Hi all I planning on building a tank and stand with the above mentioned dimensions. If I can put in a sump, should I? If I do the whole palmfiber peat substrate thing, do I need any anything else for the plants except ferts and the chemicult? Lighting will installed from the ceiling. What lighting would I require to have sufficient light for plants to grow? I was thinking about putting in Glossostigma elatinoides and some other plants that I still need to find…. I plan to stock only small fish. Let me know if Im planning something that will not work, Im new at this:blink1:
Hi Prime, Please go the the new members area and introduce yourself? Yes, if you can fit a sump, it would be best suited. Chemicult, waterferts and HIGH lights is good for lush plant growth, BUT without CO2 being put into the tank, you might find an outbreak of algae too. So you need to experiment and find the balance.
Thanks I was thinking of adding co2 to the tank with a yeast setup, as that looks the cheaps way of doing it now. Would I need more than one 2 litre bottle with yeast and suger for a tank of this size?
For that tank size I would definitely recommend looking at a pressurized system. yeast method is alot of work and not nearly as effective in a bigger tank than a pressurized system.
Ok, so that would mean I need a pressurized system. Another stupid question, what is the purpose of the sump? I need some clarification here
Sump filters the water. The water fills up the first chamber, overflowes inthe the second, then into the thirs and so forth in an over, under sort of way with different filter media in each chamber. The nice thing is you can aerate and heat your water from the sump, and therefore elliminate uneccassary clutter in the tank.
a pressurized system consists of 1)a co2 canister/cylinder(some people use sodastream bottles,but research first) 2)Pressure Regulator & Needle valve 3)You can look at a solenoid valve that will cut of co2 supply when your lights is off. It is an expensive excersize but well worth it in the end imo. You get full control of your co2 and very little maintenance.
Hi Prime, I'm about to make a few enemies now, and have a number of people will say I'm talking absolute crap, but...... If you are using the Palm Fibre Peat, and Dirks Secret Druppels (the Profs ferts) and have good light, then i wouldn't use CO2. Most plants will grow happily under these conditions without CO2. And only a small group of 'fussy' plants require CO2. You are in Cape Town where we have really low water hardness, and adding CO2 can cause large fluctuations in pH or at least a sudden drop in pH. So again, unless you are going to try and buffer the water to avoid such drops, there is little point in using CO2. I'm sure your plants would love it, but the fish won't like sudden pH changes, even if they are able to survive in pH as low as 4!! And when i say a sudden change, I mean going from pH 7.8 to pH 4 in a week!! So maybe do a little more research, and decide if the expense of adding CO2 is worth the expense of unhappy, diseased or dead fish?? Cheers G!
Ok, so on the one side you have CO2 into the tank and then PH fluctuations, and the other side, no CO2 into the tank and then I might get algea growth:blink1: What if only a small amount of CO2 in put into the tank via the yeast method?
You will need to find the balance that works with your tank lighting. Certain algae blooms under low CO2.... basically you need to get what works for your type of water, bio-load, plant load, and light load. This goes against a lot of the plant pro's opinions... But my feeling is that when you have to prune your plants back every few weeks, and you don't have huge amounts of algae... you stick to doing whatever it was you were doing to get to that stage. If your tank is growing well with the light levels, the fertz etc, don't much around with CO2 and undergravel fertz if it's working for you already.
Im trying to get my growth rate up a bit so ive added CO2 and downed the lighting hours... Cuz i have lots of algea at the moment! ush:
Update Ordered the tank today!!! Thinking about putting T5's on a pulley system suspended from the roof, any comments on the T5's are welcome.
hi all Got the tank and stand yesterday!! But, alas I'm off to west africa on the weekend and all the fun will have to wait for a month or 2.... Also got a light fitting, 2xt5 HE 35w/865 and 2xt5 35w/B10000k, I have it on my 120l tank at the moment(other light had a brain fart). Does anyone where I can find Styrofoam, either in block form or sheets
Thanks Donny, was there yesterday, but their sheets are 1.2m in length, looking for sheets at least 1.5m in length. Will post picks of my plan if I find something that will work...:blink1:
No problem Prime. if you thinking of making a 3d back ground that would be awesome a friend of mine is actually making false rocks and has now started on a back ground will get pics up once i have some
check my post under Hallo, have a look at the water feeature I have used for a 3d background, also povides lots of shelter for the fish
