# Heavily Planted Trigon 190 Lighting



## aquascape1987 (7 Jan 2015)

Hi, does anyone know if the heavily Planted scape I am planning will have enough light under the standard trigon 290 juwel t5's I currently have. Main feature of th3 tank will be that it is almost completely carpetee.They are 2 x Juwel high lite day bulbs. 590mm length ,28 watts each? Im planning on getting the juwel reflectors as well. If not enough, does anyone have any suggestion's for suitable additional lighting units that could be fitted under the hood?


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## ceg4048 (8 Jan 2015)

Hello,
          People who worry about not having enough light almost always use too much light and suffer algal blooms as a result. There are no plants you will be unable to grow using the standard lamp that comes with that tank. You should worry much more about how you will distribute CO2 in that tank. THAT will be your problem.

Cheers,


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## Sacha (8 Jan 2015)

The man is back from his holidays and he means business!


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## aquascape1987 (8 Jan 2015)

Thanks Ceg. I know all about the flow problems associated with the Trigon.. My strategy is going to be 2 x fluval g6.  One spray bar across each of the straight edges of the tank. One slightly under the surface, pointing at the opposite side of the tank, but also slightly at the surface so that it ripples it. The opposite one  pointing downwards diagonally across the tank.at the moment I e got 1 x g6 and 1 x tetra tec EX 700, but replacing  with another G6. The spray bar pointing down diagonally will have the c02 fed inline... any thoughts on this?


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## ceg4048 (9 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> The spray bar pointing down diagonally will have the c02 fed inline... any thoughts on this?


Hi, yes, my thoughts are; don't do this. It will most likely be counterproductive. Make best efforts to align jet streams from both bars so that they more or less point towards the front glass. This will undoubtedly mean awkward angles  across the rear triangle but it's worth it.

Cheers,


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## aquascape1987 (9 Jan 2015)

Thanks for that... Although I have watched the flow with this spray bar set up every time I feed the fish, and to be honest it seems to work. Distributes flakes all over the entire water column within seconds.


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## aquascape1987 (9 Jan 2015)

What would be counter productive about ppint in the co2 enriched water down at the plants in your opinion?


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## ceg4048 (9 Jan 2015)

Because the flow from one bar will have a tendency to cancel or block the flow from the other. Read the explanation in this thread=> http://ukaps.org/forum/threads/right-distribution-with-spray-bars-on-front.22048/

Cheers,


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## aquascape1987 (9 Jan 2015)

Ok thanks for your thoughts Ceg. I'm going to experiment some more I think,with different pipework layouts. I may also be restricted a little bit aesthetically with the aquarium shape, in terms of where I can place pipework, but I'm hoping that if I have to compromise a little bit on placing spray bars in less than ideal locations, that the power of the 2  x G6 filters will compensate for this inefficiency, provided I can achieve some sort of circular flow pattern.


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## aquascape1987 (13 Jan 2015)

Hi Ceg, still racking my brains about this one, but luckily, I've got about a month left before I plant to decide... how do you reckon having my spray bars mounted on the front pointing at the back corner might perform? This way I could all but hide them underneath the wood panel on the front, but not sure how it would go when it hits the back corner? Anyone else's thoughs welcome as well. Cheers


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## aquascape1987 (13 Jan 2015)

The back corner is actually going to be covered with a coved angle as well as I'm having an internal acrylic background made to cover the unsightly angle. It will cover the back two pieces of glass that form the corner, then cove across the actual right angle joint it's self if you get me?


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## ceg4048 (14 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> how do you reckon having my spray bars mounted on the front pointing at the back corner might perform?


Hi,
 Well, again, it depends on what things are in the way on the back side. Flowa may not reach to the plants in the front. If you have carpet plants it could be problematic for them. You really ought not to over-think this too much. Just place a length of bar along one side of the triangle for the moment and observe the flow. A flexible hose can be attached and the bar extended along the other side of the triangle if necessary. The filter needs to be muscular enough for the total length though.

Cheers,


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## aquascape1987 (14 Jan 2015)

Hi, thanks for your posts Ceg, youve given me a lot of food for thought, and also stopped me ordering the expensive, bespoke  glass spray bars  I had drawn up, based upon my original idea! I think I'm going to buy quite a bit of acrylic tube and experiment once the hard scape is in, and make a decision before I plant. Filters I'm using are a Fluval G6 which I currently have, and I'm going to supplement this with either an Eheim Pro 3 Thermo- not sure which size ( any suggestions?) or a 2nd G6.  I was looking at the 2180, and there are a couple for sale in the sales section, but looking at the dims, id struggle to get this in my cabinet with everything else.Found some good acrylic tube so ill be buying 20m or so and locking myself away for a weekend with a few tools, to figure out what works best


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## ceg4048 (14 Jan 2015)

Yes, don't spend big money until you know for sure what fixes the problem. I wouldn't even spend the money for acrylic. Just get PVC, loads cheaper.

AS long as you satisfy the 10X rule it doesn't really matter which filter you get. I've used the the thermo versions of the 2180 with good success but the Fluval might have a higher flow rating, especially with the 25mm tubing.

Cheers,


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## aquascape1987 (14 Jan 2015)

Do you think the G6 has a higher flow than the 2180? G6 quotes the circulation value of 1000 litres per hour with approx 1800 litres per hour motor capacity, where as all I can find on the eheim is the approx 1800 litres per hour figure, which I think, (but aren't sure) is again just the motors maximum and not the actual flow. Don't think id get the 2180 under my cabinet anyway, but I may get the 2178 in there. I find eheim flow information a bit confusing to be honest. Would like to get a safe bet for the 2nd filter that will likely take me over the 10 x turnover mark in conjunction with the G6, and then will likely flow test them as I set them up. Do you have any knowledge of what the actual flow is for any of the eheim thermo heaters?


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## aquascape1987 (14 Jan 2015)

Sorry, I meant to say that the G6 has the 16/22 tubing, not the 25mm. I think that you may be thinking of the FS6


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## ceg4048 (14 Jan 2015)

Oh, OK, well that makes things even simple. Pick the one that has best flow rating if you can afford it.

Cheers.


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## ian_m (15 Jan 2015)

What I saw with a Trigon 350 and spray bars.
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/increase-flow-rate-without-creating-a-whirlpool.22091/


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