300G Setup

[CanadaPleco]

Hi everyone, I am new to the plant world, but have been keeping and breeding fish for many many years.

I have an aquarium that I will be converting to a high tech planted tank once I get rid of all the stock in it and can get together all the 'gear' needed.

The tank is 120" x 24" and 21" high! Yep, 10 feet long. I am running a 4'x2' sump on it and lighting is basically non-existent.

I was hoping to go with LED for lights, (finnex ray II??? thoughts? )but I do want a full carpet. I really like the look of Starougyne repens, Tonina Belem and Blyxa japonica towards the back.

As far as hardscape, there will be a lot of wood and rock, I will be trying to get together the hardscape in the coming months.

Was thinking 12 bags of ADA amazonias soil might be enough???

My water is hard, and I will either be setting the tank up on a drip system, or continue to do my large weekly 50%+ water changes.

As far as CO2 goes, I have no clue, gotta learn about that. All I know is I have a big tank running my beer kegs

Budget for the project is around 3k

Would love to hear your guys thoughts as to lighting, co2 etc.

 

[CanadaPleco]

Esh, everywhere I read it seems like the ATI Sunpowers are the way to go. So much for my idea of LED.

Would 2 of these be enough to cover me you think? They are listed for $600 ea with no bulbs here in Canada.

- ATI DIMMABLE SUNPOWER T5 4X54W W/ CONTROLLER (48")

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

I can share some thoughts a bit later. Need to reread your thread 1-2 more times

That said, I would pay the extra and get 2 of the 60" fixtures and cover you end to end. I have the 8x39w on a 36" WIDE tank and covers the area very well.

 

[CanadaPleco]

Thanks, I am in no huge rush for sure. Starting to sell off my live stock now that I have in the tank and will slowly piece together the equipment. I've been doing this long enough, just want to make sure I do it once, and do it right. Spend the money once and hopefully not have the problems.

If you think 2 of the 60" would you go 4 or 6 bulb fixtures? I am really leaning to the dimming units as well!

 

[Gerryd]

The 6 tube unit. I would always go for more tubes as the cost is not that much more IMO.... the dimming units are the bomb.I have had some issues with my one unit but they make good on them. Many others have had NO issues with multiple units...

I have 18 sq ft of area and you have 20. I purchased 15 bags of ADA and only used 7 iirc. That said I also have lots of wood hardscape that takes up room that the substrate ordinarily would. And I do not have 3-4" of it either...I think 5 cases should be plenty but I would buy 6 to be sure. You will see the unused quickly if you want. I sold 1 case as it was just laying in the closet unused. I kept a spare case though.

Can we see a pic or two of the current state?

Hope this helps.

 

[CanadaPleco]

Hum I cannot seem to find 60" dimmable units in Canada. So 48" 6 bulb units will have to do.

I am sad to post a picture of the tank now, its in such bad shape. Full of big messy fish (piranha piraya and half a dozen royal panaque plecos all over 12", the biggest poop makers possible). It is a starfire tank, the front panel only, the other 3 sides are painted black (thinking I am going to scrape off the black and paint it very light blue). External overflow box at the left side. Been looking at adding one of the nu-clears after the sump as well for some polishing.

When you say cases of ADA are you referring to the 9L bags? If you think I only need 6-7 that would be awesome, save a whole bunch of $.

Already realizing my budget is going to need some increasing, the lights take half of it. And I have no idea what to even begin to look at for CO2 so many things, but so rewarding when it all works right.


Here are some pics from 2 years ago. I have since picked up a HUGE nice piece of wood, and added a bunch more rock from my backyard lol. I have also removed the return lines on the front side of the tank.

Tank Left side

Tank center

Tank Right side

Full Tank

 

[CanadaPleco]

Getting home from holidays here in a couple days Hopefully ordering lights when I get back. I know there is BIG support for the Dimmable ATI Sunpowers, and I am leaning towards them, but I still love LED. Think they might work decent? Finnex Ray II or something else?

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

Stauro and blyxa can do quite well in 40-60 mmoles...it is c02 that is more important to ensure they have enough for the light levels...I bet the LED units will be fine but a lot depends on your goals? Can the LED dim? Can you change the spectrum, etc?

You could get by wth T8 if you wanted to and certainly T5NO is more than enough. The dimming feature is really nice, they are silent and attractive, lightweight, and have excellent reflectors and provide excellent lighting. The width of these fixtures also provides a nice spread the better to gain more even growth and less slanting of plants towards the light source.

A lot depends on your goals. If the LED will accomplish them, great. Keep in mind that your future goals may change. Can the fixture adapt, or will you be left wanting?

 

[Tom Barr]

ATI are nice, but the cost is a factor, for 10 ft tank, you'll need a pair of the 4ft fixtures.
There's 1/2 the budget.

T8's are an option.

Tank is not that deep etc.

For 200-300$, you could light it very nicely with T8's.

CO2 is the real issue for you over the short and long term.
Spend the time and energy learning about it.

 

[CanadaPleco]

I figure I will for sure have to do CO2 to accomplish what I would like, so...

Basically I think your saying is bite the bullet and get the good lights, if I dont need the power just dim them down. Which for sure would leave me with options in the future as I am sure I will likely want to broaden my plant list.

Thanks for the help

 

[CanadaPleco]

One Step Closer !!! Drained my tank today! All the livestock from it is now sold or at least at a level that it is/was able to be moved to smaller tanks. Next step CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN... This tank is a bloody mess.

I purchased a 3d background the other week as well. It is this one http://www.designsbynature.net/products-page/deluxe-3d-bgs/crevice/ except its 12 feet long and 24" tall Going to be interesteresting trying to get it into the tank in 1 piece.

Okay lets talk diffusers a little...

I've seen where people are taking 2.5"x20" (2.5x10" is much more standard) house filters and modifying them slightly to be the diffuser. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Tom Barr]

http://www.designsbynature.net/products-page/deluxe-3d-bgs/

Backgrounds are very nice.

I tend to stay away from backgrounds, but they are very nice, might even change my mind some day.
I know they tend to be popular with Dutch scapes etc.