100l lighting requirement and 12l heating requirement

Hi All

I need help with 2 questions:

a) Has anyone used Sicce Scuba 25w heaters and are they any good. They are very expensive and I have bought one for a 12l breeding tank as I could not find any other options. Any other suggestions for a heater for small breeding tanks would be much appreciated as this heater cost more than the entire tank setup.

b) How much of what lighting would i require for a 100l community tank to grow a few plants. I am new at this so I will be doing as basic a setup as possible. I have read @Zoom 's article on the planted tank and I'm looking at a water column dosing method so a low to medium tech tank. I would also like suggestions on small grassy plants (for small fish to wade thru - ie Tetras, rasbora), taller plants (20-30cm) for the back and sides of the tank and red/purple plants for a bit of colour. I know a lot is posted about this so I am reading what I can but initial guidance would be great.


Thanks, Marc

 

Hey Marc I also landed up buying one of the Scuba heaters for a twelve litre, very pricey but been running mine for quite a while now and it holds the temp nice and stable. I tried a couple of other options, like a dolphin 50 watt, but the temp fluctuation between heater switching on and off was almost 5 degrees. The only 25 watt I could find in CPT were the pricey ones, and I went all over.
Forgot to add, a friend of mine had one running for 5 years before it gave in:blink1:

 

@tranzoid - I had the same problem with the 50w Dophin. My tank would jump between 24 and 31 degrees. I tried attaching fans as i have a 4w internal light and ballast and I thought that was the problem. Eventually I took the heater back and they replaced it, but I had the same issues. Kept it as a spare and bought the Sicce. Since I have put the heater in my tank is stable at 26 degrees.

 

Nice, I am almost certain a dolphin 25 watt would do the trick, the 50 watt needs a greater volume. But none of the LFS I have been to have ever even stocked dolphin 25's, it still feels wrong to drop so much on a heater for 12 litres but what can a nano tank lover do!

 

what about a Hygrophila corymbosa for the background .

 

I'm interested to see what recommendations are made by way of lighting for a 3ft tank like yours as I'm also looking at lighting my 3ft for going planted.

I think Resun do a 25w or 50w heater that works well in nano tanks. I have one in one of my 1ft tanks and it's already been going for a good couple of years with virtually no temp difference between switch on and off.

 

@Dewald Coetzer - Thanks very much for the suggestion and more importantly the pic. I will read up about it...

 

Sicce is a great brand, I had a pump (water) that ran with zero issues for the 7 years I had it and was still running when I sold it with a tank.

I grow Java Fern and Java Moss like weeds in my 100l using 3 x T8 24cm 18w 6500k tubes, this works out at about 0.5w per litre.

 

@DarylA - Are the 3 T8's in one fitting? My new tank is coming with the standard tube and ballast so not sure if I would need to get a new light fitting or if I can just add more of the tube and ballast option?

 

@MarcHawke Not one fitting, I use 3 individual electronic ballast units.

As long as your canopy has the space then you can simply add the extra tubes. I like the electronic units because they take up very little space.

 

@DarylA - What do you do about the ballasts? Have you fixed them to the tank or do they hang down behind? They seem to make the lead from the light fittings to the ballast very short.

 

Sorry for answering the question addressed to Daryl - who might have a different opinion anyway! I have a similar setup - but I used slightly diff tubes - its a matter of choice, but I agree that that configuration will give enough light for lowtech plants, but I'd suggest starting with simple plants before trying the reds - they need a lot more input to look good.

I added a homemade reflector (used white perspex) - the ballasts - simple! double sided mirror tape to attach them to the canopy & cable ties to tidy away the excess bits of cable. I blew a ballast by having it hang behind... the spray bar on my filter tilted when I wasn't looking, water crept out the tank and down the cable - with predictable results! :laugh:

 

@MarcHawke my tank has the normal plastic LFS hood and I have my ballasts attched to the outside with double sided tape.

 

@tracyp - I've blown one ballast and light in a similar way. Do you have them on the outside like @DarylA or on the inside? In my 12l tank its on the inside and gets reasonably warm.

 

on the OUTSIDE - always. Blown another from condensation when installed inside.

 

Hi All

Thanks for the responses so far. Still looking for suggestions on plants and lighting for my 100l tank. So far I've had 3no T8's suggested. Sounds like a lot of light. Are standard 6500k flourescent (sp?) tubes ok or must they be aquarium specific?

 

I use standard 6500k Daylight Globes.

3 x 18w Tubes is not a lot, as I said before... It works out at about 0.5w per litre.

 

@DarylA - With your lights do you get much of an algae buildup or growth?

 

Algae can crop up at any stage but for a long time now I have had no major issues.

I have a fair amount of Java Fern and Java Moss. I have the discussed lighting.I use a Fluval 403 Canister Filter so I have great water flow. I dose with Flourish Excel daily, Potassium Nitrate(Kno3) every second day and Flourish Comprehensive on the other days. I do a 60l water change weekly and use Seachem Neutral Regulator to condition my tap water.

A lot of people don't recommend Neutral Regulator for planted tanks due to the fact that it is a Phosphate based buffer which - as I very recently found out - adds about 30ppm Phosphate per dose. Excess Phosphate can cause algae issues but I have never had a problem.

The trick is a balance where the plants utilise the nutrients instead of the algae.

 

@DarylA - Ok. Thats a lot of dosing etc. Does it have to be this involved or can I get away with an easier plant/light/dosing setup. I'm not trying to create a heavily planted tank. A few plants around for a bit of green and a few places for smaller fish to "wade". I don't like artificial plants. I'm having huge success at growing the floaty plant sold in LFS's (sorry - I tried to find a name for it :embarrest under a Daro FloGlo 10w T8 in my 25l tank.