Newbie looking for some advice/direction

[Alex84]

Hey guys,

So I took delivery of my first bit of equipment today, the lighting unit. Its a Boyu STS 14Wx3, it's got two T5s @ 6400K and a blue "moon light" bulb (will never actually use it but was struggling to find a 14Wx2 lighting unit). Do you think the two white lights will be ok or should I look at changing them to 6500K bulbs?

I picked up a nice bit of monapi wood and a 3Kg bag of sea rock from Dobbies Garden centre yesterday. I was having trouble getting the wood to sink but after weighing it down in almost boiling water and leaving it to soak over night it sank
Also gave the rock a good scrub to get the dust and loose bits off. Got the wood soaking in a buck of water that I've treated with dechlorinator to hopefully neutralise the chlorine that may of soaked into it over night.

I'll hopefully be taking delivery of some more bits tomorrow. Once everything is here I'll be ordering my plants. I'm thinking of java fern, java moss and jungle val to start with. I've heard it's best to plant heavy from the start so will probably order quite a lot of those plants.

[exv152]

I don't think the bulbs will need to be changed, I'd be more concerned with the low light intensity. An effective low tech intensity would probably be closer to 14w x 6 bulbs considering the size, and especially the depth of your tank. I'm going to assume the T5's you have are NO and not HO at 14watts, but even if they were HO it would not be enough.

[Alex84]

Looking at the graphs in the lighting thread and with doing some calculations my light will be approx 12 inches from the substrate so I guesstimate I'll be just below the medium light range. I maybe completely wrong though. There's only one way to find out really and that's to set it up an see how things go.

Originally Posted by exv152

I don't think the bulbs will need to be changed, I'd be more concerned with the low light intensity. An effective low tech intensity would probably be closer to 14w x 6 bulbs considering the size, and especially the depth of your tank. I'm going to assume the T5's you have are NO and not HO at 14watts, but even if they were HO it would not be enough.

[exv152]

Originally Posted by Alex84

Looking at the graphs in the lighting thread and with doing some calculations my light will be approx 12 inches from the substrate so I guesstimate I'll be just below the medium light range. I maybe completely wrong though. There's only one way to find out really and that's to set it up an see how things go.

I think you've miscalculated the lighting. The tank you've linked in your earlier post is 40" x 18.8" x 24.25". So I'm not sure what you mean when you say the lights will be 12 inches from the substrate if the height of the tank is 24.25 inches.

[Alex84]

ah right there's been a change of tank i mentioned in an earlier post.

I'm visting my dad this weekend and it turns out he has my old aquarium which is 24"x12"x12" so I'm just going to start with that.

Originally Posted by exv152

I think you've miscalculated the lighting. The tank you've linked in your earlier post is 40" x 18.8" x 24.25". So I'm not sure what you mean when you say the lights will be 12 inches from the substrate if the height of the tank is 24.25 inches.

[kamikazi]

I know its a matter of difference in countries but I had a chuckle when I read that "Oh and the only half decent pet shop for me is pets at home just over 15 miles from me so I'll prob be ordering most of my stuff online." In most areas in the states people wouldn't think twice about driving 15-30 miles. My commute every day is over 15 miles. Sometimes I wish things were more compact and closer here, but other times I appreciate the openness. Sorry to sidetrack the thread there.

That is a 15 gallon tank. You could easily light that tank with Compact Flourescent lightbulbs mounted in lamps like, clamp desk lamps or work lamps. Something like the FL-300 would be perfect. http://www.baycoproducts.com/consume...ndescents.html

As far as bulbs go you could do two, 13 or 15 watt 6500K CFL bulbs. that would give you low light perfect for easy to maintain plants that you mentioned. My 15 gallon office tank journal in my sig. shows how I used clamp desk clamps to light the tank.

[Alex84]

If there was a proper aquarium shop that sold decent equipment I'd happily travel 15 to 30 miles it's just the pets at home has a very poor selection of equipment and the fish and plant tanks aren't kept in very good condition. it's also crazy expensive. An API master test kit from pets at home is £33 and I can get it online and delivered for almost half that.

Originally Posted by kamikazi

I know its a matter of difference in countries but I had a chuckle when I read that "Oh and the only half decent pet shop for me is pets at home just over 15 miles from me so I'll prob be ordering most of my stuff online." In most areas in the states people wouldn't think twice about driving 15-30 miles. My commute every day is over 15 miles. Sometimes I wish things were more compact and closer here, but other times I appreciate the openness. Sorry to sidetrack the thread there.

That is a 15 gallon tank. You could easily light that tank with Compact Flourescent lightbulbs mounted in lamps like, clamp desk lamps or work lamps. Something like the FL-300 would be perfect. http://www.baycoproducts.com/consume...ndescents.html

As far as bulbs go you could do two, 13 or 15 watt 6500K CFL bulbs. that would give you low light perfect for easy to maintain plants that you mentioned. My 15 gallon office tank journal in my sig. shows how I used clamp desk clamps to light the tank.

