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Starting up .......again!

BDB

BDB

Seedling
Joined
25 Mar 2015
Messages
13
Just joined this forum a few minutes ago 🙂
Well, things have certainly moved on since I last kept tropical fish way back in the mid to late 60's!!! 😱
Thinking about starting up again but need some ideas, help and advice please.
I want to have a planted aquarium (really, you don't say??!!) with a few fish. But this time, I want to do it "properly" with appropriate lighting linked to a "good" co2 system.
Not sure of the tank size just yet, but will probably be somewhere in the region of 36"x15"x12".

So, my questions are:

1/ CO2 systems - Fluval, BioPlast, JBL, or maybe another that someone has experience of - pro's and con's. I've seen a few posts on here mentioning using fire extinguishers and I'm guessing a special adapter is going to be required to connect up.

2/ Lighting - LED's, fluorescents, metal halide, sodium - again, pro's and con's. Also, is the "rule of thumb" still used re - Watts per Gallon?

3/ Substrate - strictly necessary?

4/ External filters - I used to use Eheim in the past. Still a good bet or is there now something better?

Thanks in advance for any help :thumbup:
Bill.
 
Quick answers, best bet for comprehensive ones is reading the guides and tutorials dotted about!

1) fire extinguisher CO2 is indeed good, here's a handy tutorial- http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/fire-extinguisher-co2.266/ most of the bits (minus extinguisher) are available from sponsors
2) People find success with pretty much everything. Different sources vary in efficiency though so watts per gallon isn't great. Mainly thinking about LED when I say this.... For T5HO you can be pretty sure 2 tubes with reflectors will serve you well
3) no, but if you have plants and hardscape its going to make everything look a lot better
4) still very good but pricey. think there are other good options, but if you have the money, go for it.... I think I've seen people recommending JBL cristal profi (maybe spelt wrong). I have a fluval and its fine but not as polished as an eheim

And an answer you didn't ask for: get a clearseal tank! they're getting cheaper and look better- more minimal.

good luck :bookworm:
 
Many thanks for your reply Rahms - much appreciated :thumbup:
Firstly, I think I should have made it clearer in 3/.
I meant to say, is fertiliser strictly necessary BELOW the substrate (thinking of using fine black gravel as a substrate)
Yes, just had a quick look at that link re the fire extinguisher - worth investigating further methinks 🙂
 
I'd say the majority here dose EI, straight in to their water (another lengthy tutorial for you: http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ei-dosing-using-dry-salts.1211/ ), so no its certainly not necessary.

I'd recommend looking through some journals (or featured journals...) and getting a feel for the common elements in each setup. Basically you "can" achieve amazing results with almost any setup. If I was going to buy substrate again I'd probably go for ADA amazonia (if I had money to burn) or molar clay (cheap http://www.kaizenbonsai.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=moler ) because they seem good to plant in and look quite natural, as well as having some sort of buffer capacity- absorbing some extra nutrients and releasing them if the concentration drops. On the other hand, I currently have black sand and its not holding anything back
 
BDB said:
4/ External filters - I used to use Eheim in the past. Still a good bet or is there now something better?
Click to expand...
I recently bought 2 canisters .... yes, Eheims, they were very competitively priced, included all media, still ran more quiet than the competition; that said, there are many good filters out there, spend some time looking at the various filters, taking them apart for maintenance, & sort out what you like.


BDB said:
3/ Substrate - strictly necessary?
Click to expand...
Plants need nutrients, if you set up a closed system with rapid growth, these need to be in consistent supply, enriched substrates are one way of providing those nutrients though water column nutrients will always benefit.
I recently added Tropica Growth Substrate in an existing tank that had been running with just EcoComplete (removed all flora & fauna & substrate, added the TGS, replaced the EC etc), plant growth responded BUT my tap water is very soft & I'm an erratic doser of water column fertilizers ... it's certainly possible to use plain gravels.
Some plants prefer finer textures etc.
A lot of what's marketed now is in response to ADA's "system" of follow the guidelines & your tank should flourish.
Different substrates look & handle differently, so consider what interests you.
There are many excellent journals here that demonstrate very different approaches to successful tanks.


