Help needed choosing equipment for first planted tank

[Wulfen]

Hello all.
I am in the process of putting a list together of equipment needed for my first planted tank.
Could I please get some feedback on the components I have provisionally chosen?
Evolution Aqua The Aquascaper 600 Tank (L60 x W50 x H36) (108ltr)
Twinstar LED Aquarium Light 600S
JBL CristalProfi e702 greenline external filter
Hydor External Aquarium Heater Eth 16mm Hose, 300 Watt
Co2 (As yet undecided. Recommendations very welcome.)
Will the light, filter, heater be suitable for this size tank?
I will also be dosing the water column with ferts but again not sure what to get.
Any advice and feedback would be most welcome.
Edit;
With the help of you guys my list now looks like this:
Evolution Aqua The Aquascaper 600 Tank (L60 x W50 x H36) (108ltr)
Twinstar LED Aquarium Light 600S
Oase biomaster thermo 350 aquarium external-filter
Aquarium CO2 Kit Pro-SE Complete System
Tropica Aquarium Soil 9L
Unipac Kivu Fine Sand 10L

 

[Zeus.]

Hi and Welcome to the forum

Evolution Aqua The Aquascaper 600 Tank (L60 x W50 x H36) (108ltr)

Twinstar LED Aquarium Light 600S

JBL CristalProfi e702 greenline external filter

but Oase BioMaster Thermo 250 Aquarium External Filter Nice also with built in heater and prefilter bit more powerful too

Hydor External Aquarium Heater Eth 16mm Hose, 300 Watt

but no need for it with filter above plus less plumbing

Will the light, filter, heater be suitable for this size tank?

If the room is at a comfortable temp then YES Light and filter YES, might be worth getting a TC420

or HINTERFELD BSFH PROGRAMABLE SMART CONTROLLER for controling/dimming light

I will also be dosing the water column with ferts but again not sure what to get.

Dry salts are the cheapest either from aquarium plant foods or TNC then there are the premixed stock solutions if you have money to burn

Co2 (As yet undecided. Recommendations very welcome.)

Budget?

 

[Siege]

Echo what Zeus said apart from filter (partially),

I’ve got the same tank and light and have the hinterfield pro controller (see the Hinterfield sponsor threads). It’s very good and does everything I need.

The jbl filter will be under powered at 700L per hour. You want to be looking at 10 X times tank turnover. I would upgrade the Oase filter to the oase 350 or 600. I only say that as the oase 250 May also be slightly underpowered.

I have a hydor external heater connected to a Eheim pro 4 and wish i had got the oase with heater built in. The. Hydor Heater is hit and miss to say the best. One day it’s working, next it’s not.

Co2 art se and elite are both excellent, I run both with no complaints. For the EA600 the SE reg will be perfect. In tank Aqua Rio diffuser matches up well for size of tank.

 

[Zeus.]

Sorry my mistake on the filter output, for some stupid reason I had 60l tank in my head

 

[Siege]

Also my mistake on in take diffuser, meant to specify the size - medium Aqua Rio one.

Good too meet you Karl (and your son the other week), hope you are both well.

 

[Zeus.]

Good too meet you Karl (and your son the other week), hope you are both well

Good to meet you too Steve, Great day at Aquarium Gardens meeting everyone had sharing ideas, shame its so far away

 

[Wulfen]

Hi and Welcome to the forum








but Oase BioMaster Thermo 250 Aquarium External Filter Nice also with built in heater and prefilter bit more powerful too



but no need for it with filter above plus less plumbing



If the room is at a comfortable temp then YES Light and filter YES, might be worth getting a TC420

or HINTERFELD BSFH PROGRAMABLE SMART CONTROLLER for controling/dimming light



Dry salts are the cheapest either from aquarium plant foods or TNC then there are the premixed stock solutions if you have money to burn



Budget?

