The Planted Tank Forum banner

20g long high tech - equipment wise, where do I start?

2K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  loach guy 
#1 ·
Hi guys.

Over the past week or so, I have gotten a lot of new stuff for my tank. I have been debating whether or not to do DIY lighting, or to buy a nice light, and I have settled for the latter. I'm buying a Finnex FugeRay planted+. I want a high tech tank, but I want to not overspend.

Anyways, im having trouble finding out where to start with a co2 system. I have some questions here, and it would be great if i could get some of them answered.

I see that Fluval has a "mini 20gallon kit" on amazon for pretty cheap, and that I could use threaded 16g paintball cartridges for it as well. Would this be a good starting point? What would be the most reliable, most cost effective alternative?

I have dwarf hairgrass and Staurogyne Repens in my tank, and I would like to start getting these two to grow a little quicker, hence the upgrade in equipment. I understand that it is best to use co2 for the DHG, but would co2 booster make these plants grow at a decent enough pace? or at all?

At the moment, I am using liquid flourish, flourish root tabs, as well as co2 booster. With this new light i'm getting, would I need to be concerned about a drastic increase in algae? How would I prevent such an increase? How would I get started with solid ferts? Should I go for solid ferts? Do I need a co2 setup with all of the stuff I am currently doing, with the addition of the new light?

If I have more questions, I'll add an edit section with the questions in bold, as well as ask directly in the comments.

Thanks.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I'll get the party rolling...
FYI...I have a 20L as well.

Fugeray is going to give you a lot of light and to combat algae you will have to up your CO2. You are going to go through a paintball cylinder pretty quick. I'm running about 2 bps with less light.

You would probably pay for a better regulator and bigger tank in a year.

In terms of ferts. Decide what method works for you. I use Ei. I bought a basic package form Nilogc on here and I measure amounts and dump right into the tank. Couldn't be easier.
 
#3 ·
Yeah skip the mini co2 kits and at least go with a full paintball set-up. A 24oz tank will probably last a couple months, maybe a little longer. For about the same money you could go standard size with a 2.5lb tank.

Can get a nice aluminum tank for around 50 on ebay or from - Co2 Cylinders: Guaranteed lowest price,

For an economy regulator Id go with something from CO2 ART. Generally considered a step above Aquatech/Milwalkee in terms of quality and reliability...price too depending on which one you get.


+1 for ferts from nilocq, can get the premixed liquids and just add a squirt or two/day, or he sells dry form too.
 
#4 ·
Hi guys.

Over the past week or so, I have gotten a lot of new stuff for my tank. I have been debating whether or not to do DIY lighting, or to buy a nice light, and I have settled for the latter. I'm buying a Finnex FugeRay planted+. I want a high tech tank, but I want to not overspend.

Anyways, im having trouble finding out where to start with a co2 system.
The first step in geting a CO2 system is to get a second mortgage on your house.
:wink2:

I have some questions here, and it would be great if i could get some of them answered.

I see that Fluval has a "mini 20gallon kit" on amazon for pretty cheap, and that I could use threaded 16g paintball cartridges for it as well. Would this be a good starting point?
Starting point is the key phrase here. You buy this. Struggle with it for awhile. Throw it out the window and get a somewhat better system. Eventually, have problems with it and decide to get serious. You finally buy a premium system after having wasted a lot of $$ on the cheap stuff. There is a good article about camera tripods that talks about how you can start out cheap and end up spending a lot more than if you had bought quality to start with. Tripod 101 by Thom Hogan. I think this applies to CO2 systems.

Alternatively, you may have learned a lot about CO2 systems through your struggles with problematic systems. At that point you might know enough to build your own system.

What would be the most reliable, most cost effective alternative?[/B]
Generally, the less you pay, the greater the chance that the system will fail sometime in the future. Sometimes a CO2 system failure can lead to an overdosing of CO2 and kill your fish.

I believe the exception to this is if you do a lot of research on regulators, solenoids, needle vavles, tubing, and check valves you may be able to put together an excellent system for less money. However, it relies on your ability to learn about all the components and find bargains. There is lots of stuff available on ebay, but you really need to know what you are doing. I was unwilling to spend the time and effort and ordered a very expensive system.

have dwarf hairgrass and Staurogyne Repens in my tank, and I would like to start getting these two to grow a little quicker, hence the upgrade in equipment. I understand that it is best to use co2 for the DHG, but would co2 booster make these plants grow at a decent enough pace? or at all?

