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I ordered this system last week and its doing fine..I am only 16 yrs/old so if I can set it up it must be preety easy to maintain..Any more questions on this system just ask..

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=9935&N=2004+113779[/font]

Jim,

The 96W will be good enough to lgiht up most plants, maybe not the real high light ones.

I have no doubt that the Vals would do fine

Keep on looking for aditional plants, anubais and crypts are fine (even in low light), but which of these species, like anubias nana, crypt wendtii, and so forth.

Keep on digging. And just because the tank comes doesn't mean you have to set it all up right away. I had my 125G a month before I set it up as I was making sure that ALL hardware came first, and only then did I order my plants.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Okay, I went out and ordered a 38 gallon tank, which is the 36" x 12" x 20". Since there will be a bit of water displacement with substrate, driftwood, rockwork, etc., with the single strip 96W light that will give us close to the 3 WPG. Not quite, but close anyways.

The tank will be in on Thursday of this coming week. I need to order the light yet and will do so this week along with the CO2 regulator, tubing, diffuser etc..

The stand is almost complete, with the exception of final prep and applying the finish to it. This may take a few weeks depending on the weather as I don't like to apply the finish to it in the garage as it is too confined and the vapors get into the house.

After the tank gets here I can start planning the layout with the driftwood (I have several pieces that have been soaking for a long time now), rockwork and substrate to determine the positions before I decide which plants to order. Once all is ready I will post pictures for opinions and recommendations.

First plant recommendations will be appreciated as this is totally new to me and I'm obviously not familiar with many. I know I like the anubias type, crypt's, various mosses, etc. I've always liked val's, especially the cork screw variety, but not sure if there will be sufficient light to support it.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Jim,

I know that All-Glass Aquarium makes a 36” 2x55W unit, but I don’t know if they can be fired individually. You could try to call their customer service (although I haven’t seen a number) or e-mail them.

You know, after thinking about this light for a while I believe that a dual fixture with maybe 55w or 65w might have a downside. Because PCs in that range are shorter I would assume that they have one starting on the left and the other on the right, so even if they are set to be fired individually it wouldn’t help very much as one side of the tank would be rather dark when only half the unit would be turned on.

I guess the best light for a 36” inch tank would be a single 96W unit, at least from the available PCs. But that would be over 3wpg on the smallest tank and as such a little too much to be turned on for 10 to 12 hours, IMHO. On the largest tank it would be only 2.1wpg and as such almost too low for medium to high light plants. On the middle size it would be 2.6wpg and that might work out well.

I would suggest you thread this question out and ask for additional opinions on this subject.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Okay, I checked out several sites for lighting in the 85 to 100 watt range with the ability to run two lights on separate circuits, however was not successful in finding any.

Any suggestions as to a site where I could locate one? Found lots of lights with single controls. Did locate several lights with 2 controls, however they were in the 150 watt and above range, which would be too much for this tank.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

LF, I meant and the micros (plantex)

Jim,

“which one in your opinion would be best”

Well, the classic answer is: Depends

For one thing, the higher the tank (with same footprint) the more water it holds and as such the more light you need to achieve equal watts per gallon, aka $$$.

A downside of low tanks is that taller plants will reach the surface very soon (in particular in High tech Setups) and would start to cover up other plants in the tank. These, in turn, would not receive enough light anymore and eventually die. Given that you might not be able to spend load of time on frequent pruning you might be better off with a higher tank. But, if you happen to select plants that don’t tent to get high then a low one is fine.

The original tank you described has 36” x 12” x 15” = 28G
The other tanks would be 36” x 12” x 20” = 37G
And 36” x 12” x 24” = 45G

3wpg on 28G = 84w
3wpg on 37G = 111w
3wpg on 45G = 135w

With this I would like to bring your attention to the possible light fixtures. Please be so kind and check which one would fit on the 36” long tank and has (if possible) 2 individual units that can be turned on separately (as you most likely don’t want 3wpg all day long – for algae reasons) .

Hope this helps,

Ingo

EDIT: and let's not forget that taller tanks can hold more fish

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 19-Jan-2006 12:54

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Okay, I've been rethinking one of your earlier statements about the height of this particular aquarium only being 15". I have this particular tank already and that's why I was going to use it, however I checked out the All Glass Aquarium web site and they make a tank with the same foot print (L X W) but is 20" H. They also make one that is 24" H.

My question is would I be better off with one of these tanks? And if so which one in your opinion would be best?

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

ordered the KNO3 and the KH2PO4 and the macros

And the Macros? This are the macros. Did you order also Potassium Sulfate (the only other macro I could think of) or do you mean the Plantex (which are the micros).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I ordered the KNO3 and the KH2PO4 and the macros from Gregwatson's site last night. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Jim,

Didn’t see the ferts part when writing the last entry.

Well, you should add at least nitrate, potassium, phosphate, and a mix of micros (all the small amount goodies).

