Hi all,
Moved house recently and had a 84x30x24 Marine tank with a very large sump which I had to shut down to move.
Am now going to go for my first tropical / planted tank; I have most of the equipment I need. Have just siliconed new bulkheads in place and done much of the wiring and plumbing. I've bought a load of bog wood for hardscaping and am now at the stage where I need to decide on substrate. I want it to be black I think (my marine tank had lovely white sand but it was difficult to keep clean).
I have :
2 x return pumps (each can run approx 8k litre per hour, but I used to just run them at about 80% in my marine tank)
D-D Dual Temp Heating controller + 2 x 300W Heaters
D-D 39W UV
2 x Evergrow IT5080 Marine LED
2 x Large Reactors, was going to run carbon initially to clean the tanin from the bogwood (homemade reactors; each holds approx 1.5L of carbon with enough room for it to tumble as well)
2 x Eheim Dual Auto Feeders
Will need to buy a CO2 kit (will probably use 3.15kg CO2 bottles - one a month I guess?) and a dosing pump for daily top ups of liquid fertiliser too.
Am planning on trying to have a planting approach that doesn't need lots of monthly pruning (very difficult to reach the bottom of the tank plus I don't need the extra work). I also dont want to have to tear down the tank every 18-24 months to replenish/renew soil etc, so looking for something that ideally doesnt break down and that I can boost with tabs etc when necessary.
I want to go for lots of small colourful fish (e.g. Cardinal Tetras, Guppies, etc) and probably some shrimp / snails, plus some catfish or similar to help keep it clean. Am open to suggestions ! Discus look really nice but not sure I can be bothered with RO water (even though I have an RO unit! - making up large vats of water is a hassle).
I've been looking at substrates on various websites and talking to a few shops and have had many opinions; but am thinking of using :
Dennerle DeponitMix Black 10 in 1 (probably 2-3cms = 25 - 40 Litres) capped with Dennerle Quartz Gravel Diamond Black (probably 3-4cms = 40-55 Litres)
Has anyone had experience (good/bad) with the Dennerle 10in1 ? I'm a complete beginner and there are so many options, but this looked pretty good to me (and it's black !).
Thanks in advance for any help / suggestions.
I'll post photos and updates as I go (with more questions / cries for help at each stage most likely).
Cheers
Disco
Moved house recently and had a 84x30x24 Marine tank with a very large sump which I had to shut down to move.
Am now going to go for my first tropical / planted tank; I have most of the equipment I need. Have just siliconed new bulkheads in place and done much of the wiring and plumbing. I've bought a load of bog wood for hardscaping and am now at the stage where I need to decide on substrate. I want it to be black I think (my marine tank had lovely white sand but it was difficult to keep clean).
I have :
2 x return pumps (each can run approx 8k litre per hour, but I used to just run them at about 80% in my marine tank)
D-D Dual Temp Heating controller + 2 x 300W Heaters
D-D 39W UV
2 x Evergrow IT5080 Marine LED
2 x Large Reactors, was going to run carbon initially to clean the tanin from the bogwood (homemade reactors; each holds approx 1.5L of carbon with enough room for it to tumble as well)
2 x Eheim Dual Auto Feeders
Will need to buy a CO2 kit (will probably use 3.15kg CO2 bottles - one a month I guess?) and a dosing pump for daily top ups of liquid fertiliser too.
Am planning on trying to have a planting approach that doesn't need lots of monthly pruning (very difficult to reach the bottom of the tank plus I don't need the extra work). I also dont want to have to tear down the tank every 18-24 months to replenish/renew soil etc, so looking for something that ideally doesnt break down and that I can boost with tabs etc when necessary.
I want to go for lots of small colourful fish (e.g. Cardinal Tetras, Guppies, etc) and probably some shrimp / snails, plus some catfish or similar to help keep it clean. Am open to suggestions ! Discus look really nice but not sure I can be bothered with RO water (even though I have an RO unit! - making up large vats of water is a hassle).
I've been looking at substrates on various websites and talking to a few shops and have had many opinions; but am thinking of using :
Dennerle DeponitMix Black 10 in 1 (probably 2-3cms = 25 - 40 Litres) capped with Dennerle Quartz Gravel Diamond Black (probably 3-4cms = 40-55 Litres)
Has anyone had experience (good/bad) with the Dennerle 10in1 ? I'm a complete beginner and there are so many options, but this looked pretty good to me (and it's black !).
Thanks in advance for any help / suggestions.
I'll post photos and updates as I go (with more questions / cries for help at each stage most likely).
Cheers
Disco