12.5 Uk Gallon Set Up

[Paul_MTS]

I'ved decided on using a 24x12x12 tank i have knocking aorund to do a planted setup in.

I'll use Nutrafin CO2 system.

I 'll aim for around 4 WPG and probable go down the PC T5 route, which bulb should I use? Any better way?

I'm trying to keep cost down but will under gravel heating be noticible beneficial?

What kind of substrate should I use and how much? Soil with sand on top or a all in one jobbie??

What kind of water? I have hard tap water, but I can easily get my hands on RO water.

Thanks in advance!

Paul.

 

[mlawson]

I'ved decided on using a 24x12x12 tank i have knocking aorund to do a planted setup in.

I'll use Nutrafin CO2 system.

I 'll aim for around 4 WPG and probable go down the PC T5 route, which bulb should I use? Any better way?

I'm trying to keep cost down but will under gravel heating be noticible beneficial?

What kind of substrate should I use and how much? Soil with sand on top or a all in one jobbie??

What kind of water? I have hard tap water, but I can easily get my hands on RO water.

Thanks in advance!

Paul.

Sounds good, I'm no expert on lighting but it sounds OK, the CO2 also sounds fine. Don't bother with an undergravel heater, they're practically useless and are a waste of money. If I were you I would get a all-in one substrate. If you put sand over the top of soil it will mix up and might look bad, Eco-complete, ADA aquasoil and florabase are good. IME plants don't seem to mind harwater, they grow averagely in my hard water, but they could grow great, just I dont give them nutrients, CO2 or lighting.

Mike

 

[lowee]

It all sounds good, one quick question. What kind of fertilisation will you be using?

 

[George Farmer]

Hi Paul,

Nice to see you in planted.

Mike gives good advice.

I'm assuming you want high-light, CO2 and plenty of growth, without limitations.

PC T5 is a good idea. One 55w tube would be plenty and span nicely across the tank (22"). I can personally recommend the Interpet Daylight Plus. You'll need to modify a T8 or HO T5 reflector, as they don't sell PC reflectors in the UK.

Another potential lighting option would be an overtank luminaire. They are some cheap models available on e-bay. You'll need to change the tubes though. Search e-bay for "T5 luminaire", and Froogle.co.uk for "24w T5 6500K".

Substrate heating is a waste of cash as discussed. Better using the cash toward pressurized CO2 IMHO, especially with higher lighting. Yeast-based is fine but is high maintenance to keep stable enough to avoid algae issues. Fluctuating or low CO2 causes most algae problems.

If you do decide on the Nutrafin kit then check out the pinned thread on recipes etc.

I can recommend Tropica Plant Substrate topped with fine gravel or coarse sand. 1cm of Tropica topped with 4cm minimum grave/sand. It's cheap and effective.

Hard water is fine for most plants if you have good light, CO2 and other nutrients.

You also need to consider water column fertilisation. Check this out - http/www.fishforums.net/Jamescand39s-Est...le-t104737.html

Any further questions, please ask.

Cheers,
George

 

[Paul_MTS]

Yep time for a break from big fish, without a few grand for the new pond there not moving anywhere! Think i done all types of tanks now apart from planted properly....so here i am!

Yep thats what I was planning, 1 opf the 55W unless a mix of tubes was better, in which case I would go for couple of smaller ones. I'll check out the prices of 4 tube T5 luminaires i can get cheap at work, but I think by the time I'ved changed the tubes a 55w PC T5 will be cheaper and I can DIY a holder and reflector.

I think I'll still stick with a Nutrafin atm as I haven't got huge amount of cash to splash about. Already read the pinned topic

I'll go for the Tropica substrate with some course black sand.

We sell RO water at work and often have too much so 20 litres here and there for a water change will be easy to swipe, so If RO is beneficial to plants I'll use that.

Ouch....thats a long read! I'll sit down with a coffee a it later with that one!

Fish wise I'm planning a groupd of dwarf puffers then either Otos or maybe Pitbull plecs. sound ok?

Oh and filtration?? What should I go for, I can get a Hydor Prime 10 pretty cheap, or should I just use a small internal? I want enough media to support the puffers.

thanks for your help.

I feel kind of guilty selling under gravel heating to people at work now! our planted tank is rubbish compared to forum members! the JBL rep set it up

 

[George Farmer]

An external filter is a good idea, for aesthetics and better circulation more than anything.

Your plant growth will be performing the majority of the NH3/4, NO2 (and NO3/PO4) uptake. This is why you need to dose NO3 and PO4 via KNO3 and KH2PO4 to keep the plants well-fed. EI is safe for sensitive fish too BTW, despite what some writers claim (who have never tried EI...)

