Switching from reefing

[pondfrog]

Hi guys,
Many thanks to those of you who have offered advise and expertise on these forums as I have read from many of you in exploring the world of planted aquariums. I have had reef tanks for over 15 years and I am looking for a change. In so doing I have decided to convert my reef tank to a planted tank. I have a bit of a plan formulating as I have poured over some of the threads here and was hoping to begin formulating my thoughts here in hopes of gaining feedback as i go so as to avoid major mistakes.

My current setup is a 1000gish display at 10' by 5' by 32" deep. Dual 2' overflows into a 300g remote sump. Lighting consists of 6 x MH (adjustable ballasts 250W-400W) and 8 x 54W T5 bulbs (currently actinic). Flow, in addition to return pumps (hammerheads) there are 6 tunze streams in the tank.

So below are my thoughts on lighting, substrate and CO2. Hopefully any glaring holes will be filled in by all of you and as I contine to research on the site.

I am thinking I would like areas of both high and low light. As I haven't totally decided on all types of plants yet I am thinking it would be nice to have areas of 250W and 400W giving me options as I go. I will need to change out to a lower K bulb it would appear. I currently run 12K and 14K bulbs, but the consensus is I will want to shoot lower. I have a few 10K XMs I might try unless even that would be too high. The T5s would be utilized for a dawn/dusk situation and color. So, I am considering alternating a pinkish red bulb with the actinics.
I'm wondering if there is a popular 6500k to 10k bulb most folks are happy with? Do you think the 400W will be too much even for highlight plants considering the lights are fixed at 10" above surface of water and 3ish " of substrate will be used?

Substrate: I think the only financially available option for this will be a soil mix of some sort. I was thinking about utilizing the method of soaking/drying/sifting and adding clay/sand wth some potash, then topping with a layer of sand (sand blasting sand probably). Probably run somewhere between 3-4" depending on scaping.

CO2: I have the cylinder/regulator from the reef system it would just be a matter of deciding how best to distribute this throughout the tank. I guess I havent' come across a good post of how quickly the CO2 degasses but most folks seem to feel you lose a lot of it pretty quickly?
This leaves me with several options. 1. run into my sump via atomic diffuser- easy and out of the way. 2 Run a separate pump in the tank with an atomic diffuser and postiion under a stream 3. drill a direct line into one of the return loc lines that has an eductor on the end of it 4. drill a CO2 line into one of the streams.

I haven't begun to narrow down plant selection yet as I am hoping I will be able to have low and high light areas. I'm not familiar enough with all the growth patterns of plants yet to be selective yet. Several pieces of driftwood for hardscape. I'm looking at a few pieces Tom has for sale here. As for fish I am imagining discus with a variety of smaller schools of tetras/danios/raspboras. Plecos and otos for cleaning crew with a type of shrimp. Corys on the bottom.

MY reef is still running as I am in the process of selling the livestock, so nothing is immediate, but I just want to plan well.

Thanks for any thoughts and critiques you may have.

Steve

 

[Tom Barr]

My current setup is a 1000gish display at 10' by 5' by 32" deep. Dual 2' overflows into a 300g remote sump. Lighting consists of 6 x MH (adjustable ballasts 250W-400W) and 8 x 54W T5 bulbs (currently actinic). Flow, in addition to return pumps (hammerheads) there are 6 tunze streams in the tank.

This is a nice dimension, the 350 Gal manzy display I redid was 28" tall, and 28" front to back, the Behemoth 1600 Gal is 4x 4 x 12 ft.

MH's are nice, but the 250's might even be a bit high for light.
You likely will not need as much flow, but having it is not bad either...........you can remove things as needed/desired.

So below are my thoughts on lighting, substrate and CO2. Hopefully any glaring holes will be filled in by all of you and as I contine to research on the site.

I am thinking I would like areas of both high and low light. As I haven't totally decided on all types of plants yet I am thinking it would be nice to have areas of 250W and 400W giving me options as I go. I will need to change out to a lower K bulb it would appear. I currently run 12K and 14K bulbs, but the consensus is I will want to shoot lower. I have a few 10K XMs I might try unless even that would be too high. The T5s would be utilized for a dawn/dusk situation and color. So, I am considering alternating a pinkish red bulb with the actinics.
I'm wondering if there is a popular 6500k to 10k bulb most folks are happy with? Do you think the 400W will be too much even for highlight plants considering the lights are fixed at 10" above surface of water and 3ish " of substrate will be used?

Ushiro 6500K 250-W bulbs are nice, 6500K, some like double ended types, 8000K or 10K.

For T5's many like the Gieseman powerchrome and maybe a red aquaflora(#:1 ratio or 4:1), but the Ge star coat 6500K should be fine also.

Substrate: I think the only financially available option for this will be a soil mix of some sort. I was thinking about utilizing the method of soaking/drying/sifting and adding clay/sand wth some potash, then topping with a layer of sand (sand blasting sand probably). Probably run somewhere between 3-4" depending on scaping.

You have a ton of height to plat with and make slopes and all sorts of character, make use of it, no need to have "flat tank syndrome" at this scale.
You also might look at Amano's home tank, he used most white larger grain gravel in the front, this is easy to care for, but that tank is 5ft deep, you'd is 32" which is doable if you wanted a foreground planting.

ADA AS might run you 600-1000$. But would be nice.

If you could take a pic of the tank and hood /filter area, that would help.

