• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

My first planted tank going low tech :)

Matt1988

Matt1988

Member
Joined
12 Sep 2012
Messages
63
Hello all,

I've decided to close down an 6' reef set up and go for a small planted tank (200L) I'm going to be buying a plant collection from the internet, and im going to try and run DIY Co2 to start with. If that doesnt give the right results I'll get a TMC kit. I'm planing on using two 1000HD Grobeams (but I'm open to suggestions) not a 100% sure on fish yet probaly small schooling fish danios tetras etc.

I'm going to be using tesco's low dust cat litter as a substright and a dusting of Osmocote, the 27 page thread I found on this site is why I joined :)http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8572&hilit=tesco

I have a pic from a website of the tank I'll be buying (I have to redecorate the livingroom and hall first)

I also have a pic of my intended hard scape with a kitchen roll take base template :lol:
once I work out how to add pic's I'll edit them in.

Thats all for now thanks for reading,
Matt
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Hello,
It's almost a guarantee that you'll have problems using a yeast based CO2 system on 200 liters. Save yourself the trouble and do more research on CO2gas cylinders or CO2 fire extinguishers with regulators. The biggest mistake people make when entering this arena is they skimp on CO2 and filtration yet have no qualms about spending money on super sexy lighting. The success of your tank will depend on how competent you are in distributing CO2 and flow to the plants, NOT in how fancy your lighting is. Have you though about how much flow you will use in the tank? What about the CO2 reactor, given that any thought? Without considering these issues your growbeam megwatt devices will only hasten the demise of the tank.

Cheers,
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Hi Matt. I second what Clive just said. Also, if you are buying the growbeams new, did you mean HD or did you mean ND which is the more normal one that goes with planted tanks ? It wont make a difference to the plants really, but most people find they prefer the visual spectrum of the ND. You will want to run them with a controller or be able to raise or lower them too. Clive has already alluded to it, but if you run them both on 100% and they are too close to the tank then you will find that output is pretty high and this will cause algae problems. Balancing the photoperiod and intensity with correct levels of CO2 and getting it distributed is the key to success.

A simple CO2 Fire Extinguisher set up need not be too expensive and it is almost false economy not to jump in at this level rather than trying to codge together a DIY system. You can pick most things up pretty cheap. I believe there is a TMC regulator and solenoid set on Ebay at the moment (not mine, lol) for quite a cheap price. If you are unsure what components you need then feel free to ask, but it is well documented in this thread ...http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7696

Also it would be worth reading the article on using Drop Checkers as an indication of CO2 levels that can be found here... http://www.ukaps.org/drop-checker.htm along with the one on EI ferts (which will save you money in the medium to long term) here... http://www.ukaps.org/EI.htm.

Good luck, sounds like you are on the right track :)
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Thanks for the info I'll look into the FE stuff :) and no I haven't bought the tiles yet, I do have a 4x 24w T5 unit and with some new tubes would this be enough over the center of 100cm long/40cm wide /50cm high tank? The water hight will be about 45-46cm the only thing is its on an oak stand with an oak lid and I didn't want it to over heat with the T5's that's why I was thinking LED's

For filtration I'm looking at the allpondsolutions external with uv 2000L/H

Thanks,
Matt
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Hi Matt welcome to the forum :)
As a general rule 2 x T5 the length of the tank works very well, so you have about the right wattage.
You could build a design around the lights & have an island scape with the majority of plant in the middle slopping down to the edges with perhaps some plants like Anubis that attract algae under bright lighting.
If it is at all possible go for an open top tank as this certainly looks a lot nicer in my opinion & avoids the heat issue!
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

I opend the link that Antipofish gave and one of the first pic's reminded me of a broken calcium reactor I had in the shed, been out to it and now have a half full Co2 bottle same as in that pic and a regulator and solinoid valve :D
I'm not sure the solinoid is working as I losened the knobs on the regulator and it bubbling in my bucket with the solinoid unpluged. I've got a photobucket account now so I'll add up some pics of the Co2 and tank + hard scape ideas

Matt
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

IMG_1027.jpg


IMG_1028.jpg


IMG_1029.jpg


IMG_1030.jpg


I dont know what this clip does is this holding it open?
IMG_1031.jpg


Now the scape idea's so far some have pebbles in and after a few try's I got fed up keep laying them out :lol: all will have half buried pebbles to make it look more like a river bed :)
1
IMG_1010.jpg

2
IMG_1011.jpg

3
IMG_1012.jpg

4
IMG_1014.jpg

5
IMG_1016.jpg

6
IMG_1017.jpg


and the tank I plan to get (has to have a hood with a lid to hide the lights and stop light spilling into the room
fwtank.jpg


Matt
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Just received my filter and diffuser bits in the post and have taken some pics :)
vave2a7e.jpg

I used a pint glass for scale :)
Also got my glass bubble counter and diffuser
uja8a9yq.jpg

y5ysu3uv.jpg

The diffuser is tiny and I think I'm going to look for an inline diffuser of some type can anyone recommend one for 20/25mm filter pipe?

