proposed equipment from my local aquariums store

[nirc2]

hi.
first of all, my native tounge is not english, so you'll have to excuse my english

anyways,
last week i bought the juwel rio 300 (80 us gallons, planned: low tech planted aquarium).
i just got an email from the store with a suggested equipment.
i want to ask for your opinion about the list.

* JBL PROFLORA fertilized substrate, non washed
* JBL planting substate, non washed
* 4 juwel reflectors
* 1200 LPH outer filter (no need, already got one)
* biological media for the filter: SIPORAX
* PURIGEN:activated carbon replacement by seachem. Absorbs ammonia and nitrite. makes the water clear (what is that? is that necessary? and why should i want to absorb the ammonia and the nitrite, dont the plants need them in order to grow?)
* Flourish by seachem, liquid fertilizer.
* Flourish Excel by seachem, liquid CO2. (does it actualy work? and if it does, doesnt it change the CO2 radically every time you use it? it isnt like a continuous flow of CO2 from a balloon...)
* flourish iron by seachem, FE fertilizer
* PRIME antichlor
* Stability, stabilizes the water and adds essential bacteria. (why would i want that? cant i just cycle my aquarium for a month and get all the bacteria i need for free?)
* large magnet by Mag-Float. for extra hard algea and thick glasses.
* blanki by JBL, brush for cleaning the aquarium glass (huh? isnt that what the magnet is for?)

thank you

[Darkblade48]

Here are my thoughts regarding some of the equipment. I am not familiar with all the equipment you listed, so I will only comment on the ones I know.

Originally Posted by nirc2

* biological media for the filter: SIPORAX

You don't absolutely have to get this brand (Sera), as there are others; you may just want to get cheaper biological media. Some people even use plastic scrubbers that they get from the dollar store.

Originally Posted by nirc2

* PURIGEN:activated carbon replacement by seachem. Absorbs ammonia and nitrite. makes the water clear (what is that? is that necessary? and why should i want to absorb the ammonia and the nitrite, dont the plants need them in order to grow?)

I believe many people use this not on a continual basis, but only when they need to clear up the water, etc. It is essentially for short term/temporary usage.

Originally Posted by nirc2

* Flourish by seachem, liquid fertilizer.

This is fine if you are just starting out. If you decide to upgrade to a high light aquarium down the road, you may want to change to dry fertilization, as it is much cheaper.

Originally Posted by nirc2

* Flourish Excel by seachem, liquid CO2. (does it actualy work? and if it does, doesnt it change the CO2 radically every time you use it? it isnt like a continuous flow of CO2 from a balloon...)

Yes, the product works. It is not CO2, but is similar to glutaraldehyde. It needs to be dosed on a daily basis as the molecule is not stable and degrades rapidly.

While your aquarium is low light, dosing an 80 gallon aquarium with Excel can become expensive very fast. You may want to consider pressurized CO2 if you want to go down this route (or you could potentially leave Excel out altogether).

Originally Posted by nirc2

* flourish iron by seachem, FE fertilizer

You probably do not need this as iron is provided by Flourish. This product is useful if you need the extra iron.

Originally Posted by nirc2

* Stability, stabilizes the water and adds essential bacteria. (why would i want that? cant i just cycle my aquarium for a month and get all the bacteria i need for free?)

Yes, cycling your aquarium is the cheaper alternative.

Originally Posted by nirc2

* blanki by JBL, brush for cleaning the aquarium glass (huh? isnt that what the magnet is for?)

Just stay with the magnet.

Do be careful when using it, to ensure that sand/gravel bits are trapped between the magnets. If there are, you might end up with some scratch marks in your glass.

[jbrady33]

* biological media for the filter: SIPORAX

I agree, brand name not important. I have the ceramic type biologic material that came with my fitler and added a bunch of plastic pot scrubbers for even more surface area, like these:

* PURIGEN:activated carbon replacement by seachem. Absorbs ammonia and nitrite. makes the water clear

I use this all the time, good stuff. I use it as the next step after carbon, if you already have good filtration and a clean tank this stuff makes the water crystal clear. has to be cleaned every few months by soaking in bleach and rinsing with water & dechlor

* Flourish by seachem, liquid fertilizer.

Good stuff, I use it (low tech, medium light tank)

* Flourish Excel by seachem, liquid CO2.

It does work, keeps algae down too. not as good as injected gas Co2, but helps boost the growth of a low light tank. I use this

* flourish iron by seachem, FE fertilizer

Good, I occasionally use to add a little extra iron

* PRIME antichlor

Very good stuff - you need if your water has chlorine and to use when you clean your Purigen (if you use it)

* Stability, stabilizes the water and adds essential bacteria. (why would i want that? cant i just cycle my aquarium for a month and get all the bacteria i need for free?)

If you are going to go with bottled bacteria, use the Tetra SafeStart brand (works better), but you are 100% correct that you can cycle your tank for free (or for the cost of some fish food or liquid ammonia)

[DerekFF]

The other 2 posters already hit most points. Excel and flourish are really CO2, just an organic carbon source (day and night in terms of how well plants use it)
Things that i would pass on:
Mag float- youll just scratch your glass with it some day.


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[DerekFF]

Ack cant edit my post. Id also skip stability. Plants will suck up nutrients and if the JBL substrate theyre selling you is fertilized then with or without a bacterial booster you may have high ammonia for a few weeks anyways.
What kind of filter does it have? Get the purigen IN A BAG. Much easier to handle unless youre going to fluidize it

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[jbrady33]

also - your English is just fine!