New 55g Tank.

[fit123]

Hey guys its been a long time since ive been on here. A while back i had a 55g planted discus tank which i unfortunatly had to sell due to me moving interstate but im back and just picked myself up another 55g tank to start all over again.

Now the problem that i have is that in the old one i was constantly finding out new things from people on this site that i should have added but it was all too late and it was too expensive constantly upgrading. (eg. nurient rich substrate, more lighting etc.)

So i thought id get it all right from the start and i was wondering if i could get you guys to help me please? I have 4 months to prepare it all so i can make sure i get everything that i need (without going over the top) haha

LIGHTS:
Im wanting to grow medium - high lighted plants so the lighting i was looking at was this...
Light
Im really unsure about lights to this is my biggest problem

SUBSTRATE:
I was thinking of going with eco complete with just normal gravel on top.

FILTER:
In my old tank i used a aqua one 1000L hour canister filter and it seemed to work fine so i may just stick to that

HEATER:
300watt

PLANTS:
Unsure yet but the staples are:
Water sprite
Wisteria
Hygro
Anubius
Assorted Crypts

CO2:
DIY 2 x 2L bottle
DIY powerhead diffuser

Does any one have any suggestions to how i could make the tank better?

 

[aaronnorth]

Way to much light, you will have over 7WPG, aim for 3WPG i you want to grow any plant, which means 180w will be ok.

EC is used on its own, it is a 'complete' substrate

this filter will be fine, bigger the better, tyr to aim for minimum 5x turnover.

heater - ok, even better option would be external. (less mess inside tank)

you have listed low light plants, you can half the light i reccomended earlier to grow these which means less maintenance.

CO2 - i would recomend pressurized, a cheaper option would to make a pressurized system out of a fire extinguisher see here:

http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/21...ressurised-CO2/


2 x DIY 2L bottles won't be enough for your size tank, about 5 should be enough. Pressurized will cost a lot on the intial set up but in the long run it could turn out cheaper and a lot more efficient. DIY is very unstable.