modified anything on it and it does grow most plants apart from some of the foreground really small plants. I've also been down the diy c02 route. But this is my 1st pressurised system on my big tank. In both tanks I've used TetraPlant complete

A little story that might help other beginners like me

In the new 6ft tank I wanted a black sand substrate to complement the plants. Because of the size of the tank I worked out it was going to cost a small fortune to fill with both tetraplant complete and black sand. I managed to get some of each that the budget would allow and then looked at other cheaper alternatives. I reaseached normal soil out of the garden and to be honest it seemed 50 50 on peoples opinions. I finally made a decision and added sieved soil on the bottom layer, then the tetra plant complete then finally the black sand.

Well have I regretted it you may ask

Yes and no

No because it looks alright, no cloudiness ph great and it gave me chance to build up the layers towards the back of the tank to give a better depth to the tank

Yes because whenever I try to plant anything into the substrate the soil manages to come to the top of the substrate and looks like smoke in the water rising up . It does eventually clear back to normal but is so frustrating

Thanks
 
Bigtank said:
=
In the new 6ft tank I wanted a black sand substrate to complement the plants. Because of the size of the tank I worked out it was going to cost a small fortune to fill with both tetraplant complete and black sand. I managed to get some of each that the budget would allow and then looked at other cheaper alternatives. I reaseached normal soil out of the garden and to be honest it seemed 50 50 on peoples opinions. I finally made a decision and added sieved soil on the bottom layer, then the tetra plant complete then finally the black sand.

Well have I regretted it you may ask

Yes and no

No because it looks alright, no cloudiness ph great and it gave me chance to build up the layers towards the back of the tank to give a better depth to the tank

Yes because whenever I try to plant anything into the substrate the soil manages to come to the top of the substrate and looks like smoke in the water rising up . It does eventually clear back to normal but is so frustrating

Thanks

This is exactly what I've done and it clouds my water for about 3 days whenever I move plants etc.

I'm delighted with the look though :)
 
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