planting a 90g tank

[Jen]

I will soon be aquiring a 90 gal tank that is 2 feet tall. Is there anything special I need to take into consideration when setting it up? I have a planted tank now, so i know the basics. I will try to get 2wpg - so I'm thinking 180 watts. Do you need more light for taller tanks? I want a carpet of grass, and mine are curretnly doing great, and i woulndt want them to suffer in the new tank.

Any thoughts/comments/advice?

Thanks

 

[Mr Miagi]

The deeper you travel in water, less light actually reaches the bottum, but i dont think that will matter much in your aquarium.

 

[Discomafia]

Yea, you'll need more light since your tank is so tall.

"less light actually reaches the bottum, but i dont think that will matter much in your aquarium. "

How will the plants at the bottom not getting much light not matter much? Common sense, your tank is deeper, you need more light.

 

[George Farmer]

When you go deeper than 18" you need a lot more light than normal. You will need at least 3 WPG of high-output full-spectrum T8 lighting with reflectors. I would say this definitely if you plan to have a carpeting plant as light intensity drops dramatically after 18" thus not much light reaching the bottom.

Have you considered Metal Halide or T5?

edit - you could possibly have a carpet of Echinodorus tennelus or Sagittaria natans with 2 WPG assuming good quality tubes and a decent substrate.

 

[Jen]

I'm curretnly carpeting with Echinodorus angustifolius.

I will be going with sand again, and probably lateralite (is that what it is?)

Heres what else I have -
Cryptocoryne undulata
Anubias Lanceolata
Giant Val
Amazon Sword
Java Fern
Nymphaea Zenkeri (red tiger lotus)
Hygro Polysperma

Think I'll be ok with 2wpg? Or should I try for more?

 

[George Farmer]

Laterite. It's good stuff. Those plants should be fine with 2 WPG - will you be injecting CO2?

Try to shade your Anubias lanceolata otherwise it will get coated in algae in no time. Giant Val and H polysperma are a great choice for starting out - hopefully they'll out-compete any algae for nutrients from the start and you'll acheive a balance quickly. I'd recommend planting heavily with these at first.

Good luck - progress pics would be cool too.

 

[Jen]

I have a little store bought co2 thing that I will move to the bigger tank. I'll have to see how it works in the 90 to see what I need to do with that.

My val right now is easily 24 inches tall, I was planning on cutting it, but now I won't. I can't wait to see what my sword does in the bigger tank. It's really taken off with the added light, so i can only imagine how much bigger it will get.

 

[Jen]

by the way... how much laterite would i need for a tank that size? My lfs sells it in 20oz, 55oz. Then they also sell flourite. Is there a difference? Which is better?

 

[George Farmer]

Laterite will be cheaper as you mix it with gravel or sand. You will need 2 x 55oz - this will produce nutrients for a couple of years depending on planting.