[botanicalT]

Hi friends,

Today I received my plants in the mail, so I set to work planting my new tank. I absolutely love it, as it is a 32 gallon Mr. Aqua rimless/frameless tank. While beautiful, the dimensions (24x18x18) are different from other aquariums of similar size, and I'm concerned that things I'm reading in other threads (i.e. lighting, CO2...) would not apply in the same manner... I'm terrified of killing my beautiful plants, so I want to make sure I've got things down from the get-go.

For example. I have a Current Satellite Plus running, but because the tank is so deep, I'm concerned the light doesn't stretch far. For my filter (canister, Cascade 500) does the squareness of the tank affect the flow?

Other than lighting, my biggest concern is CO2. I know people already have a hard enough time diffusing it how it is, but in a square-ish tank like mine, maybe I need a special system? I am setting up CO2 tomorrow (used Excel tonight at least to give it something in the water...) and was planning on doing the DIY CO2 reactor I got from Amazon with sugar + yeast and a ceramic diffuser ring. Do you think I need an inline reactor to get it throughout the tank? Is DIY strong enough to feed everything?

Thanks for the feedback; I look forward to hearing your opinions. I want this to live!! I've invested a lot of time, money, and emotional energy into this tank and want to see my plants thrive. I've attached two photos of the tank (not quite full yet) so you can see what I'm talking about (especially in regards to the light; you can tell on the side-photo).

 

[DaveK]

I would say the tank looks great.

On the lighting, see how things go. You can easily add an addition fixture if it's needed, but why spend the money if you don't need to.

On a tank that size, 32 gal, I would consider DIY CO2 to be almost a joke. Consider going with out CO2, or get a pressurized CO2 system. I know the initial investment in this is high, but it really solves the CO2 problems, and once purchased is very inexpensive to run.

 

[John Wong]

My secrete weapon, every smartphone with camera got a sensor that sense light intensity. You can download at App Store and use your phone as lux meter . It's totally free and with that you can measure your light intensity at different part of your tank. Of course don't put your phone into the tank, unless it's waterproof like Samsung or sony

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I would say the tank looks great.

On the lighting, see how things go. You can easily add an addition fixture if it's needed, but why spend the money if you don't need to.

On a tank that size, 32 gal, I would consider DIY CO2 to be almost a joke. Consider going with out CO2, or get a pressurized CO2 system. I know the initial investment in this is high, but it really solves the CO2 problems, and once purchased is very inexpensive to run.

Agreed, get a co2 system. Basically with proper care you can used it for life...you only need to spend money on refill, unless something broken.

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[Dman911]

My secrete weapon, every smartphone with camera got a sensor that sense light intensity. You can download at App Store and use your phone as lux meter . It's totally free and with that you can measure your light intensity at different part of your tank. Of course don't put your phone into the tank, unless it's waterproof like Samsung or sony

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Wow... Thanks for bringing this up! I'm downloading it right now.

Dan

 

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Wow... Thanks for bringing this up! I'm downloading it right now.



Dan

Fantastic what's the app called?


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[John Wong]

Fantastic what's the app called?


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Lux meter. It measure light intensity with front facing light sensor

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[botanicalT]

I would say the tank looks great.

On the lighting, see how things go. You can easily add an addition fixture if it's needed, but why spend the money if you don't need to.

On a tank that size, 32 gal, I would consider DIY CO2 to be almost a joke. Consider going with out CO2, or get a pressurized CO2 system. I know the initial investment in this is high, but it really solves the CO2 problems, and once purchased is very inexpensive to run.

My secrete weapon, every smartphone with camera got a sensor that sense light intensity. You can download at App Store and use your phone as lux meter . It's totally free and with that you can measure your light intensity at different part of your tank. Of course don't put your phone into the tank, unless it's waterproof like Samsung or sony

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Agreed, get a co2 system. Basically with proper care you can used it for life...you only need to spend money on refill, unless something broken.

Sent from my MX4 using Tapatalk

Thanks, guys, for the responses.

The Lux meter sounds super cool! I ended up just making the decision that the tank needs more light. It is so dang deep that I can visibly see the light not stretching to the back. Because I have some acantarea that I want to be red in the back, and of course plants I want to carpet in the front, I need a stronger light. I didn't want to buy two because I want them to be in sync; so I upgraded from my 18" Current Satellite Plus to a 24" Current Satellite Plus PRO. After reading reviews on Finnex Planted 24/7, I thought this was a better route. I will post photos of the light difference once I get it on Tuesday.

As for CO2. I decided I should go with the pressurized system. I am investigating on where to buy/refill the tanks before I invest, as I don't want to order the tank online and find that no where near me sells them. After reading some posts on this forum, I am going to contact a welding supply company and a fire extinguisher company nearby. I also called my local Dick's Sporting Goods, and they refill and supply CO2 tanks, but only 20oz. I will do this if last resort and will probably buy 2-3 tanks so I can get them refilled less frequently.

Thanks

 

[John Wong]

That lux meter fairly accurate but it measure quantity instead of quality of light. In other words two light producing same light intensity may not produce same result due to different quality of light. So normally I only use it as a reference and use it to measure uniformity of light throughout the tank.

John

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