Planted tank, I'm getting frustrated...need input

[OVT]

I'd go with something in a 400-550 gph range. Remember? 4'-long tank
Yeah, it can get expensive, ~$40.

I'd put it 2-4" below the surface, around the same as your spray bar. You will have to play with the positioning a bit to see where the flow goes.

One of the best ways to save $$ and do good for your plants is to buy dry chemicals here on TPT and mix your own fertilizer. For <$40 you get enough to last you a year+, big savings over buying Seachem stuff which is ~90% water. I can give simple steps on how to mix them with water and my formula, if you want. Takes 30 mins to mix enough for ~3 months and 1 min 3 times a week to add it to your tank.

[kyleax1]

Ya, I'm all about saving money

[Crob5965]

I do have a Powerhead in mine Maxijet 600 I think which is the equivalent to to the one at Walmart. Personally ive never used the W-mart one but I recently got 2 of my friends into keeping freshwater fish and they both use the W-mart brand powerheads. from what I can tell they are a little bulkier and nosier than the Maxi-jets and one of them said it does not work properly when you lay in horizontally. if you have time you can pick up a maxijet 600 on Ebay for under $20 I paid $16 for mine I think which is $5 cheaper than the walmart brand one but your gonna have to wait a week or so to get it in the mail.

[kyleax1]

I just ordered the maxi-jet 900 and it should be here Wednesday.


one of the things I asked about was the lighting. Is 1 pink grow bulb and 1 10k bulb optimum or should I change one of them out for a different bulb that will give better results?

[Crob5965]

I have 1 pink grow bulb and 1 std 6500k or maybe 6700k bulb
works for me
so I would stick with what you have

I ordered some cheap knock off LED light on Ebay of the Marineland 36" LED Light for my 40 Gal it's lightly planted with no ferts in the substrate just sand so I'm interested to see if that works out it's supposed to put out 10k but I'll have to wait and see.

I think you made a good choice with the Maxijet the 600 does good in my 55 gal but I wish i'd gone a little bigger so that was probably a good call.

In my opinion a 55 gal is a lot more work than most tanks for some reason I have had 75 gals and 60 gals and it seems that the 4' 55 gal is really tough to work with and hard to decorate due to it being so narrow.

good luck with the BBA dont give up i'm sure you will figure it out just try 1 thing at a time

[kyleax1]

Well I guess I will find out. Thx for all the info ovt & crob.


Feel free to tell me the dry fert recipes in pm ovt. I will start making my own when I run out of seachems