Jim's 60 Gallon High-tech Planted Journal

[jimboliana]

Hi everyone,

I have just spent loads of money (just over £1200.00) on my new planted set-up and wanted peoples advice on what they think? Have i just wasted my money? I hope not!

I have my main tank which is 33" X 18" X 18" (the space is this size) which has two holes (flow and return) for the sump which is 22" X 15" X 18"

Filter is a Dennerle CO.C.400

Dennerle DUOMAT 1200 heater controller and 25W heater cable

All of Dennerle chemicals and substrate and test kits

Classic line CO2 Exclusive for a 600 liter tank (i know its not 600 liters)

Dennerle ph-Controller 588 and magnetic shut off valve to control the PH

Arcadia Pendent 3 light with 150W metal halide bulb and two 18W fluros with digital timers

Eheim 1048 universal pump

I have all the plumbing gear and am going to plumb in ABS with a flow indicator/ bypass to control flow (as not to put strain on pump) /non return valves etc and for ease of water changes a take off

One question i must ask you all is that i also have a 15W Vecton UV which i was going to use as well but does anyone know if it will destroy any good things in the tank? (what i mean is chemicals i put in, dont want to destroy them)

I still have to set the tank up as im waiting for my cabinet but i hope to post some pictures for you to look at!

Your advice would me most welcome

Jim

 

[Lateral Line]

I doubt the UV will have any effect on inorganic chemicals like simple plant nutrients etc., I don't know if the UV would disrupt a chelated group. If you meant something else, what chemicals?

What kind of halides are they? A lot of halides are very high end in terms of spectrum which is far from ideal for plants. There are lower temperature halides of course, but if you have not thought about it you should. For a planted tank, light is the most important criteria, if that is wrong, then the rest of your nice gear will be wasted.

You want full spectrum 5000K - 6700K lamps. Much "hotter" then that and you'll be favouring the development of algae whilst at the same time robbing the plants of the red end of the spectrum where they strongly absorb.

 

[jimboliana]

Lateral Line,

Thanks for the reply, very much appricated

The metal halide is an Arcadia 150W 5200K and the two Fluorescent tubes are 18W Fresh water lamps. When i fist bought the light it was supplied with a 14000K marine light, i knew this was wrong from the Arcadia website and got it changed no problem

The UV i bought was really to help with Algae control as i have read that it can help prevent certine types

The chemicals and ferts i will be adding are all Dennerle:

Biogrum - Tap water conditioner
FB7 - Clear water filter bacteria
S7 - Trace elements and vitamins
TR7 - Peat bark extract for the prevention of algae
Pflanzengold-7 - Growth promoter
E15 - Iron supplement for aquarium plants
V30 - Special fertilizer for aquatic plants
BIOTRAP-Stabilizer - Detoxifies the water and removes growth inhibiting and algae promoting substances

I just didnt want to add the UV and to counter act the chemicals and ferts

 

[jimboliana]

I sent an email to Dennerle and they have advised me not to use the UV as it can destroy good bacteria as well as bad

So i have a couple of options:

1) Sell the UV

2) Ues it on clean water that enters the sump when doing water changes

3) keep hold of it in case i need to use it to get rid of medication in the tank or if i have a hospital tank



I'll let you know

My new cabinet should be coming next week so i will be starting to set it all up and start getting the bits for the plumbing, any one know of any good web sites about plumbing aquariums? i've got all the ABS pipe and fittings i want

 

[jimboliana]

One thing i thought i would add is about saving money on Ebay on hardware

This is what i bought and saved

Dennerle ph controller £136.36, UK is £225.00

Dennerle Magnetic shut-off valve £53.23, UK is £75.00

Dennerle Duomat Comfort dual circuit thermostat £89.70, UK is £165.00

Dennerle Bodenfluter 25w low voltage heating cable £57.32, UK is £72.50

Thats a saving of over £200.00 so i do recommend it

Its all a fraction of the cost that i have seen them for in this country

I got the lot from Germany and even though you pay postage (all of £30) i still saved over £170.00

I bought the rest of my gear from http/www.newleafaquarium.com (very helpfull people)

I also bought some software from http/www.aquarix.com only cost me about £25.00 and you can get a free 30 day trial but a great little program for your computer (am i sounding like a right geek now?)

Anyway, hopefully the girlfriend is going to buy me a digital camera for my birthday next month and i will try and log all this but in the mean time i will have to nick the old mans

I will keep you updated

 

[jimboliana]

Just an update really

Well B****r all is happening at the moment, still waiting for the cabinet to be made and because i got it from a friend it takes so much more time!

Also still waiting for the sump and because i am getting it for nout from one of my customers who is building it it takes so much longer

I said i would use my dads digital camera for a while to take some pics to log this but guess what he's 'still sorting it out' and his got three of them!

Maybe there is a lesson to be learnt here

Has anyone tried the trial for the Aquarix software? and if so what do you think?

Well i've got to go and vote in a min so i'll up date you next week

 

[jimboliana]

Hi all,

When i eventually get my tank up and running and i have to do water changes i will be able to flip a couple of valves and hey presto the water will pour into a container and down the sink or in the garden but when you lot put your fresh water (de-chlorinated or RO mix or whatever) how do you get it up to temp before it goes into the tank or dont you bother?

I'm thinking of putting the fresh water in my sump and as the heater is in there letting the pump pump it round and round the by-pass back into the sump until it gets up to the correct temp then turning off the by-pass so it goes into the tank?

