noob LOL with questions

[silver7621]

i have been surfing you forum for a few weeks now and finaly joined up
After seeing all the nice tanks im pondering a 29g planted unit for my collection Now i have never done a planted tank before so im going to ask some stupid questions along the way LOL
Im looking to do a low teck type of tank and im still searching for a proper filter and lighting set up.As in the filter i wont a canaster type,due the the fact it would be nice to put a UV stabilizer in line,but what would be the best size for a 29g tank.As in the lighting im way to lost to figure out the best unit that would be and not going to cost me my first born.
I guess my last noob question for now is i see lots of people running co2 systems what type and where should i look for one?
Sorry i did a few searches but came up with lot of good stuff but not what i was looking for

Again great site and hope to be around a lot

Thanks
Joey

[Blacksunshine]

ok.first off well welcome to the site!
For a cannister filter for that tank I would personally go with a XP1. you can pick them up for about 70 bucks off petsmart.com or DRfostersmith.com or even big als online.
depending on your setup you can do a few different things with lighting. but for sake of keeping things simply I will reccomend to you looking into the Coralife Freshwater Aqualamps. IMO they are the best priced quality fixtures. and come with the proper spectrum bulbs.
You could go with the Jebo or oddysea fixtures you will find on Ebay. But quality is not really there. and you could wind up with alot of problems (burnt down house) So I would say stay away from the cheap extremes.

For CO2 you have a few diff options. You can get everything you need by contacting forum member Rex Grigg. www.rexgrigg.com.
He not only sells all the stuff you need there are some great articles there that put alot of this stuff in laymans terms that will help you understand not only what you need but why. I highly suggest giving it a view.
You will have more questions. we all do. But this will get you some of the basics covered. .
The drfostersmith site also has some decent CO2 system packages for fair price.
then we can talk about ferts.

[silver7621]

thanks for the link and yes it has lots of great info

[silver7621]

great site but can any one post some pictures of the hardware in action
im a hands on type of guy and i like to see stuff in action before i make my own

[lumpyfunk]

What is your budget, I would recommend putting the funds you have towards the things that are the hardest to change, like substrate first, and then upgrading the easy thing like filters.

And with co2, start DIY and move up when you can.