Many thanks, Zeus.
I have added the Oase biomaster thermo 350 aquarium external-filter to my list.
Looks like a very good filter, and as you say it negates the need for a separate heater.
Will also take a look at the smart controller.
As for the Co2 around £150 if that's possible?
Cheers

Echo what Zeus said apart from filter (partially),

I’ve got the same tank and light and have the hinterfield pro controller (see the Hinterfield sponsor threads). It’s very good and does everything I need.

The jbl filter will be under powered at 700L per hour. You want to be looking at 10 X times tank turnover. I would upgrade the Oase filter to the oase 350 or 600. I only say that as the oase 250 May also be slightly underpowered.

I have a hydor external heater connected to a Eheim pro 4 and wish i had got the oase with heater built in. The. Hydor Heater is hit and miss to say the best. One day it’s working, next it’s not.

Co2 art se and elite are both excellent, I run both with no complaints. For the EA600 the SE reg will be perfect. In tank Aqua Rio diffuser matches up well for size of tank.

Many thanks
Added the Oase 350 to my list.
Do you mean this kit or should I get an in tank atomizer?
https://www.co2art.eu/collections/c...tem-for-tank-up-to-500l?variant=5826764177446

 

[J@mes]

Hi, this is the same set up I got recently, with the bio master 600. I got a 2kg fire extinguisher for £20 from Ebay and the dual stage co2 regulator kit from aquarium gardens at £145

 

[Siege]

That’s the regulator. Co2 Art SE.

You can get the co2 art stuff from them directly or from aquarium gardens. AG will put together a kit that’ll include the Aqua Rio medium size diffuser at £147.

https://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/aquarium-co2-kit-pro-se-complete-system-673-p.asp

Good regulator and excellent diffuser. Diffuser as good as, if not better than my ADA one imo.

 

[Wulfen]

Hi, this is the same set up I got recently, with the bio master 600. I got a 2kg fire extinguisher for £20 from Ebay and the dual stage co2 regulator kit from aquarium gardens at £145

That’s the regulator. Co2 Art SE.

You can get the co2 art stuff from them directly or from aquarium gardens. AG will put together a kit that’ll include the Aqua Rio medium size diffuser at £147.

https://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/aquarium-co2-kit-pro-se-complete-system-673-p.asp

Good regulator and excellent diffuser. Diffuser as good as, if not better than my ADA one imo.

Many thanks, guys. It seems like AG has everything all in one place Will more than likely get everything in one go from them
Do I need to get some sort of timer for the Co2?

 

[J@mes]

Many thanks, guys. It seems like AG has everything all in one place Will more than likely get everything in one go from them

The EA glass pipe work set is good too

 

[Zeus.]

Do I need to get some sort of timer for the Co2

Yes. Would also advise you to do a pH profile from the very start. General tips for this are-
1. Ignore GH and KH values
2. Use Drop Checker colour change to estimate [CO2] with aid of pH pen taking pH every 30mins.
3. Get your full pH drop before lights on, most folk go for 1.0pH drop. Normally takes about 2hrs to get pH drop some tanks more, one of my tanks takes 3hrs but the pH drop is over 1.0pH
4. pH stable once lights are on ( that's tricky), plants have had there fill of CO2 after 4-5hrs so you can turn it off.
5. As plant biomass increases so will CO2 demand so it needs checking and adjustments will be needed, otherwise your pH may increase when the lights go on.
6. Increasing light intensity increases CO2 used by plants so need to do another pH profile. Same if you turn intensity down.
7. Changing the tanks turnover eg more powerheads or changing position of outlet or different outlet will change the dynamics of flow and may increase or decrease your CO2 loss through the surface- again repeat pH profile

 

[Tim Harrison]

Nice list...tho I'd go with an Oase Thermo filter, aside from having an inbuilt heater it also has a pre-filter which is easy to clean.
Nice choice of light too, the colour rendition is awesome.