My total volume will be about 235-250 liters (50 gallon) so there will be quite an amount to change (50-60 liters)

I suppose i could let the by-pass let a tiny amount through as to keep the water circulating in the tank

The only other problem i can see i might have is that the temp probe will be in the sump. When the new water is added the heater will switch on, whats the problem then i hear you ask, the problem is that i also have a heater cable and both the heater cable and the heater are controlled by the heater thermostat which gives priority to the cable. Being only 25W i hope this wont affect the main tank too much

I have decided that the only piece of equipment i will have in the main tank is the CO2 probe and the CO2 diffuser, this is to reduce the amount of CO2 lost in water flowing into the sump though air exchange and to get the ph value in the tank and not the sump as the flow is quite slow

One thing i do get slightly confused by is the cycling process, Dennerle give you clear instructions on how to cycle the tank for the plants over 60 days but they say dont add any fish until the 'plants have taken root and are producing sufficient oxygen for the fish' so how longs that then?

Do i then start adding Amonia if doing a fishless cycle? i dont really want hardy fish that i dont really want in my tank just to cycle my tank

Any suggestions?

One other thing is these long term ph indicators, so how long is long term 6 months or 6 years how long b4 they need changing?

I'm quite excited in doing this project as i'm sure there will be highs and lows of it all, the girlfriend doesn't share my enthusiasam as i'm always on my computer reading information and trying to decide what to do

I am also thinking of changing my Arcardia fresh water lamps to the Dennerle type, i know that gf225 uses them and since everything else is Dennerle then why not hay though they do say that some of the lamps are good at helping prevent algae growth

Anyway i will shut up now

Well i will shut up now and go read some more, not sure if anyone is actually intrested in me writing all this but it helps me keep a log anyway

 

[George Farmer]

It sounds like a wonderful set-up. I'm a big fan of Dennerle products and their high-tech principles. I use their lighting (combined with others) and ferts (Pflanzengold-7, S7, TR7, E15, V30) but use cheaper products for the substrate, CO2 and filtration.

May I suggest you start a journal in the planted forum. It would be nice to see your progress and I'm sure others would benefit greatly from your experiences.

Did you get your RO unit BTW?

May I ask why you are bothering with a sump? You'll have to be careful not to cause too much agitation and CO2 loss.

If you plant heavily enough then you may not need to cycle at all. Have you read The Big Dennerle Guide - System for Fascinating Aquariums? If I remember rightly you just add algae eaters at first and feed sparingly for the first few days. I'll read up and get back to you.

I think the long-term indicators need changing 6 monthly. The liquid's fairly cheap I think.

You're project sounds very exciting - to me at least! Keep us updated.

 

[jimboliana]

Thanks for the feedback gf225, yes i have got the The Big Dennerle Guide - System for Fascinating Aquariums and you are right that is what is says about the algae eaters

There are a couple of reasons why i am bothering with a sump

a) I have limited space and alot of equipment that i wish to hide

B) I have read alot about sumps in planted Aquariums and about agitation but if done properly i can reduce this to a min level if i plumb it right (which is why the difusser is going to be in the tank)

c) Adding another 60 liters in the sump gives me more water to play with in case of water temp changes etc etc

d) Thought it would be more of a challange

RO, no i haven't got one yet though i am looking at the Dennerle one and the only person i can find that sells them is ReefHouse for £156.99 they are small and compact which is what i need.

I wonder if i could move this whole post into the planted forum for a journal or would i have to start again? (i dont mind)

 

[George Farmer]

I've moved this topic from the hardware forum for you (and us planted guys!)

Fair play on the sump idea - sounds great.

Have you decided on what fish will be stocking yet and what style of aquascaping - Nature or Dutch (or a combination)?

 

[George Farmer]

Try this link for RO.

http/www.newleafaquarium.com/dennerle%20...%20quality.html

 

[jimboliana]

Nice one gf225 thanks for that

I dont know weather to go Dutch or Nature, prob Nature as i love the Amano designs, got his books and am doing alot of reading on the web site.

I also have a number of other books that i am getting ideas from, you can never do enough reading and variety is the spice of life!

Fish i would like in my take?

Well i am a bit of a minimalist but i have a facination with Kuhli Loaches so i want to go down the Southeast Asian Swamp route also maybe with a shoal of Harlequin Rasboras and a Siamese Fighter

Water chemisty that i would require is a soft Acidic environment though knowing me it wont look anything like that when i have finished!

As i still haven't got the digital camera from me dad i'm going to take a couple of shots with my phone and see what they come out like, if there ok i will post some of for this journal!

 

[ari]

wow...1,200pounds ...thats a lot of money i hope whatever set up u are paying for turns out good...for that price it had to be good. honestly thats a lot of money ...i cant see myself spending that much.
here is my tank...i spend somewhere (i lost count actually) around thaibaht6500....just about 110pounds...not including the fishes.

 

[jimboliana]

Ari,

Great tank, tanks like yours inspire me

The only reason i spent that much money is because i sold a lot of stuff i had sitting about in the loft and thought 'what the hell moneys for spending on things we like' and besides when i have had aquariums befor it all went t**s-up because i didn't do my research properly

I am also quite surprised with myself because usually i am impatient and i just want to have it NOW but this has gone on for a couple of months what with the planning etc

 

[kamel_007]

nice tank