[Specter3]

Hello my name is Ryan and I am ultra new to the real plant world. I have had a 30 gal for about 3 years and when the wife said ok to a larger tank I ended up with this huge beauty. I wanted to go real plants as they end up being so much nicer looking than the fake stuff so I joined the forum and have been lurking a while. Here is a pic.

I had the 30 gal given to me by my sister in law and it came with four fish. Two are still with us, one was rehomed and the 4th perished for unknown reasons. The common pleco front and center was one. Biggest fish in the tank. There is One Eyed Jack down in the lower left who is a bubble eyed goldfish that had a very early in life run in with the 3rd survivor of the tank , a 3 line pictus catfish (11 inches now in a friends 150 gal tank) and lost one of his eyes. The rest are my additions with multiple species of Gourami being my personal favorites.

I have added all my plastic plants from the old tank(boo, hiss, I know) and I have planted some Sword and Anubis(I think). I think this is a low to medium light setup with my two dual 24 inch T8 fixtures with generic Lowes Fish/plant bulbs. They are on a timer for about 8 hours a day. This is only about day 6 of plants in the tank and I have no idea what the long term prospects are except that I want it to succeed. I will update as things happen.

Ryan

 

[Specter3]

This tank is also being viewed on three sides as well so it is going to be interesting to get stuff that will play to multiple viewing angles. The driftwood in the center is not as seasoned as I might have hoped and is leaching tannins at a good clip. I am running carbon in the HOB and in one basket of the eheim pro filter I have. Ultimately the HOB will go away and the eheim will grow into a unit capable of handling the tank by itself. Water quality other than the tanins has been great for the three weeks it has been running. I brought water, and the eheim from the 30 when I switched over so the tank will not have to cycle.

Some of the things I need to figure out are what plant I can put on the top of the wood that will replace that plastic job up there and what can I do for a floating plant for a bit of high cover?

Ryan

 

[scapegoat]

welcome to the forum, you're going to learn how to spend a lot of money here!

Also, I think your T8's are on the low end of the low light spectrum. take a look at the lighting forum here for some great (and mind boggling) information http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=184634

 

[Specter3]

Thanks for the link Scapegoat. I had hit the first few pages of that thead before but this time read it all. Since the bulbs I have were not in his info I can only guess at their ultimate par value. I know it is low, just want to make sure it is still in the "keeps plants alive that are happy in low light" area. I may have to search out some better bulbs once I know what i am looking for. Some reflectors would be helpful as well.