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hi im new

big chris

Seedling
Joined
12 Sep 2008
Messages
18
Location
southampton
hi im chris and have recently got rid of my marine tank to make way for a new planted tropical tank,

i have had pt tanks in the past (10years agoish) and everything seems to have come on somewhat!
the tank is a osaka 260 i have a fx5 filter and have painted the glass black.

i saw a planted tank by chance a week or so ago and the chap pointed me in this direction,
i have loitered around for a few days and thought id better ask some questions


firstly one question is what books do you guys/gals reccomend?


thanks chris
 
For inspiration and such the Nature Aquarium books by Takeshi Amano are great. They're on sale from Aqua Essentials, one of our sponsors. PFK is good too.

Apart from that, you'll find all you need on this forum and on other websites! Off the top of my head a few good websites are:

CAU Aqua
The ADA Showcases
 
big chris said:
i have had pt tanks in the past (10years agoish) and everything seems to have come on somewhat!
the tank is a osaka 260 i have a fx5 filter and have painted the glass black.


thanks chris
How do you see in to the tank? ;)


Welcome Chris! :)

Thomas is right, this place should provide enough inspiration to keep you busy for a good while, but if its not enough, Google is your friend :)
 
well its all part of the fun you have to look down to it :D ,.

thanks for the super fast replies, the guy i met had some books by amano


also im a bit confused my substrate and heating, what are your guys preferred to both?
 
big chris said:
well its all part of the fun you have to look down to it :D ,.

thanks for the super fast replies, the guy i met had some books by amano


also im a bit confused my substrate and heating, what are your guys preferred to both?

There's no doubt about it that anyone on this forum would recommend ADA Aquasoil as the best substate. That's available from both our sponsors too!

You should ask in the Substrate section for more information

As far as heating goes, what do you wanna know? I don't think undergravel heating or heat cables are recommended either and the general rule that I go by is about 50w per 10g.

Hope this helps. :D
 
thats exactly what i wanted to know when i kept planted way back, heating cables were the business.

the fx5 is a great filter but the hydor ext heater wont fit, which sucks as this mean i will have to hide the heater somewhere in the tank i suppose,


i was looking at the ada stuff, a lfs told me today that ada and eco compltet were rubbish and to go for the tetra stuff,

oh well looks like ill go and take a look in the substrate section,


cheers chris
 
big chris said:
i was looking at the ada stuff, a lfs told me today that ada and eco compltet were rubbish and to go for the tetra stuff,

oh well looks like ill go and take a look in the substrate section,


cheers chris
Probably because they don't stock it :D

ADA AquaSoil is the bees knees, but you can have great success with other substrates, including plain gravel.
 
If you an ex-marine then I suspect you'll be drawn towards high-tech but, before taking that route I would recommend exploring the El Natural option too. Not suggesting that it is better - just another approach which may appeal. Diana Walstad's book makes a good, in depth, read.
 
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