Steve's Pre-journal - On Hold

[DevUK]

Ok, I've cracked and decided to write up a pre-journal, er... journal

Right, well. The tank will be 24"x12"x12" - Approx 15 US Gal (*if* I can re-home my Chinese Algae Eater).

Lighting will be an Interpet Compact T5 55w light unit, with an Interpet Daylight Plus tube.

I'll also be running Nutrafin Fermentation set to provide CO2 via a Small diffuser instead of the ladder that comes with the Hagen CO2 kit. I may go DIY CO2, but I'll stick with the Hagen kit for now.

Filtration will be done by an Azoo Mignon 240/360 hang on back filter (still need to research how noisy these are - tank is in my bedroom). Planning on stuffing it full of filter media for that extra bit of filtration. I had thought (and even bought) a canister filter, but they just seem too big for the tank, and for the amount of space I have available.

Ok, down to the meat of it. Substrate will be Eco-Complete on its own. I have a nice bit of bogwood for d�cor, which I think will make a nice centre piece. Planting will be (see my cheat sheet):

Foreground:
Hemianthus Callitrichoides
Hemianthus Micranthemoides

Mid/Background:
Rotala sp. "Green"
Didiplis diandra
Ludwigia Arcuata
Maybe Cardamine Lyrata to mix up the textures (Open to other suggestions)

Centre/mid (Attached to bogwood):
Taxiphyllum Alternans (Taiwan Moss)
Taxiphyllum Barbieri (Java Moss)
Maybe Microsorum Pteropus (Java Fern)

Idea is to make the Taiwan Moss a nice centre piece, Java Fern will only be if the Taiwan Moss doesn't cut the mustard

Fish will most likely be a group of 4 Leopard Danios that I need to move from an existing tank (may increase their numbers slightly) and I'm hoping to add some shrimp as a new angle, possibly Amano Shrimp or something similar (depending on LFS stock).

Thats it so far. Next thing to do is work out an EI regime! I may need some help with that Any thoughts/comments/suggestions much appreciated!

 

[nry]

I just used the EI dosing as suggested in the pinned thread, my tank is the same size as yours, not changing any dosing yet as I've only been running EI fertilising for ~1 week. 55watts is a huge amount over 15 gallons, hope your CO2 will be stable, I have the 36watt PC over mine which works well, 2.5wpg.

 

[George Farmer]

Sounds promising, Steven.

55w PC is about right, not a huge amount if you plant heavily enough, keep on top of CO2 and nutrients.

You may have issues with CO2, as hang-on-back types drive off a lot. I needed to run 30 bubbles per minute in my 2.5 gal to reach 30ppm CO2.

You may need two Nutrafin kits and increase the yeast accordingly. Or go full DIY with a bigger bottle, otherwise you'll be forever swapping mixtures.

Personally I'd invest in a pressurized system, if you can afford it.

Best of luck with it all.

 

[DevUK]

Heres my lighting calculations/deliberations I put down in a text file whilst deciding what to do. This is why I decided to go with the 55w in the end:

Daylight Plus T5 Compact is available with these wattages:
24 W - 308 mm length, 1600 Lumen
36 W - 406 mm length, 2600 Lumen
55 W - 531 mm length, 4000 Lumen

Using tank 24x12x12 tank = 60x30x30 (15 US Gal)

Watts Per Gallon:
--------------------

36w/15gal = 2.4wpg
55w/15gal = 3.7wpg

Lumens per cm2:
--------------------

60x30cm = 1800cm2 (square cm)

36w = 2600 Lumen:
2600/1800 = 1.45 Lumen per cm2

55w = 4000 Lumen:
4000/1800 = 2.21 Lumen per cm2

 

[john starkey]

hi dev if you cant afford pressurised co2 why not lower your lighting that way you may avoid any algae issues. good luck john

 

[DevUK]

You may have issues with CO2, as hang-on-back types drive off a lot. I needed to run 30 bubbles per minute in my 2.5 gal to reach 30ppm CO2.

Hmn, ok thanks for the info. I might re-think the filtering strategy. I have a Fluval 1+ and a 2+ spare at the moment. I wanted to keep as much out of the tank as possible. What do people think of these cheap hong-kong imports?

You may need two Nutrafin kits and increase the yeast accordingly. Or go full DIY with a bigger bottle, otherwise you'll be forever swapping mixtures.

Ok, good to know

Personally I'd invest in a pressurized system, if you can afford it.

Funds are very tight at the moment

hi dev if you cant afford pressurised co2 why not lower your lighting that way you may avoid any algae issues. good luck john

Do you think the 55w light may be overkill?

 

[john starkey]

from what ive read your lighting will be ok as long as you make sure co2 is plentyfull and planted heavily good luck john

 

[nry]

I have the 36w Interpet PC T5 over my 24"/15-UK-gallon and it is certainly doing well at ~2.5watts per US gallon. You really need stable CO2 and a solid fertilising routine to out compete algae if you go with the 55w variant. I also use a Nutrafin based system, though I have a ceramic diffuser and not the whopping great ladder which always got blocked with snails and plants and led to really unstable CO2. When CO2 went through a bad patch (in the end I moved to a two alternating bottle method) I had major algae build-up on the plants directly below the tube and other algae build-up around the tank on the slower growing plants.

My only issue with the PC T5's is that whilst they put out loads of light for their size, they put this out very intensively from a small area of the water surface. Plants directly below the tube get masses of light and can become an algae magnet. Having two or more normal T5 tubes balances the light out across the water surface and reduces the massive intensity from a single PC T5. What put me off multiple tubes was the price. My 36w (including reflector) set me back £35. Multiple tubes were getting closer to £60 and £70 all-in which I could not justify.

Filter wise, I've seen relevantly sized Tetratec externals for ~£45 delivered:

http/www.zooplus.co.uk/froogle_uk/-1287/...r_filters/19461

A bit more than the eBay link, but a significantly better product! Tempted myself longterm if I am not allowed a larger tank in the future! (Have to persuade my wife )

 

[DevUK]

Filter wise, I've seen relevantly sized Tetratec externals for ~£45 delivered:

http/www.zooplus.co.uk/froogle_uk/-1287/...r_filters/19461

Interesting. I'm tempted by a Eheim 2213+ I've seen fairly cheap (cheapest I've seen)

So, I wonder if I could get away with 2x 24w... Its the middle ground, and light could be staggered a little better. Still, the 55w is a 21" tube and the tank is 24". Not sure if the price of 2x 24w is justifiable

Of course, all this is hinging on me re-locating my CAE from this tank My fall back route is an 18x12x12 tank I have spare, and in this case I'd go with the 36w tube.

My head hurts!