Hobos Planted Tank

[Hobo joe]

Well guys im setting myself a 3ft planted tank. tank dimensions are 910x310x380 LWH, water level at 330. Filtration is taken care of by a 2ft 3 chamber sump. This tank was previously a reef tank, but i got caught up in tryna maintain this reef tank, and my 5ft reeftank and also tryna get my mini livebearer farm up and running, so i decided to shut this one down and make it a planted tank. Tank will be emptied tonight and all livestock and live rock will go into my 5ft reeftank, then i will give it a freshwater rinse to remove any excess salt. Now for Equipment rundown

Lighting - Lights will be T5. 1x 39watt Osram 4000K ( i used the same tube to grow corals and it works like a bomb ) and 1x 39watt reeftek blue. Both will be mounted on a "gullwing" reflector

Substrate - 20 Kg's of Playsand ( washed in Reverse Osmosis water so there will be no phosphates trapped insde )

heating - 1 x 200w AquaH20, which will soon be replaced by the AquaH2O Microchip digital control heater

Supplementation - Brightwell aquatics ( mostly the FlorinMulti), and maybe a DIY Co2 system in the future.

Return pump - RS Electrical RS-28, 3000l/h plumbed through 25mm Class 9 pressure pipe.

Hope I havnt forgot anything....

[Irma]

Sounds great!

What mini livebearer farm?

[Hobo joe]

My backyard mini livebearer farm thats in progress of being setup....

[Irma]

Cool - can you update your profile to show where you stay?

[Hobo joe]

certainly

[Hobo joe]

Sump is being modified today to suit my needs. Was also thinking of adding two royal red discus to the system once its up & running

[Hobo joe]

My plans for this tank are as follows:-
Run quite a deep substrate and heavy planting, the sump will consist of a bubble trap and then overflow into a 'natural feed section', where i hope to add some (censored!) and a shallow sand bed, with a top layer of natural river mud, the water will flow over that and then overflow back into my return chamber.
After a month or so i will add fish - planning on two royal red discus (thats all for now)

[Hobo joe]

Any comments so far?

[Henk Hugo]

Any comments so far?

the tank is WAY to shallow for discus and i suggest you read this thread

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=2499

[Dolphin]

nice project you have there...

some comments:
- the tank is not suitable for discus, as henk pointed out - it is too shallow.
- the reeftek blue tube cannot be used for this tank as it will encourage algae growth.
- get a 6500K or 6400K tube.
- preferably you need to use a substrate fertiliser.
- stay away from the diy co2, it cant be controlled.
- the outlet from the tank feeding into the sump needs to be below the water surface and the flow must be controlled so the surface is not agitated which will cause the co2 to be lost at the water surface.

the tank will be low light so ensure that the plants you get are suitable.

[Hobo joe]

Good point on the depth of the tank. I actually didnt realize!!. It will probably be mainly planted and some community fish. Will look into the 6500k tube, and im gonna run my old 12 000k reeftek for fish colour. is anyone using brightwell aquatics FLORINMULTI??

oh i decided to steer clear of the DIY Co2 till i can afford the proper unit

[Henk Hugo]

12 000 kelvins = algea. rather go for 6500

[Hobo joe]

Does builders express keep palm fiber peat bricks? And are T8 tubes good enough for a planted tank?? say A sylvania grolux and a phillips 865?? Both would be 18w T8s on a "gullwing" reflector, on a 3ft

[Gert Combrink]

Quote :"phillips 865" This refers to a T8 at 6500K. - correct tube!
Try and find the Phillips Lifemax TDL 865.

[Hobo joe]

Thanks gert. I have one at home that hasnt been used yet. I will plug it on with a sylvania grolux just to get max results.
Would you guys recommend chucking about 40 or so iron nails under the playsand?

[Gert Combrink]

Make sure the playsand is realy clean!
You can always stick the 3/4 inch nails in later, under the swords and crypt roots!

[Zoom]

PFP bricks and the chemicult are available from the builder's I went to.

40 iron nails soudns a little much... what size are they?

[f-fish]

"playsand" ... hmmm my understanding is that it contains either ant-fungal additives or salt, neither a great way to start a tropical aquarium. Some brands do claim to be natural - not sure if that means no salt added. If you are unsure see if you can get hold of the supplier to confirm.

[Gert Combrink]

"playsand" ... hmmm my understanding is that it contains either ant-fungal additives or salt, neither a great way to start a tropical aquarium. Some brands do claim to be natural - not sure if that means no salt added. If you are unsure see if you can get hold of the supplier to confirm.

Good Advice! That's what I actually wanted to say!
+1 for you!

[Hobo joe]

Thanks guys. i used the same brand of playsand in my reeftank with no problems.

[Hobo joe]

has anybody used the tetraplant Co2 Optimat system before?

[Rudi]

has anybody used the tetraplant Co2 Optimat system before?
Used it ,didn't like it.It depends how big your tank is,the Co2 diffusing is very slow.
In my opinion a waste of money.Still have mine plus half cannister.

[cheddar254]

Hi,

why such completely different colour bulbs? why not just go for 2 daylights? or 6500ks? i do not think it would be aethestically pleasing?

[Hobo joe]

Well i did the lighting recently....All T8s
The lights are
1xPhillips lifemax TLD 865
1xBlue
1x Sylvania Aquastar 10k
1x Sylavnia grolux

Total wattage in the tank is 72watts, the Display tank is 90l so id like to add another tube.

I would like the lighting to eventually consist of only 3x 6500ks and 2x sylvania grolux's
i also added some vallisneria, and two java fern

[Rowland]

the reason for the blue light?