my first planted Aquarium

[CrispyCod]

Hi All,

Have just joined UKAPS after having read numerous articles and Journals. Website is great, and very helpful to a newb such as myself. My girlfriend has an Aquastart 320 (now filling up with plants1), and a larger empty tank, she has managed to get me hooked on tropical Aquariums!

we are about to start our first adventure into a proper planted aquarium, and will be keeping a journal, hopefully to get as much help as we can! :?

A few details of the proposed setup...

Tank: length 115, Depth (front to back) 34, Height 31. Slightly odd shape (very long!) which should make for an interesting scape.
Filter: EHEIM 2073 Professional 3. Just over 1kl/hour. with filter material losses should provide a turnover of about 7?
Cal Aqua Eflux 13mm F2
Cal Aqua Influx 13mm X2
Heater:Hydor Eth 300-16 in line.
C02 system; pressurised, unsure of exact setup as of yet.
Lighting: Arcadia Luminaire. 2 x T5 54Watts, which if my maths is right should give approx 3W/Gallon.
Substrate: Leaning towards ADA Aqua soil. in various grades, plus inert layer for bulking

Thats it at the moment, All this is quite an investment for a first time, so wanted to make sure I had it all right before spending!

Will post some pictures of the tank soon.

Any comments or suggestions much appreciated...

Thanks for viewing,


Chris

 

[Piece-of-fish]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Sounds like almost everything is sorted equipment wise.
I would suggest just in case getting a powerhead for additional flow. It is never too much
Also 3wpg to start with is a bit too much. If your luminaire allows you to switch bulbs separately the very good way would be to run just one bulb and to have 2 just for 3-4 hours. Plants need only short period of intense light and will reward you with healthier grows and less algae troubles.
Regarding substrate depends on your budget. If you can afford go for expensive soil.
For me this is the last thing i would spend money for if the budget is limited.
Good luck...

 

[CrispyCod]

Hey,

Thanks for the feedback.

been doing some thinking about the specs etc...cant seem to stop myself, taking over my life!

what Ive come up with...

Flow:
With the length of the tank in proportion to its depth etc, i am thinking of maybe dropping the filter spec a little and using two (one at each end). This would hopefully have second benefit of helping to prevent any disasters from a failure in one. Not so keen on the spray bar approach, from an aesthetic point of view, but for simplicity and ensuring a good flow this may still be the best option. Powerhead is now on the shopping list as a backup. Thanks for the input.

Lights:

If your luminaire allows you to switch bulbs separately the very good way would be to run just one bulb and to have 2 just for 3-4 hours. Plants need only short period of intense light and will reward you with healthier grows and less algae troubles.

Looked at the specs, and doesnt seem possible to control the lights separately, as per so may have to run with one as Corki suggested. which one to run though? As they have different characteristics...?
Another possibility would be to swap the tubes out and use lower wattage versions, does anyone know if that is possible with the standard Arcadia Lamps...?

Co2:
with the plan to use lower lighting, is a pressurised system still necessary? could I get away with Liquid dosing in a tank of this size? Also went and had a look at TGM's website, and they do a complete kit which may well be ideal for me, but unsure for what tank size it would suit. (plus a long way to drive, Im a Bournemouth resident.)

Loving the drop checkers, guessing during setup would be best to get the Co2 right, in the nominal position, then move the drop checker around, while adjusting my flow etc...put a day aside for that one.

Plan to psend Sunday to start getting the tank in shape, so I promise to take some photos, and a couple of drawings of the 'scape ideas, probably far more interesting for everyone than my newbie questions.

As you’re going to use pressurised CO2 I would look into the estimative index (EI) method of fert dosing. Use one of the many dosing calculators available like Nutri Calc which you can download and of course read this http://www.ukaps.org/EI.htm more than once

Started my first read of the EI dosing methods, going to allow that to sink in a bit, then read it again, thanks Corki. :?

Thanks again for reading,

Chris