Hi guys,
It's been almost 2 weeks now since I set up my first high tech tank in this same tank. I was speaking to Stryder a few weeks ago in this thread. Regarding the questions, I think I would have answered them exactly the same. I was looking at twinstar lights first of all and due to mine having the lid on as well, I was unsure if the legs of unit would fit, but as stryder had said - you would have to adapt the plastic clips which the glass lid sits in I presume. Anyway, I was looking about and managed to find a brand new sealed Kessil A160we Tuna Sun on eBay for £50 less than the standard price. The light is super bright and gives a natural shimmer effect but on this model in particular you get the luxury of having 2 adjustable knobs where you can adjust intensity (brightness) and also colour (spectrum - 6000k to 9000k). I am still trialling this light obviously but the reviews of Kessil units speak for themselves.
I am also diffusing my CO2 via a bazooka atomiser which is sat in the main tank. I did try running through the inlet of my canister filter as some people have success with that and it also reduces the micro bubbles or 'sprite water' / '7up' effect but my filter ended up constantly trickling which was mildly annoying so I switched back to the main tank. The first method did give me a lime green drop checker a lot easier with a slower bubble per second rate however I didn't feel the trickling noise was going to be sustainable as the tank is in my bedroom! Some anecdotal evidence also suggests it's better to have fully dissolved CO2 as well as CO2 micro bubbles in the water column for overall plant growth.
I am also using a Koralia nano 900 powerhead alongside my filter outlet which is great for overall flow and pushing nutrients and CO2 to all areas of my tank and removing any dead spots.
I think this tank is great to begin with. If I could point out one downside is that it is not made from the high clarity low iron glass which you see a lot of nature aquariums made of on here so you don't get the full on 'Amano style' look but his is purely just me being picky. Other than that the tank is spot on.
I'm half dosing the Aquascaper complete plant food at the minute whilst my tank cycles with the aqua soil and plants and I'm following the ADA recommended water change schedule whilst monitoring ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. I did get a massive ammonia spike at the start which wasn't alarming as this was expected but I dealt with it accordingly allowing some to remain for the cycle. I also got the slimy fungus you get on my redmoor root. It seems to be going down a bit now. This was neither a concern as this was expected too and it will go eventually but all I am doing for now is lightly siphoning it around the spots where I have moss so that it doesn't suffocate the plant.
Other than that it seems to be going well. Plants are beginning to show signs of settling in and getting that lush green CO2 injected look. It's just the waiting game and patience is key. I will keep my eye on the cycle and also watch out for any algae. After this I will add my colony of red cherry shrimp I have in a holding tank from my old setup. Will keep everyone on this thread posted as the weeks go by.
Cheers