new 90g, new tank questions

"Some" seem to think the excess nutrients cause algae...........
However, if that where the case, then older tanks would also get algae for the4 same reasons......... but we do not see that........

You typically have maybe 25% of the final plant biomass when folks plant a new tank, unless you have a lot of starting plant biomass.

So you really do not need much to start off with.
But adding less will not save you from algae...........

Which is what some imply............

The real issue for new tank issues: namely bacteria, and filter bacteria, 1/2 dead, rotting new plant parts, leaching from transplant stress, transportation etc.

If you add Zeolite to the filter, pre cycle the tank with sponge/mulm etc from established tanks, do frequent large water changes, this removes.......NH4.........

That, not PO4/NO3 etc is the issue here.
Some common sense should be applied to the basic ecology of starting an aquarium............something often lost when folks give advice or suggest things.......

Pretty close, mixing a bank of the T5's and the 70W would be nice.

I am a fish person, and a plant person.

More filter = better for fish
More current and a good pattern (up to a point)= better for plants.

I'd suggest 2 good sized ehiem's, maybe a surface extractor if you can hide it, I typically add a sponge prefilter to most canister intakes.

So say a 75 Gal tank:

2 x 300GPH canisters is a typical arrangement.

I prefer wet drys and sumps, + a closed loop canister for client and personal tanks.

So a 75 gallon might have 400-500GPH of Wet/dry, 300-400gph of canister, since the tank is 48Long, a pendent w/ either 2x150w+ 1x70W (AM sexy series), or a 2x54w T5 + 2x150 w. I deal with very high light (like the sun or lots of MH's) by setting up a telescope worm drive that moves the lights slowly across the tank and this gives a nice light spread without blinding and without losing light due to high suspension. every 12 hours, the lights move about 16 inches across a 24" wide tank, then they reset slowly. This gives a different look to the tank, just like in nature, to the tank at any one moment.
It's a DIY novel set up, but if I spend 1000$ on a light, I want it to do precisely what I want, I can engineer most things.

Creativity is not listened to the what is inside the tank

That's for a high light.
Less? A bank of T5's with a wide reflector and DIY install/cabinet for the hood.

Say 2x 54 for lower light, or 3x54w for med or 4x 54 for high light.
Note, running these in pairs can reduce the light for most of the photo cycle, while you can still get a nice high light spike of 2-4 hours midday.



Up to you, however, more light= more CO2= more nutrients, and it's always easier to keep any plant tank with less, not more light.

Go to Aqua Forest and see the 70 Gallon across from the cash register.
It's got a 2x54W T5 set up and looks every bit as nice as most any high light tank scape you will see on the web.

So any clown that claims you need high light and that you can achieve such tanks easier with high light, I'd listen to advice else where.

Regards,
Tom Barr