The energy required is about 1/3 what you now use total to run a nice planted tank.
Water changes are a breeze compared to a reef.

2: I have the cylinder/regulator from the reef system it would just be a matter of deciding how best to distribute this throughout the tank. I guess I havent' come across a good post of how quickly the CO2 degasses but most folks seem to feel you lose a lot of it pretty quickly?
This leaves me with several options. 1. run into my sump via atomic diffuser- easy and out of the way. 2 Run a separate pump in the tank with an atomic diffuser and postiion under a stream 3. drill a direct line into one of the return loc lines that has an eductor on the end of it 4. drill a CO2 line into one of the streams.

I would use a smaller Needlwheel powerhead, feed the CO2 in there, then send this froth into the return lines, you will need to seal the sump section where the water comes in and crashes/splashes into the sump area, wet/dry tower etc.

This will prevent most of the degassing of the CO2.

I'd run maybe a pair of 2100 Rios with a needle wheel impeller. Feed CO2 into there. CO2 gas tanks: pairs of 20 lb'ers, buy back ups, say 6 tanks total. Aklso, get some damn good CO2 regulators.........see the dual stage threads here.
Nice Needle valve.....nice FPT check valves, nice burket solenoids..........good CO2 line etc.

Good gold standard with the CO2 stuff.

That and managing light will be the 2 main issues.
It always is.

I haven't begun to narrow down plant selection yet as I am hoping I will be able to have low and high light areas. I'm not familiar enough with all the growth patterns of plants yet to be selective yet. Several pieces of driftwood for hardscape. I'm looking at a few pieces Tom has for sale here. As for fish I am imagining discus with a variety of smaller schools of tetras/danios/raspboras. Plecos and otos for cleaning crew with a type of shrimp. Corys on the bottom.

MY reef is still running as I am in the process of selling the livestock, so nothing is immediate, but I just want to plan well.

Thanks for any thoughts and critiques you may have.

Steve

If you need help on the wood, I can do a few things, a pallet might be an easier option for you, then you can get all sorts of neat pieces and do dramatic displays.

Pallets run 750$, and then freight charges vary on location.

But..........you have a ton of wood to mess with and specific to your needs.

Altums might be a nice departure from Discus. A large school of 100 Red tail hemiodus would freak people out, these fish are awesome in large tanks, behavior is awesome.

Check out the 1600 Gall behemoth thread.

http://www.barrreport.com/showthrea...th-giant-plant-tank/page12?highlight=behemoth

 

[pondfrog]

Well.......thanks!
That kind of covers most of it.

I'll check out the behemoth thread and consider what I'm going to have to do with the wood.
I appreciate all the leading there Tom and will keep everyone updated with a thread as my reef comes down and plants go up.

Funny you mention the hemiodus- A random stop at a fish store just the other day, while out with my wife, and out of all the fish in the store the only ones she mentions she'd want are those!!

Steve

This is a nice dimension, the 350 Gal manzy display I redid was 28" tall, and 28" front to back, the Behemoth 1600 Gal is 4x 4 x 12 ft.

MH's are nice, but the 250's might even be a bit high for light.
You likely will not need as much flow, but having it is not bad either...........you can remove things as needed/desired.



Ushiro 6500K 250-W bulbs are nice, 6500K, some like double ended types, 8000K or 10K.

For T5's many like the Gieseman powerchrome and maybe a red aquaflora(#:1 ratio or 4:1), but the Ge star coat 6500K should be fine also.



You have a ton of height to plat with and make slopes and all sorts of character, make use of it, no need to have "flat tank syndrome" at this scale.
You also might look at Amano's home tank, he used most white larger grain gravel in the front, this is easy to care for, but that tank is 5ft deep, you'd is 32" which is doable if you wanted a foreground planting.

ADA AS might run you 600-1000$. But would be nice.

If you could take a pic of the tank and hood /filter area, that would help.

The energy required is about 1/3 what you now use total to run a nice planted tank.
Water changes are a breeze compared to a reef.



I would use a smaller Needlwheel powerhead, feed the CO2 in there, then send this froth into the return lines, you will need to seal the sump section where the water comes in and crashes/splashes into the sump area, wet/dry tower etc.

This will prevent most of the degassing of the CO2.

I'd run maybe a pair of 2100 Rios with a needle wheel impeller. Feed CO2 into there. CO2 gas tanks: pairs of 20 lb'ers, buy back ups, say 6 tanks total. Aklso, get some damn good CO2 regulators.........see the dual stage threads here.
Nice Needle valve.....nice FPT check valves, nice burket solenoids..........good CO2 line etc.

Good gold standard with the CO2 stuff.

That and managing light will be the 2 main issues.
It always is.


If you need help on the wood, I can do a few things, a pallet might be an easier option for you, then you can get all sorts of neat pieces and do dramatic displays.

Pallets run 750$, and then freight charges vary on location.

But..........you have a ton of wood to mess with and specific to your needs.

Altums might be a nice departure from Discus. A large school of 100 Red tail hemiodus would freak people out, these fish are awesome in large tanks, behavior is awesome.

Check out the 1600 Gall behemoth thread.

http://www.barrreport.com/showthrea...th-giant-plant-tank/page12?highlight=behemoth

 

[Tom Barr]

A pack of those fish is dramatic and they do look very nice in a roomy tank.

Full grown school would be very nice against a back ground of plants.