30L Planted Tank Help.

[Westwood]

Hi all,
After watching the following video I got some inspiration to spice up my 30l a lot.

(I was dribbling at this video)

I have the Fluval Flora(30l), which is incredibly similar to those tanks in the video. I want to go for a very high tech setup, and could do with some advice and help!

Substrait
I have used Fluval stratum but didn't like the mess it created. I have seen some people use kitty litter as a substrait but is this as good as a planted substrait or dirt?

Lighting
I have the standard 11watt light fixture that came with the tank do you think this lighting will be good enough?

C02
I have a small co2 unit which I plan on using. I will upgrade the diffuser and will get a drop counter.

Filtration
I will use the standard filtration unit flow if good, but what turn over should I be looking for?


Thanks, if you think I have missed something tell me!
Westwood!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Hi all,
After watching the following video I got some inspiration to spice up my 30l a lot.

(I was dribbling at this video)

I have the Fluval Flora(30l), which is incredibly similar to those tanks in the video. I want to go for a very high tech setup, and could do with some advice and help!

Substrait
I have used Fluval stratum but didn't like the mess it created. I have seen some people use kitty litter as a substrait but is this as good as a planted substrait or dirt?

Lighting
I have the standard 11watt light fixture that came with the tank do you think this lighting will be good enough?

C02
I have a small co2 unit which I plan on using. I will upgrade the diffuser and will get a drop counter.

Filtration
I will use the standard filtration unit flow if good, but what turn over should I be looking for?


Thanks, if you think I have missed something tell me!
Westwood!

Substrate wise, kitty litter (clay based) is good, very porous so soaks up excess nutrients, although if you wanna go the pro aquascaper look then I'd get something like Florabase, 2.5 - 5L bags are smaller grain, 10L bags are larger grain.

For a very high tech you'll want to upgrade the lighting really mate, cheap option is Build your own LED lighting or just upgrade to a powerful clip on, I've grown everything from Stellata to HC under an 11W in a 35L but let be honest, the standard 11W lamps on moost nano's are a bit dull looking. Choice is yours.

CO2 sounds good, just position your diffuser in an area where there is a lot of downward flow to push it around the tank.

Flow wise, most planted tanks are looking for around 10 x full tank turn over per hour for good enough water movement in high tech, sometimes more, I find getting the balance right for me all depends on flow rather than anything else, ferts and CO2 can always be adjusted but your filter, once in and cycled is staying. Saying that, my recent scapes have had around 8 x turnover max, once the filter hasn't been cleaned for a few months tho probably less lol.

Hope this helps mate.

 

[Westwood]

Thanks for the comment!

I think I will attempt to upgrade the lighting using the same Led lighting you have on your Pico! Great topic by the way! I was thinking of going for 15watts does this sound good to you? Hope fully I can wire the things!

I may upgrade the filter to the All Pond Solutions external as it get good reviews or the Eheim range.

Thanks Again
Westwood

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Over my 35 I have 12W so 15W over a 30 might be a lot mate, mine pearls without CO2, just Carbon under that light. Easy to wire up mate, grab a soldering iron tho.