Thanks
Matt
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Looking good.. can see you have trailed the positioning of your wood for quite some time ;) this is always the best way! your diffuser looks fine, yeah they are small (I bought 3 of the same ones u have of ebay) and there is no difference in performance. if anything there small and hidden from view :) looking forward to seeing more progression. What filter is that? and how many litres is your tank?
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Hi jackryhm it's an allpondsolutions 2000ef+ the + is basically it has a built in uv light god knows how good the uv is being built in but for £10 extra it was worth a go :)

I spent awhile on the wood (wife thinks I'm mad for taking pics :lol: )

The tank info says 200L but will end up after gravel and wood etc at about 180ish maybe 200 including the filter

I wasn't to sure on the diffuser so I went shopping again, tomorrow I should have all the fitting for a DIY inline co2 reactor in 40mm pipe and once I get the cabinet set up I'll be making one that just fits inside :)

Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

sounds good. DIY co2 is just asking for trouble :( if its money your worried about then do not worry because im a student so I dont even know what money is anymore! I never see any! but I have set up my whole c02 kit for less than 40 quid.. just buy a cheap co2 fire extinguisher off ebay for around 20 quid.. or ask someone that works in a building to sneakily grab you one! and then look for second hand bits off ebay. I had a DIY co2 kit but it just went so wrong and wish I had never bothered. Would of rather had nothing than do that. But there are definitely options out there trust me! you could even get an empty one from somewhere and get a refill for pretty cheap..

:)
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Yeah agree with Jack as FE and reg can be bought for under £40 if you look hard enough , although it looks like you have it sorted already...Nothing wrong with the disposable welding tanks, just works out cheaper to buy a FE in the long run. Also try and get some good hardscape, rocks are aseticaly the most important factor in my opinion. Good luck with it all
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

I've got the welding bottle above with the regulator and solenoid. It's just the diffuser I'm going to DIY (not a reactor sorry wrong word) I'll be making this one :) viewtopic.php?f=20&t=18275 but I'll be using a T in the inlet hose, to mix the co2 before the diffuser to reduce the chance of leaks and increase the contact time with the water and it will enter the tank through the filter spray bar across the full length of the tank to maximise the distribution.

Matt
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

that topic seems pretty interesting, pretty clever too. although I think I would have problems going along that route as Im not keen on the bulkiness of it, I couldn't quite work out where it was going to be housed but depending on the sort of style tank people prefer, I can imagine it standing out like a sore thump in an iwagumi for instance unless it was placed at the back at the bottom of the tank but this would then lack decent water flow.. So im pretty keen to see what you do with it ;) still pretty impressed :)
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

The diffuser will be external to the tank in the cupboard with the filter and heat so the only things in the tank will be a drop checker, thermometer and black filter pipes. I'm planning to do a black background to match

After some research it seems the ceramic diffusers will use more co2 and be harder to disperse it evenly throughout the tank without a power head and I don't really want an ugly power head in the tank :)


Just to clarify the outlet pipe from the filter will attach to the top of the pipe diffuse and then from the bottom more pipe to the heater and then the spray bar this shouldn't affect the flow from the filter as it has a 2.5M head hight hope it's clearer how I'm going to set it up. As soon as my other tank is sold and living room floor is done I'll be able to start putting pics up of things in situ :D

Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Good luck with your reactor build Matt, bear in mind that all pipe work will cause restrictions to the pump flow especially bends or elbows!
I think I saw that you mentioned using 40mm pipe, you might need a pretty long length depending on the flow because the flow will not be diffused as much as using 50 -60mm pipe so the bubbles will travel faster & further down the pipe.
The main issues with your design are - you cant tell if the thing is working because you cant see what is happening inside the reactor & a build up of gas inside might take two hours to dissolve after the gas is shut off!
It would be a lot easier to start off with an inline diffuser :)
look at the 'UP inline diffusers' as they are fantastic for growing plants, very small & neat, simple to fit & cheap!
If you are really into DIY this more compact design might interest you viewtopic.php?f=20&t=23337
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Thanks for the link :) the reason I didn't try the up inline was I would have to reduce the filter pipe from 20/25 down to 16/22 and would that not increase the flow past the atomiser? The idea I had for the DIY one if the flow was to high was to use 2 Y pieces to split the flow if needed to slow it down but I hope I don't have to from the thread it looks like it will work fine if not I have a spare RO di pod I could try to adapt from the link you gave

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: My first planted tank :)

Yep 20/25mm it's 55W guessing that includes the 9W uv it's output is 2000L/h with a max head height of 2.5M

Matt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top