New Planted Tank

[Rorie]

Hi,

When i get home, i will post a photo of my tank, but here is what i have so far. I have made some decisions that i am happy with, but i am quite stuck with some others

SET UP
It is a custom build tank which is 340L ish.
I have a full range of ADA substrate
I am getting a half decent CO2 system soon
But the lights still confuse me:
LIGHTS
I posted earlier about what lights to get, but i got no replies Currently the tank has 4 T5 54W tubes. I have been told this is to much? How much should i be going for?

FISH
I have decided that i am going to have a load of Cardinal Tetras. In a tank my size, i think i could quite easily get about 70 -80 of them in there, but of course, i will see how it looks each time i add. But i want at least one centre piece fish. Originally i was thinking a couple discus would be great, but i hear they are REALLY difficult to keep. What are peoples views?
WHAT FISH
So, i want Cardinal Tetras, and if not discus, can i get some suggestions about what other fish may be nice as a centre piece?
Clean up crew - what are your suggestions? Am i right in saying shrimp clean up a lot? What fish could i put in as bottom feeders? I love corrys, but i want a really nice plec....but not one that will grow to 19"!!

PLANTS
So, it may make more sense once i get a photo of the tank up, but i have a great bit of bogwood which is hollow. (Oh, any idea how to anchorr it down, as it is currently buoyant and i figure i cant just use wire?!). I want moss(?) to grow around it while keeping the hollow open for fish to swim through. It will be at the right hand side of the tank. I want some nice tall plants behind, and some small ones infront. The moss(?) will then travel to the gravel where is will get less and less as it travels to the left of the tank. It will eventually fade away to nothing, as on the left i have one single column of granite! It looks great so far and there are no plants in it yet! So, what plants would fill my wishes while being easy to keep for a new planted aquarium?

Thanks!

 

[Andy_G]

Hi,

was it someone here who said you'd have too much light? with the 4x54w bulbs you'd have 2.4 Watts per Gallon, which doesn't seem to be much over the recommended 2 WPG for a tank with pressurised CO2 and ferts. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/298133-back-to-basics/ You could always take one of the bulbs out, which would give you 1.8 WPG, if you were worried about too much light. Have you thought of using suction cups to hold the bogwood down? i've also seen people attach the wood to a piece of slate buried in the substrate to keep it submerged. i'm lookin forward to seeing the pics you put up.

A

 

[RadaR]

SET UP
It is a custom build tank which is 340L ish.
I have a full range of ADA substrate
I am getting a half decent CO2 system soon
But the lights still confuse me:
LIGHTS
I posted earlier about what lights to get, but i got no replies Currently the tank has 4 T5 54W tubes. I have been told this is to much? How much should i be going for?

4x54W of t5 is a lot of light. More than you need. You can grow anything you want with 2x54W t5 with good CO2 and nutrient dosing. Having 4x54W just makes things more difficult for yourself. You'd have to make sure you had enough CO2 and nutrients otherwise things would go sour quickly. It's not worth it seeing as how you can grow anything with 2x54W.
I'd have 2x54W on for 8hours a day. Just use the 4x54W when taking photos of the tank.

WHAT FISH
So, i want Cardinal Tetras, and if not discus, can i get some suggestions about what other fish may be nice as a centre piece?
Clean up crew - what are your suggestions? Am i right in saying shrimp clean up a lot? What fish could i put in as bottom feeders? I love corrys, but i want a really nice plec....but not one that will grow to 19"!!

I don’t know a lot about Discus. I know you should have them in groups of 5 and that they like to pick at the substrate for food that has sunk.
Some sort of Dwarf Cichlid would be a nice centre piece. Or possilby three-spot Gouramis. Shrimp are good at cleaning. They'll pick out un-eaten food from around the plants. Obviously we keep algae at bay by keeping up good maintenance and healthy plant growth, but if a small amount of hair algae is present then the shrimp should go for it. Corys are an ok choice but maybe only when your plants have rooted well. I wouldn’t personally have a plec because they are messy and could up-root delicate plants.

 

[Rorie]

Ok, so if we are looking at 2x 54W, what do we make of this:

http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/aquarium-lighting/pendant-aquarium-lighting/glo-over-tank-canopies/linear-double-light-system-glo-t5-39w.html

Anybody heard of them or had experience with this sort of thing?

I think i will get some shrimp as i have a few already in my small tank, and they are pretty cool. Though i still fancy getting a plec I think they are great! Though i understand they are messy...but i think things will balance out in the end...or so i hope

I guess my question with the chiclids is which one?! There are a huge range of them, and i wonder about its willingness to eat my small fish?

Rorie

 

[RadaR]

Ok, so if we are looking at 2x 54W, what do we make of this:

http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/aquarium-lighting/pendant-aquarium-lighting/glo-over-tank-canopies/linear-double-light-system-glo-t5-39w.html

Not sure what you mean.
Do you want that instead? Or to use in combination?

Anybody heard of them or had experience with this sort of thing?

They are good. When I was working at an LFS, the boss had one on a marine tank (in combination with a metal halide).

I guess my question with the chiclids is which one?! There are a huge range of them, and i wonder about its willingness to eat my small fish?

Bolivian Ram
German Blue Ram (my favourite fish)
There's loads of species of Apistos
Keyhole Cichlid
Nannacara species
Laetacara species

None of those should eat Tetras

 

[Rorie]

well i am glad somebody has at least heard of them, so maybe you can give me some info on them. I think i maybe have it all wrong? Currently i have ballast and tube connectors, but one of the ballast is broken and needs replaced. The lights were attached to a DIY wooden top. I want to ditch the whole lot and replace it with this thing. I THOUGHT and was hoping that it was a fixture that holds my tubes, and has reflectors and ballast built in? Or am i wrong? My idea was to have one of these.

Do you know why some are worth £2,000 and others (like this one) only £80?

I really like some of the Rams you suggested. When i first started out with fish, i wrongly got one of them and it attacked everything in my tank!