BDB said:
2/ Lighting - LED's, fluorescents, metal halide, sodium - again, pro's and con's. Also, is the "rule of thumb" still used re - Watts per Gallon?
Click to expand...
Now more emphasis is on PAR at the subtsrate level re low light, medium light, high light etc
Again nothing is better than going out & looking at the various light systems, I recently bought LED as that is the local market, I went out intending to buy a T5 system but selection was very limited & I had very specific ideas of what I wanted.

Tropica has some excellent plant & layout videos on their youtube channel.

For CO2 systems, CO2Art is worth browsing.

Set up a budget & then decide where you want to spend your money :wideyed:
Optiwhite tank ie high clarity glass
Filter - (& those gorgeous (& fragile!) $$ glass inlet/outlet tubes)
Lights - LED is very low profile & offers the most options if you want to play with lighting effects (but the more options, the more $$)
Substrate - easy enough to change out but best done when you're alone in the house, & rather more economical if you're happy with the first system you choose
Plants - easy to spend $$$ (especially if you end up replacing due to algae or ....), most aquarium plants are grown emerse so you can (easily) propagate "more" from single pots, it just needs time & space for very economic "propagators"
CO2 - atomizers & reactors & diffusers & ...
Algae crew - shrimp & otocinclus
Fish
 
Thanks again Rahms, and Alto.
Had a look at some of the threads - so much info, too much to take in right now!! Think I need to "section" my requirements (lighting, fertiliser, co2 etc.) then search the appropriate thread/s.
Luckily, $$ isn't really an issue, but there's no point in wasting it buying the "wrong or incompatible equipment / materials!!
 
Yes Alto, I'm in the UK. But I wouldn't buy a cabinet (I'm a carpenter so I'd build my own 😉 )
I'm finding it more difficult to buy just an all-glass aquarium WITHOUT a cabinet or hood than I did years ago. I know they're around!!
 
There seem to be several companies that provide bespoke tanks, TGM obviously (The Green Machine), also ADA & DoAqua tanks are all sold stand alone, TMC Optiwhite tanks seem to be easily available as just glass boxes ... there are a couple companies that get repeat mentions in the journals
 
Alto - I've seen a few of these TMC Optiwhite "cubes" and, whilst some of the scapes I've seen done in them (on this forum) are pretty impressive, I don't particularly fancy a "cube" (no offence to users of these, just my personal preference 😉 ) But I'll definitely check out the others you mention (spending most of my time at the moment checking out some of the threads and journals - some really amazing scapes and very talented and dedicated members here for sure!
 
You might check into this, in the past they've made 120 & 90 cm tanks (bespoke possibly)
 
??? Were you going to post a link, Alto? 🙂
 
Hi fz1ben.
Could you give me the details and also price please?
I'm not ready just yet - need to build the stand first - once I've decided on the size, that is! 🙂
 
You could try ND Aquatics for a custom tank, they will do with or without cabinet. I got a very good quote for the aquarium and cabinet last year, but with living in Aberdeen, the shipping was horrific and made it too expensive. If you are further south then I believe the delivery costs are very reasonable and they discount if you want to collect yourself.
 
Hi Wisey.
Thanks for the info, I'll check them out 🙂
But I'll only ask for a quote on the tank (I'm a carpenter by trade so I'll make my own like I did before 😉 )
 
BDB said:
Hi Wisey.
Thanks for the info, I'll check them out 🙂
But I'll only ask for a quote on the tank (I'm a carpenter by trade so I'll make my own like I did before 😉 )
Click to expand...

should post some pics of your handiwork!

stands do seem to be rather expensive.....
 
BDB said:
Hi Wisey.
Thanks for the info, I'll check them out 🙂
But I'll only ask for a quote on the tank (I'm a carpenter by trade so I'll make my own like I did before 😉 )
Click to expand...

No worries, worth a look, like I said, they will do tank only. You can request all optiwhite, or just optiwhite front and sides and cheaper glass for the base etc. to keep the costs down. Their standard 36x24x24 which is a bit bigger than you seemed to be wanting is only £159. Look at their options and spec up what you want then just give them a shout. I would suggest telephone rather than e-mail as they were a bit slow to respond to mail, I think they are pretty popular and therefore busy.
 
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