Your fish sound fine. Plecs may nibble at some plants though, so I'd stck with otos personally. Less bio-load too.

One thing I didn't mention is that you need to plant heavily. Your puffers will love it.

Unless your water is rock hard i.e. >KH 10 then I wouldn't worry about RO. With EI fert dosing you need to be doing 50% water changes, so the less hassle the better. Hard water also means you probably won't need to dose extra Mg and Ca (GH booster).

If you need someone to re-do your shop's display tank then I don't charge much.....

 

[Castellop123]

Cheers...

 

[RadaR]

Have you thought about your Plant list? Setup/equipment sounds pretty good; though with such high lighting, I wonder whether a Nutrafin Kit will be sufficient? A little worried about the possible algae blooms...

Cheers...

2 Nutrafins should be efficient. jimbooo used 2 on his rekord 60 (roughly 12gallons) which had high lighting with minimal problems.

Nice to see you hear Paul.

 

[Paul_MTS]

Yeh I was planning on nice and heavily...do it proper! The only problem is I wasn't sure how the puffers would fair with Oto's but I'll give it a go by all means. The pitbulls plecs we have at work are only an inch.

Oki dokey, tap water it is.

lol, would love to get you in to do it, unfortuantely our plant supplier isn't the greatest!

Nope haven't thought about plants at all yet, I picked up some select bits of wood today from work, would like some moss to cover them or maybe a type of anubias to grow on some of the bits.

Ok will go for 2 Nutrafins, suppose I'll get a nice balance of CO2 on both sides of the tank then to.

Thanks for your help so far, off to paint the tank and clean some sand I have to try out.....

 

[DevUK]

Would be very interested to see how you get on with this. I'm planning an 18x12x12 tank, but now I'm thinking I might do my 24x12x12 tank instead. Will follow this post closely!

 

[cheesy feet]

You might know already but these are some good fast growers to start of with;
hygrophilia polysperma rosanverg,ludwigia(green,red or rubin),wisteria,straight vallis(pretty fast growing for me,does good in alkali water).Theres much more which i can't remeber atm!

Ones for attaching to rocks or wood(by hair nets,fishing line cotton etc)
java fern,anubias(you already know ),java moss,willow moss,weeping moss,flame moss,taiwan moss(all slightly different).

 

[George Farmer]

...would like some moss to cover them or maybe a type of anubias to grow on some of the bits.

Ensure you plant the majority with fast "weeds" to start, Hygrophila, Rotala, Egeria etc. Cover well over half of the substrate, planting the individual stems 1cm or so apart with tweezers. Don't use the lead weights. Don't prune the stems until they've reached the surface, then you can re-plant any cuttings.

Once these have established and the aquarium has "balanced" you can either replace these gradually with slower growers.

If you do plant Anubias from the outset, ensure it is shaded, otherwise it will be an algae magnet.

 

[SuperColey1]

Pitbulls are great fish, not shy like other plecs as long as you keep them in a group as they are very sociable. They love the sand and probably wood more than other plecs.

They will play in the sand and eat wood all day...yes day, they tend to be a lot more flexible than other plecs and come out in the day as well.

These are mine basking in the light!!

They will do the same as ottos do after a month or so and start cleaning the larger leaves like swords, problem I have found so far is that they tend to rasp the surface of the leaf as well as the algae, and I have a couple of transparent leaves, but if you feed them they will ignore the algae so there is a solution.

Andy

 

[Paul_MTS]

I'ved has H. Polysperma in one of my oldfer tanks and even with a Nutrafin kit in a 350l tank and 4 tube lighting it grew like a weed, so I'll probable try something a bit more 'exotic'!

I like the ludwigia species but not a fan of wisteria! I guess I'll get the books out and have a look at what i fancy!

Ordered the Tropica mud and all the EI chemicals the other night along with some rock so hopefully recive them Tues/Weds.

I have the lighting and CO2 on our next order at work which will arrive Wednesday.

I'm undecided on substrate at the moment. I'ved got some black course sand which is about 1mm grains and it looks like crushed glass as there's some brown and green bits. It looks pretty good in water and will probable shine up well with the light or I have fine black sand which will look good but is it ok to use fine sand for planting?

I'm not sure If I'll go for A. Nana as I'm after smaller leafed plants for the wood.

Nice thick layer of paint for the background on now, filter will arrive tomorrow!

Will start taking some pics soon for a Journal.

Thansk all.

 

[DevUK]

Hows this project looking Paul? Did your order arrive?

I'll be starting my project soon, using a similar sized tank and using EI. Will be interesting to see the results