Anyways here's a wee pic of my old tank with my new lighting on it.



Hopefully the stand will arrive tomorrow with the rest of my equipment. It will be located in the space between the unit and wall in the background of the picture. I prefer the lighting on it now compared to the old way it was set up (hood with a fluorescent light in it).

[kamikazi]

looks good so far. the aquaria addiction starts with tanks like this. i got started with a 10 gallon

[exv152]

Ah, I see you’ve changed tanks. The lighting is just fine. With two 14w bulbs you’re looking at about 1.5wpg, and with three it’s about 2.2wpg (US gal). I'd just go with the 2 bulbs for now and fertilize once a week with something like seachem flourish comprehensive, and keep water changes to a minimum. That way you don't disturb the co2 levels too much and you won't get much algae. You should read this article for low tech setups, it's loosely based on Tom Barr's low tech method but I've used it with great success on a 125 gal setup.http://www.sudeepmandal.com/hobbies/...ed-tank-guide/

[Alex84]

Originally Posted by exv152

Ah, I see you’ve changed tanks. The lighting is just fine. With two 14w bulbs you’re looking at about 1.5wpg, and with three it’s about 2.2wpg (US gal). I'd just go with the 2 bulbs for now and fertilize once a week with something like seachem flourish comprehensive, and keep water changes to a minimum. That way you don't disturb the co2 levels too much and you won't get much algae. You should read this article for low tech setups, it's loosely based on Tom Barr's low tech method but I've used it with great success on a 125 gal setup.http://www.sudeepmandal.com/hobbies/...ed-tank-guide/

What an annoying past couple of days! Our internet went down on Wednesday later morning/early afternoon and came back on sometime early this morning, so it's almost been 3 days with out it.

Thanks for the advice and link exv152. I'll have a read through that later on today.

Anyways I've got the tank a little more set up, just waiting for the plants to arrive. Was expecting them yesterday but they've still not been sent

Here's a picture of it so far. I had to get a little creative with the intake for the fluval 206 as the clear piping is far too long to fit my tank. I took the intake off the clear pipe and managed to fit it onto the black piping. I was going to cut the clear pipe but decided not too as all the piping should be long enough to fit a bigger tank if I ever upgrade. Everything seems to be running fine.


I've used one 20lb/9kg bag of Eco-Complete and that's given me approx 2inches of substrate, I've still go a bag left over. The heater is a fluval 150W, filter is a fluval 206, the lighting is Boyu STS 3x14W and it's sitting on a Juwel Rekord 60 with the cabinet door.

The plants I'm waiting for are some Java fern, jungle val and some Java moss.

I'm still trying to decide on fish but I'm pretty sure I'll get some neon tetra and some oto. Not sure what else I'll get just yet but I've plenty of time to figure that out before the tank has cycled.

Cheers
Alex.

[exv152]

Looks good Alex, a word of caution with those stones - you may find they increase the pH considerably.

[Alex84]

Originally Posted by exv152

Looks good Alex, a word of caution with those stones - you may find they increase the pH considerably.

Thanks for that wee tip there. I just checked the pH and the High range pH with my API master test kit. The blue I got was a stronger blue than the 7.6pH on the API colour chart and the high range pH colour was right at the 7.4pH light brown colour. So I'm guessing it's at a pH of around 7.4?

Cheers
Alex

[mommabear1007]

put vaseline on the gasket of your fluval!! it will tear and crack and then your filter will leak. also when you rinse out your media wipe the gunk off the gasket and reapply the vaseline. need to keep it clean to prevent leaks too.

welcome and good luck!

[Alex84]

My plants arrived this morning and are now planted in. I decided to add the other bag of Eco-Complete to make the substrate depth now approx 3 inches.



Here's a wee pick of the plants in. I've tied the Java fern to the wood with some black cotton thread and used the same for tying the Java moss to the rocks. The Jungle Val (vallisneria spiralis) at the back was a bit tricky to get planted as it kept popping back up but hopefully they're in just enough until the roots can make a good foot hold. Initially I had planted them in too deeply so had to replant them but it now looks better than it did the first time!

How long approximately will it take the plants to become rooted well and have a strong hold? I should be getting fish in about 3 to 4 weeks once the tank has cycled and don't want the plants to be up rooted and pulled from the wood/rocks buy the fish.

I've also used this fish stocking guide that I saw another member using and this is what I'm thinking of getting fish wise.



How accurate do you think that guide is to follow with stocking an aquarium? I've heard about the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule but that also depends on the general over all size of the fish but 27 fish/shrimp seems like a bit too much for my tank?

The fish I've chosen so far is just a rough first list and will most likely change.

Cheers
Alex