Q's on Ferts, flow and making a new hood

[Lord of the fish]

Hi

As I mentioned in my previous thread, I'm about to strip my my tank and start again going high tech with a good substrate, co2 and new LED lighting. I've been buying everything I need but still need to buy a list of things and some of them I'm still researching.

I wonder if anyone could answer or give opinion on any of the following regarding Flowrate, flow direction, my new Hood and Ferts.

Flow rate - I have a fluval Roma 90 with external filter and will be using Co2. I read a lot of conflicting information online regarding the recommended flow rate. What flow rate should I be looking to achieve? The filter produces up to 800lph. I will be fitting glass lily pipes and I'll be adding a powerhead.

Direction of flow - The new scape will have a rock cliff to the right with plants on top and on plateaux etc. The substrate will be deeper at the cliff side the sloping down from right to left with a large carpet area with the odd rock and wood here and there. My question is what direction should the outflow and powerhead be going? Towards the cliff or away from it? Does it matter at all? I feel that I'll need to have the filter intake on lower ground which places it to the left. Does that mean I have to have the outlet at the opposite side it or can they both be on the left?

Hood - I am going to make a new top for the tank in order to raise the clearance between the lighting and the surface of the water as well as to be specifically designed to take the lily pipes and all other equipment. The existing top section is fine but won't do with what I have in mind. What materials would you recommend? I want wood but which type? I'm thinking 18mm marine plywood which has been pre soaked so shouldn't be affected by moisture but what about the heat from the lights? I know LED's don't give off much heat though. I'm thinking I should incorporate some vents in the hood. Will this be necessary?

Ferts - The tank will have a mini hair grass carpet, a few small/medium red plants, mosses, anubias and a couple of other smallish small leaved plants that I've still to decide on. Remember I'll be using co2. The substrate will be ADA aqua soil alone with no other additives other than the goodness of the ADA soil. With this in mind, what Ferts should I be looking to dose?

This summarise, my questions are:

What Flowrate do I need to achieve?
Should I point the flow towards the cliff or away from it?
Can the filter inlet and outlet be situated on the same side?
What type of wood would you recommend for my new hood?
Will the hood need to be vented?
What Ferts do I need?

Thank you,

 

[StandbySetting]

10x tank volume is usually sufficient for CO2 injection, it can be a bit of trial and error, you can soon see dead spots as detritus and algae will build in those areas, so adjust your power head as necessary.

The filter inlet and outlet should be positioned on the same side when using lily pipes, this creates a circular flo pattern, if you can get your hands on an inline diffuser too for your CO2 you will be laughing!

I'd personally use marine plywood and then varnish it to water proof it.

You should vent the hood, but only slightly, I'd use a set of PC fans wired into your LED circuit, that's if your building the lighting setup yourself, if not some simple vents will suffice. If you're making your own LED circuits ensure you use heat sinks with thermal grease or the LED's will burn out.

Personally I use Aqua essentials neutro plus, it's an all in one fertiliser that includes N+P in its composition, id also use their Neutro CO2 as well which is a liquid carbon supplement, not only will it go some way in preventing algae, it will benefit your plants too. There are a few on here who are against its use, as well as CO2 injection, not hop over to UKAPS and you will see the majority of members using both, some for a decade or two with no ill effects.

 

[Lord of the fish]

Thanks for the reply.

Regarding flow rate I gather its important to eradicate dead spots and the flow rate should be increased until this is achieved? For example, your aquarium may have no dead spots at 10x whereas my tank may have a different layout and require 15x before there are no dead spots? Have I understood correctly?

So with lily pipes I should have both inlet and outlet on the same side therefore I'll have them on the left with the outlet flowing towards the cliff face.

I will look into inline diffusers. I've never considered one until now.

Marine ply it is then and yes I was always going to seal it. I'm not making my own LED lighting so will go with some basic vents.

I have a large bottle of Neutro t so that's music to my ears and I'll have a read about using the liquid carbon as well as pressurised co2.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

[StandbySetting]

Sometimes it's just a case of repositioning the Powerhead, but you should find that things will more than likely be ok from the off.