At the moment, I am using liquid flourish, flourish root tabs, as well as co2 booster. With this new light i'm getting, would I need to be concerned about a drastic increase in algae? How would I prevent such an increase? How would I get started with solid ferts? Should I go for solid ferts? Do I need a co2 setup with all of the stuff I am currently doing, with the addition of the new light?

If I have more questions, I'll add an edit section with the questions in bold, as well as ask directly in the comments.

Thanks.
I have no idea about CO2 booster. I went with a DIY CO2 setup (yeast & sugar) to hold me until I decided what to do about CO2 on a more permanent basis. It worked well room temp was in the 80-85°F range (no air-con). When the temp dropped to 70 it no longer produced enough CO2 for a heavily planted 30g tank. I could have looked into a heating pad for the yeast bottle, but decided it was time to get real.

I ended up ordering a GLA PRO-2 system with 10 lb. tank for an insane amount of $$. I think it was both the right thing to do and totally loco en la cabeza.
 
#5 ·
I have a 20 Long too. It is really cool to look at and you have lot of space for plants and swimming space for mid swimmers. Be very careful about the lights you buy. I am constantly fighting algae. Its soo short that any hi tech light is too much light. I added a glass canopy and stopped cleaning the canopy to create that translucent effect and I still have some algae. So It will be a good idea to buy a light that has a controlled output.
 
#6 ·
I too would recommend skipping the small paintball style co2 systems. They work; but you'll likely want/need to upgrade after a pretty short period of time.

I run a planted + over a 20 long and inject co2. I need to use light diffusor between the light and tank because the light is a bit much for that setup. When I was dosing EI and had lots of stem plants I did not have much algae. I've since stopped dosing and dont have as many stems and am facing a ton of algae!

If you're budget minded I would skip the aluminum co2 tank as well (that is of course unless you're stuck in a situation where you couldn't hide an "ugly" steel tank).

I think its also worth doing some research in your area insofar as where you might be able to get your co2 tank filled (or swapped for a tank thats been filled as some places only do this...which is good to know if you do chose to buy that fancy aluminum tank).

Then I'd start searching around on this site and potentially pickup a nice used regulator. If I recall, someone had something half decent (regulator and solenoid were good but had a broken bubble counter which is easy to replace) up for sale in one of the "local" threads.....not sure if you are in the same state or if they might be willing to ship (and I cant recall which particular sub-forum I noticed it in either).
 
#9 ·
Could you please throw some light on the light diffusor you used and how and where and what? I am facing the situation now. The interesting part is, I have algae on Anubias(the slowest growing) and wisteria, the fastest growing. Rest of the plants are totally fine. I recently changed my setup with a Finnex Planted+ 24/7 and Injected CO2. I had a T5HO and DIY CO2 before. I had algae then too but it was in control and slow growth. Now its growing crazy along with algae on these two plants.
 
#8 ·
With any high tech tank, it starts with the lighting and CO2. I have not used LED's on a 20 long, but it's easy to get high light on a short tank. I don't want to recommend a light as I just don't know enough of what you are looking at and not enough about LED's for the height.

As for CO2, skip that Fluval kit. It may be fine for a 3-5 gallon but it's expensive and unreliable from what I have researched. It may last 2 weeks or so on a 20L, according to my research, I really looked into it on an older 20 long I had. You need atleast a 20-24OZ paintball setup to not be frustrated, the Fluval kit, according to Amazon is 0.7OZ for reference. I have not used Aquatek regulators but that is going to be the cheapest option for either paintball or standard CO2 tanks that is reliable enough that people don't absolutely hate them. Some love them, some like them OK, a few hate them but they don't seem to be terrible. CO2art may be worth looking into as well, they seem to do some affordable stuff.

If CO2 booster is the same or similar to Flourish Excel, it should help. It isn't necessary in a high tech tank but I have not had any negative experiences. I wouldn't want to dose it daily from a laziness perspective but it still helps in a high tech and works as an algaeside.

Dry ferts are much easier with high tech for the simple reason they are much more documented. No reason Flourish ferts won't work and there is some valuable info on the site but dry ferts, there is just more info. And you can buy a few years of supply for the price each fert for the price of a bottle of each Flourish fert.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top