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Greetings,

I have never done a log of my own but I am getting a 40 gal from my dad (which is an upgrade) and I wanted to start one of my own. So since it will be about a week until I get my tank I wanted to start getting my lists together and start asking questions.

So here is my fish (?) list:
Pair of juvenile angelfish
10 Rasbora heteromorpha
1 Rubberlip Pleco
3 Otocinclus Niger
NOTE: I am not sure what else to place in this tank. I may want to up the amount of oto's

Filtration: I am deciding between the Filstar XP2, Emperor 400, Ecco Eheim 2234. I have always used HOB filters and I am not sure if I am sold on canisters yet.

Plants:
8 Corkscrew Val
6 Jungle Val
3 medium Amazon Sword
1 medium Red Rubin Sword
2 Anacharis
3 Cabomba
3 Narrow-leaf Ludwigia
5 potted tennellus Chain Swords

Ferts? Unsure
Heater: 150W
Lighting: Need help

Well that is it for now.

Hi:

just a little bit input - you have a nice list of plants there and some (like the echinodorus tenellus) require quite a bit of light if you want to keep them happy! I just suffered through the disappointment of having not enough light, so my advice try to get as much as you are willing to afford. The number you want to watch is wpg (watt per gallon). From my mediocre understand above 2 to 3 wpg (this would be anything between 80 to 120 watts) is considered medium light. There is a nice thread on this site. For the tenellus I am assuming you will need even more. Watch for freshwater lights with 6,700 Kelvin.

Filtration: eheim versus Filstar - I have them both running my big tank. The Eheim I would purchase again, the Filstar definitively not! It is cgheaper, true, but so is the quality of the material and the construction of the parts. Priming is also slightly different and requires some patience ... and the turn over rate is also an exaggeration. I don't have any experience with the Emperor.

If you go for more lights, you might want to consider CO2, but here I stop as I am a newbie myself.

The fish list is quite nice & yes, you can add more Otos or maybe a school of Corydoras.

As filtration, i would choose Eheim. It cost more but i think it's also better.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Catdancer:

Yes I was figuring about 1.5w/ gal needed. I think I can increase that to 2 or 3. I have been looking at different lighting fixtures but I dont have the dementions of the tank. I will continue to look but I will settle on about 6700 k.

jasonpisani:

I was thinking Eheim but I really like HOB filters as well. IYO what do you think are its strengths?

I used to have a HOB Hydor filter in a 100cm tank, but changed to an Eheim canister filter with a spray bar & personally the Eheim is better.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Well,
aside from the fact that they are extremely powerful, I like best the option to load them with a wide variety of differnt filter media, eg i have discus and I am very concerned about nitrate buid up when traveling which I have to do and my minder is ... well, not fish experienced. To prevent any mishap I load my smaller filter with a nitrate remover 9shrt term) and this works like a charm. the bigger filter (an Eheim) contains peat to bring the pH down and soften the water a bit as my tap water is not so great for south american cichlids. I have two smaller tanks that I am running with HOB and this is not an option - just the available inserts and that's it.

hope this helps, let me know if you have further questions

Ah it has been a while since I posted. But I am back. Thanks for all the help with the filter question. I think I am going to use my Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel Filter. I am currently running it in my 20 gal (yeah...oops...picked up the wrong filter by mistake...but great water quality ) Since this is already been doing its thing for a year and a half it will help in cycling my tank. If that is not enough I will use (in addition) an AC20 will different filter media. I have soft water in Portland so I wont need to lower it any more.

I am not working on figuring out what type of lighting to get. My tank should be coming in about a month.

Ah here is what I am thinking for lighting: 2-65W 6700K Coralife. I am really bad at this lighting thing but this looks like it could work with my plant list. Any thoughts and links would be helpful.

smapty, Your lighting choice sounds good , that will give you 3w per gal . This means you will have plenty of light , but will mean that you will need to decide on Ferts and how you are going to do C02 , either thru Excel or direct injection .

Perhaps it would be a good idea to have a read of Little Fish's logs , they are very informative . He has Hi-tech and Low - Tech tanks so you can take your pick . But with that much light you will need something or the algae will take over because the balance won't be right .

Good Luck ,

Enjoy
Garry

Yes I stumbled upon LittleFish's logs today. I am currently going through the 40 gal one. I am not sure (cause I am still learning) what you mean by to much light. I am going to use Excel for ferts. How much and when I am not sure. Should I lower my lights wattage? Ah lots to learn.

ADD: I have figured I am going to need atleast 1.5w/ gal with about 10 mg of CO2/ liter. So does this change what kind of lights I need to get? Also what then becomes my options for less money?

An Update:

So my dad got my tank this weekend and the people he got it from nicked the glass and cracked one of the sides of the glass. SO....we are going to have to replace it.

Also the dementions of the tank are: 48in long x 12.5in deep x 16in tall. So I think justifies a 40 gal long right? Anywho I am hoping it will be ok for Angelfish. Ideas?