I like the [link=Greg Watson]http://www.gregwatson.com" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link] site and I would suggest you get from there the KNO3 and the KH2PO4, and you order from Big Al’s the Tropica Master Grow as your micros. But maybe you want to listen to other people first of what they would suggest you use.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Jim,

Basically that is correct. But (and of course there has to be a but ) it depends on the plants you want. For example:

- a small tenellus (pygmy chain sword) doesn't require a high substrate
- an amazon sword for sure does

I personally also believe that sloping of the substrate can create a nice effect, so does a terrace, and a mound, always having 3" at the lowest part.

I would say you wait until you know what plants you want, what kind of hardware decoration (wood, rocks), and how you want to lay it all out, before you decide on the total height.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 18-Jan-2006 11:03

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the link and the book recommendation. I'll get the book ordered up today. I will read through the info on the diffuser's later today when I get a few extra minutes. I'll hopefully be finishing up the stand for the tank this weekend (just need to finish the doors & locate the appropriate hinges for mounting) and then I'll be able to start getting the tank ready to go.

For your info I'm probably going to be using "Flourite" as the substrate as I've got a couple of bags on hand and will probably only need to pick up 1 or 2 more. What depth should I have? I was thinking about 3" to be sufficient. Is that correct?

Are there any particular ferts that I should get to have on hand for the initial setup? Any guidance there would be great.

Last edited by OldTimer at 18-Jan-2006 10:57

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Jim,

I will think some more about the lighting. In the meantime, in my opinion this is an excellent plant book:

Aquarium Plants by Christel Kasselmann

It doesn’t have all “new” plants in the hobby listed (as it was written a while ago and then translated into English), but you get loads of details on the plants in it.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm in the planning stages for a new tank (30 gallon long) and I'm considering going the CO2 route. However, I'm not familiar with all of the systems out there so I'm asking for any and all input.

I'm planning on running between 3 - 4 WPG.

I'm looking for a complete system setup. Canister, diffuser, etc. If I can get a complete package so much the better. I need one that is reliable and does not have to be monitored constantly to insure it's doing what it's suppose to do.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated. Links are very helpful also.

Cost is secondary, so don't hesitate to recommend some of those high end items also.

Thanks.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Hi OldTimer,

I am a little hesitant to suggest anything to you based on this statement you made:

“I need one that is reliable and does not have to be monitored constantly to insure its doing what it's suppose to do”

I don’t think there is a system that is as easy as “connect it and forget it”.

How do you define monitored constantly? Like checking on the bubble rate daily (at least for the first few weeks) and making sure there is enough pressure left in the bottle once in a while? And what is it supposed to do? I guess you will answer this one with “growing plants”. But you are aware that high light and CO2 require fertilization, right? So you would have to add ferts every other day (at least) in order to have a nice high tech planted tank and not a new home for severe algae outbreaks.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

What I meant by monitoring constantly is that once the system is set up and functioning it is not something that I will have to adjust or monkey with for 10-15 minutes daily to make sure it is functioning correctly. I realize that there is nothing that is fool proof, but I would like something as close as possible.

I understand that ferts will need to be monitored and added on a regular basis, but I'm hoping to setup this tank in a manner that will require the minimum of hands on time, thus the smaller size (hopefully, less trimming of plants, etc.) will be involved.

As my work day fluctuates greatly (sometimes as much as 14 hours a day, 7 days a week for several weeks at a time)I need to keep the daily maintenance time to as much a minimum as possible.

This plant thing is a learning process for me as I have not kept anything near a heavily planted tank in the past as I've maintained mostly chiclid tanks over the years.

I'm currently in the planning/design stages as I'm just completing the stand for the tank at this time (will post photo's once finished).

So, based on the above any suggestions or comments (positive or negative) is appreciated. I'm pretty thick skinned so it's pretty tough to hurt my feelings so if you think this is not something to pursue, or if you just think I'm a little off center let me know.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

To be honest Jim,

I think a high tech planted tank is not a good option for you.

The only way such a tank can survive one's absence for a longer period of time is by dimming the lights, cutting off the CO2, major trimming upfront, basically turning it into a low tech tank in the first place (although time limited). If your job requires you to not be able to attend your tank for weeks in a row then you are asking for trouble. If all goes well in your tank then it would become so overgrown that all hell would break lose.

I suggest you rethink if this is really what you want. Just my opinion.

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 17-Jan-2006 12:59

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

It's not that I can't attend the tank totally, it's just that my time would be limited. In otherwords, I could probably dedicate at certain times only 20 - 30 minutes daily or every other day to regular maintenance. But, if that is not enough and if the probability is that the tank will crash, then so be it. Don't want to get into something that isn't going to be successful because of my lack of time and/or maintenance. Thanks for the honesty.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Jim,

Now that my tank is established (for the moment) I actually spend less than 20 min a day on maintenance.

Except: At least every other weekend I have to trim and maintain the plants themselves, plus perform a water change (of 50%).

This is the part that I think you may have problems with (and of course the initial phase when the tank is not yet established, but I guess you could arrange for an appropriate timeframe to set it up so you would have time).

Although your tank is not of tremendous proportions (30G), it only has limited height (how tall is a 30G long anyway – 18 inches? ) and a lot of plants that actually require high light and CO2 would grow out quickly (plus any substrate covers, as I am experiencing right now – Glosso).

What is the longest stretch that you think you would not be able to attend to weekend maintenance?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club