What else will i need?

[Wolfdog]

OK i just put in flourite to my 55 gal. Its about 60/40 with gravel and the flourite, with more gravel then the flourite. Its 2 inches in the front of the tank and about 3 inches in the back.

Ran by a Fluval 304

The flourite made it pretty dang cloudy im assuming this will clear up? I rinsed it and i added an external HOB filter too.

This will be a community setup btw...

As for lighting...

a 48inch tube. 40 watts T12

Evereywhere around at every pet store doesnt have any other higher wattage lights. What do ya reccomend? How much wattage do i need? I guess i need one WPG right? I dont want to go into the whole co2 thing either.

Last thing... lights on for 10-12 hours a day righto?

SO what all else do i need?
And! At the LFS when some plants say they need bright. and others say either low or moderate... whats all the difference? Bright light= more WPG? Moderate=less WPG?

Thanx!
Wolf

 

[jimbooo]

ok firstly light.

1 WPG = low light plants only (java fern, anubias, crypt. wenetti(sp?))
2WPG = Med/Low light plants
3WPG =med/High light plants
4WPG = aquatic jungle - whatever you like

you really want at least 1.5-2 wpg to have anything worthwhile, over 2.5 and you start to need CO2.

my advise to you would be get 2 of the 40W tubes (giving you 1.45WPG) you may need an extra ballast to run it but should be available in LFS/DIY stores

yes the flourite cloud will clear in a couple of days, good move there it makes a huge difference.

also make sure you have reflectors on the tubes they'll increase the useable light by about 40%

good luck with it

 

[Wolfdog]

OK, well here is my setup...

The 40watt tube light in the ballast is on top of this while plastic type cpvering thing that covers the whole top of the tank. This is hard to explain...

Beneath the light there is see through clear plactic/plexiglass or sumthing like that.
Then there are two things i lift up in front of the light for feeding and that stuff. something like this

http/www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseac...d/3734/cid/1085

Only 48inches long to fit my 55.
I know that there is no room to fit another whole light on there. SO i guess what im asking is, do i need that whole hood? Does there have to be a barrier between light and water? Like the clear plastic is now.
If i could take that whole hood thing out i could just have the light i have now and get another one to put right in front of it. I might have to do a lil DIY to make it sit right and all.

I also have the whole wood hood thing that sits on top of everything so i wont even see the lights at all.

Lastly, how do i make the reflectors?

Sorry for all the crap i just wrote, i hope u figer out what im saying!

Thanx,
Wolf

 

[jimbooo]

no probs,

hmm, hoods are always a pain in the arse. i cant really help with the design side as i'm not really a diyer and all my tubes just fit in with out any mods.

either way you need to get more wattage in. maybe compact flourescent tubes will fit better (never used them but plenty do).

your tubes are probably not waterproof hence the cover glass, all mine are water proof (standard juwel lights and arcadia flourescent controllers are both W/proof) so you probably need the cover with your existing tubes, should you replace the lot then the new ones will almost definatly be fine without the cover glass.

as to reflectors bear with me, bloozoo has sent me some mylar, if i have any spare i'll send it onto you (not arrived yet so dont know how much she's sent)

James

 

[zig]

Personally i would try and modify the hood, within reason of course so that its safe, like Jimbooo said the covers are there for a reason, obviously your existing light isnt waterproof and needs the condensation cover.

Or if the hood cant be modified, make another one if your diy skills are ok, you dont need a large opening for feeding, id try and make it smaller.

And as has been said allready if you have the spare money T5 power compacts could work for you, i use T5 power compacts they are 55 watt and with the light fitting they are about 23 inches long, so technically if you removed your existing light fitting (im presuming your tank is 48 inches long) you could squeeze in 2 power compacts and run them lengthways and this would give you 110 watts in total or 2 wpg and if you used the correct reflectors with them this would give you a further boost in your output to probably something like 2.5 watts per gallon, which would allow you to grow a lot of different plants, and they arnt hard to fit the ballasts remain outside the tank.

 

[Wolfdog]

Well i was at a friends house today for the first time to look at her tanks. She has a 72gal bowfront with live plants.

Her lighting is in a "double ballast" type thing. Just like mine, the single, but it holds two. Im gonna go shop around and see if i can find the double light holder thing like she has. She had a total of 80watts.

Her plants were huge and thriving, and she had a DIY co2.

I wish you guys would have told me how it is to do!!!! Im gonnna get one setup and hopefully get some high wattage lights goin on my tank.

Im goin shoppin tomorrow to see what i find!
If u have any more suggestions feel free to help me on out!

Wolf

 

[Wolfdog]

And another question about Flourite...

Now that it has all settaled the "dust" or whatever is it has setteled all on the bottom. If i stir it at all it gets all cloudy again.

Should i vaccumm this all up?

Wolf

 

[jimbooo]

i would, you dont really want a load of nutrients in the water column. just the substrate.

 

[daza]

Here is a link to a twin 55 watt power compact ballast (£25.20). I recently bought the 24 watt version from there and it was the cheapest one I found (so I plan on ordering another one).

55 Daylight Plus tubes on the same site are £9.50ea.

Hope that helps.