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Aquarium conversion

J

James53

New Member
Joined
14 Sep 2017
Messages
23
Location
Pembrokeshire
Hi all. My 1st post and complete newbie so please excuse stupid questions!

I'm thinking of converting my Eareef 450s (reef tank) to a planted tank. It's a sumped tank with 80 L display 20 L sump. I'm hope to use same LED light (nanobox tide) with knocking out the blue channel. I think this should work OK (?!) it's strong enough to to grow coral after all?

I'm term's of substrate I've read about ada stuff being good. Do I just need that? I've seen videos with all sorts of "powders" being sprinkled on also?

I hoped to use liquid carbon instead of co2 but understand co2 gas is more effective. Having no experience in concerned about the complications of gas? Could I get away with liquids In my size of tank?

Thanks for your patience all!
 
Hi James, and welcome to UKAPS.
Most marine lights are heavily weighted toward the blue end of the spectrum, even so you'll probably have enough light intensity left, after knocking out the blue channel, to grow plants successfully. What really matters is though...will the result make the plant and fish colours pop enough to float your boat? If not there are plenty of affordable freshwater LEDs on the market to choose from.
ADA is pretty good Gucci substrate, it definitely works for me...but you don't need all the additives that are supposedly part of the ADA system. All you need is a good water column fertz dosing regime, like EI. (estimative index, a la Tom Barr).
LC, is OK but it is far more efficient (cheaper) and effective in the long run to use CO2 injection. Most of us use fire extinguishers, which are pretty cheap, along with a regulator of some description...usually dual stage or dual gauge. I use both and haven't had any problems.
For all the info you need to get started check out our Tutorials section, and in particular...https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/fire-extinguisher-co2.266/
 
Thanks for the info. LED wise I'll try it I think and hope it works.

I've got a lot to think about but might try liquid carbon first whilst saving. Read a bit about co2 art but their website seems to be down so can't investigate further at the moment. Would I be limited to certain plants at first with liquid do you know?

Dosing regime like EI? Can you tell me any more or point me in the right direction?

Ada substrate, do you put gravel over this? Thanks.
 
No worries James. Most of the info you need to get started is in the Tutorial section https://www.ukaps.org/forum/forums/tutorials.34/

CO2 Art should be up and running fairly soon, but liquid carbon is fine, if you stick to "easy" plants from the Tropica list http://tropica.com/en/plants/?tabIndex=1&alias=Easy

Info on EI can be found here https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ei-dosing-using-dry-salts.1211/ again in the tutorial section, or you can use ready mix fertz like this and stick to the instructions https://www.thenutrientcompany.com/product/tnc-complete/ same difference to your plants but using dry salts works out a lot easier on your pocket.

No you don't cap ADA substrate, it's an all in one solution...more info on substrates can be found here https://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=guide-to-substrates

Good luck ;)
 
Been thinking about a co2 system (still waiting for co2 website!). I think they do a soda stream bottle version. Was thinking this with a solonoid. Any ideas how long this would last (very roughly- for someone who knows nothing about these things yet!) in my 100 litre tank? Appreciate it depends on many factors but rough idea?

Placement wise was thinking could I place the system in a plastic container (making it water tight) in the sump? Just trying how I contain the system and make it as safe as possible as I have two small children. (child lock on door to sump already. I guess the co2 outlet could then go in to the sump also by the intake for the sump pump?

Thanks
 
my tank is roughly 80 litres and a sodastream bottle lasts roughly a month.
 
The soda stream route can be tempting since the initial outlay seems relatively inexpensive, but long run a 2Kg fire extinguisher works out the most cost effective by a country mile.
 
Nearing the conversion planning!

My flow rate from my return pump from the dump to the tank is around 2,000lph (tank display us 80l) do you think this is too much flow for a planted aquarium?

I've e been using my RO with Di unit for my marine setup. I live in sw Wales (Pembrokeshire) where we have soft water. Would it be good practice to keep using ro water and remineralize with tropic Marine type powder or just use tap? I've printed off the water company analysis but not sure what parameters I should be looking at?

Thanks all
 
James53 said:
I live in sw Wales (Pembrokeshire) where we have soft water. Would it be good practice to keep using ro water and remineralize with tropic Marine type powder or just use tap?
Click to expand...
Try to use the water you have from the tap, much cheaper. Many people here would die for soft water from the tap. I have very very hard water, plants and fish fine, but leaves scale residue everywhere.

Freshwater plants and fish don't really care about water hardness, though if you tap water is below 4 dKH you might want to think about hardening it a tad to provide a degree of "buffering". Most things like water test kits and pH pens have issues when the water is below 4 dKH.

Make your own hardening solution here, though some people just add potassium carbonate to provide hardness.
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/RO.htm
 
Sump and tank and both open. Am I heading for issues? Was hoping to try liquid carbon first using "easy" plants only.
 
James53 said:
Sump and tank and both open. Am I heading for issues?
Click to expand...
No why should you? I have a low energy open top tank with an open emersed planted trickle sump.. Issues? On the contrary the longer it runs the more i learn to love it.

James53 said:
Was hoping to try liquid carbon first using "easy" plants only.
Click to expand...

With easycarbo you can also go with medium plants like that. :)
 
Ah ,low energy tanks means no gaseous CO2 to disappear through the sump. When i did CO2 on my large tank , which has a sump, i used a 10 kg CO2 bottle in a month :( Needless to say i stopped that in 2 months.
Water falling any distance looses CO2
 
Right, was planning on taking the reef down tomorrow but local fish store advised that planted tank could be as much work as reef tank?!

I'm not really scared about general maintenance, my reef had been running for about 3 yrs, more the ongoing costs of buying a new fish which then gets ich or something similar which then kills the other fish. Tank requires leaving for 3 months fishless then start again, etc. Quite expensive Corals melting despite testing, etc.

Any thoughts? I'm looking at easy plants like java fern, anubias mini, bucephalandra brownie, Christmas moss & crptocorynes. Weekly water changes using tap, liquid carbon (no co2), dernelle scapers soil and eventually a few fish and maybe shrimps. Sumped tank with k1 media, maybe activated carbon (?) and filter floss...I think this falls into low tech cost of tank?

Thanks for any thoughts (for & against!)
 
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Don't disregard running the sump - I had great success with my planted tank. There's a few discussions on the forum about this.

Huge filtration capacity
Easy enough to clean
Can choose any pump you want
Can run k1 type media
Flow rates remain consistent for longer
It can double as a nursery for shrimp etc
With overflow box it skims the surface 24/7
 
Thanks for reply. What are your experiences/thoughts with my plans of substrate, plants and liquid carbon. Will I have any issues. Read algae more of an issue with freshwater and getting balance with light/nutrient trickier? Thanks
 
The plants you mention can be grown as low light, low tech. If you have patience this can be done very successful and a sump surely can help with that. I wouldn't use CO2 then. Plants can grow without added CO2, just slow.
 
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