• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

From marine to freshwater planted ?

B

Barbarosa

Seedling
Joined
9 Jun 2010
Messages
16
Having kept a successful reef for the last few years I now feel like I need a new challenge and having had limited success in the past with a planted system I have decided that I'd like to try this option again. I would really appreciate any advice on this topic from people more experienced than I !

Once I have sold my reef stock and emptied and thoroughly cleaned the aquarium I will be left with a good sized system which is 48" long, 24" high and 26" deep and that contains a sump of 40" in length and with 5 separate sections. I think I'd prefer to retain the sump for filtration as I may wish to return to marine at some point in the future. My first question is what would be preferable in each compartment ? At present I have filter floss in the first (as a pre-filter), then in the second I house my skimmer and phosphate reactor which I assume will no longer be needed. In the third I have a DSB with miracle mud and caulerpa (which defo won't be needed) and then in the penultimate section I have my return pump. I have one final section that I currently have a Tunze auto top-up unit set up in, would this be at all useful in a planted freshwater system ?

My next question is in relation to the lighting. I currently have an Aqua One MG1200 metal halide unit that again I'd quite like to keep if it was able to be transformed into a suitable lighting system for a planted tank. My question here is what bulb could exchange the marine ones for in order for this plan to work ?

Any other general comments and advice would be much appreciated, especially on what additonal equipment would be considered a must-buy for this new project.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi Barborosa and welcome to UKAPS!

That's a lovely sized tank you have and offers you enormous potential for a great planted aquascape.

Keeping the sump is a good idea. Filter floss and bioballs or ceramic media are all you really need. Some like to use carbon too but it's not necessary. Phosphate remover is not required, as the plants require P as a nutrient.

The auto top-up is a good idea. Most of us use tap water in our planted tanks, but it's a good idea to top up with RO in open-topped systems to prevent the TDS from raising excessively in the long-term.

Your light unit is more than ample fitted with 2 x 150w MH and 4 x 24w T5. You may need to hang the unit higher, especially in the early days, to help prevent algae - say 60cm above the water. A popular technique is to use the T5 throughout the photoperiod i.e. 8-10 hours, then have a midday burst of halide for 5 hours or so.

Have a look here for some inexpensive daylight spectrum lamps -

T5 - http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/Light-Bulbs- ... aylight_11
Halide - http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/Light-Bulbs- ... W-Daylight

Some of the biggest areas of research I would recommend are CO2 injection, nutrient dosing and circulation.

Pressurised CO2 is vital in a tank with your current lighting. You go through a lot of CO2 in your size tank. 2Kg and 5Kg fire extinguishers are a popular inexpensive choice. Diffusing the CO2 into the water may present a challenge with a sump. An in-line reactor on your pump output may work effectively.

Nutrient dosing via EI or a DIY all-in-one solution will be the most economical method.

For more info, take a look at these -

http://www.ukaps.org/articles.htm

And this -

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/index.htm

Please consider creating a journal on UKAPS too. It's an ideal place to share your progress, ask questions and for others to learn from.

All the best,
George
 
Thanks for the excellent advice George, I'm sure to be back once I can move the project on to the next stage after I've sold my marine stock 🙁
 
OK folks the marine livestock has all been sold and after a days hard graft the tank and sump have now been cleaned out. It'll be a week or so before the planted system kicks off but before I do anything I could do with some advice on the following, if you'd be so kind:

1) The tank is 48" long, 24" high and 26" deep (front to back), bearing that in mind what sort of powerhead is best for creating the circulation required at around 10 x times the volume ?

2) What substrate is the best to use and generally provides the best value (cost vs volume required) ?

3) The co2 route seems to be a bit of a minefield, what system would be best for a 100 gallon planted tank ?

Thanks in advance for any advice !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top