As for CO2, a fire extinguisher set up will be the cheapest to buy and run. Go direct to CO2 Art for the regulator. Any of these will do https://www.co2art.eu/collections/co2-regulators Don't get too hung up on a dual stage, they are nice to have but at the end of the day it makes little difference. I use both single and dual stage and both work well and I've never experienced end of cylinder tank dump.
I use an original Up inline atomiser and that works well, and it's one less piece of kit in the tank.

As for a timer for the CO2, yes you need a timer, and at least a drop checker, aim for lime green at lights on and all the way till lights off. My CO2 comes on 3hrs before lights on to achieve this and goes off around 2 hrs before the end of the photoperiod. Every tank is different so dialling your CO2 in will be a process of trial and error, but the key is to persist until it's perfect. Check this out https://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=co2-measurement-using-a-drop-checker

With a tank the size you've chosen and being a newbie, ready mixed fertz make sense. I use TNC Complete.

 

[Wulfen]

Do I need to get some sort of timer for the Co2?

The EA glass pipe work set is good too

I like the idea of glass. Will have to check it out. Is it a replacement for the spray bar and intake of the filter?

 

[J@mes]

Do I need to get some sort of timer for the Co2?

I like the idea of glass. Will have to check it out. Is it a replacement for the spray bar and intake of the filter?

Yes, it has the skimmer on the inlet. comes in 2 bore sizes, get the bigger one for the Oase filter if that’s what you go for

 

[Wulfen]

Yes, it has the skimmer on the inlet. comes in 2 bore sizes, get the bigger one for the Oase filter if that’s what you go for

Many thanks, James

 

[Siege]

As for CO2, a fire extinguisher set up will be the cheapest to buy and run. Go direct to CO2 Art for the regulator. Any of these will do https://www.co2art.eu/collections/co2-regulators Don't get too hung up on a dual stage, they are nice to have but at the end of the day it makes little difference. I use both single and dual stage and both work well and I've never experienced end of cylinder tank dump.
I use an original Up inline atomiser and that works well, and it's one less piece of kit in the tank.
.

Personally I’d be inclined to go for a dual stage, i run 1 single stage and 2 dual stage. The dual stage needle valve is of better quality and I dont need to worry about the dreaded end of stage dump. I need to fiddle with the single stage a lot more where as I leave my dual stage ones alone and pretty much forget about them.

Yes I know you don’t get the end of stage dump with the more high end single stage ones.

If you want a dual stage one up to you if you buy direct from co2 Art or Aquarium Gardens. The price is the same.
Of course you can save money with a single stage one.

Re inline co2, upto you. Personally I find the fine mist distracting in a small tank, fine and better in the bigger 900 tank but too much in the 600, but that is just me. No right or wrong.

 

[Tim Harrison]

If you want a dual stage one up to you if you buy direct from co2 Art or Aquarium Gardens. The price is the same.
Of course you can save money with a single stage one.

Yes absolutely, if you want a dual stage go with Aquarium Gardens every time. I meant if you're budget conscious and you want a single stage reg CO2 Art is always an alternative option.

 

[Wulfen]

Personally I’d be inclined to go for a dual stage, i run 1 single stage and 2 dual stage. The dual stage needle valve is of better quality and I dont need to worry about the dreaded end of stage dump. I need to fiddle with the single stage a lot more where as I leave my dual stage ones alone and pretty much forget about them.

Yes I know you don’t get the end of stage dump with the more high end single stage ones.

If you want a dual stage one up to you if you buy direct from co2 Art or Aquarium Gardens. The price is the same.
Of course you can save money with a single stage one.

Re inline co2, upto you. Personally I find the fine mist distracting in a small tank, fine and better in the bigger 900 tank but too much in the 600, but that is just me. No right or wrong.

Many thanks. I will go with the kit recomended https://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/aquarium-co2-kit-pro-se-complete-system-673-p.asp I shall also have a think about using an inline version. I like the idea of being able to see it in the tank though. Then I can spot a problem and nip it in the bud.