Upgrading from no-tech to medium tech?
So I started off wanting an aquarium with a plant or two, and well you know how that goes :icon_mrgr
My tank is ill-prepared for the journey I'd like to take it on... Right now I've got about 3/4 inch of mixed sand and crushed slate/granite and a far cry from enough lighting (30x18 footprint 24" tall, with 2 F17T8 GE plant/aqua bulbs from lowes.
)
That said the tank is running with inhabitants and hardscape I'd rather not disturb too much (I cant take the top rocks off some caves). From what I'm reading I need to get a LOT more and better substrate, and I need to get a good bit more lighting. I think I'm going to eventually go CO2, just not yet.
So my idea so far is to add flourite on top of my sand. From what I understand the flourite will not sink, but rather sit on top the sand, which is okay by me. I'm also going to probably get a 3x24" T5HO setup and run one bulb most the time, two bulbs for a few hours a day, and when I get CO2 I can run 2 always and a third sometimes.
Also I've decided that I want a HUGE sword plant in the one corner of the tank, so I'm probably going to buy a mother plant because it's less work. I was thinking about using the hardscape to "box out" part of the back corner, I think I can get an area something like 8x8 and 6" deep substrate so it can really root in, but it'll look better than putting a pot in the tank.
Basically I'm open to input, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has done this before, so tell me what I'm about to screw up so I dont :help:
My tank is ill-prepared for the journey I'd like to take it on... Right now I've got about 3/4 inch of mixed sand and crushed slate/granite and a far cry from enough lighting (30x18 footprint 24" tall, with 2 F17T8 GE plant/aqua bulbs from lowes.
) That said the tank is running with inhabitants and hardscape I'd rather not disturb too much (I cant take the top rocks off some caves). From what I'm reading I need to get a LOT more and better substrate, and I need to get a good bit more lighting. I think I'm going to eventually go CO2, just not yet.
So my idea so far is to add flourite on top of my sand. From what I understand the flourite will not sink, but rather sit on top the sand, which is okay by me. I'm also going to probably get a 3x24" T5HO setup and run one bulb most the time, two bulbs for a few hours a day, and when I get CO2 I can run 2 always and a third sometimes.
Also I've decided that I want a HUGE sword plant in the one corner of the tank, so I'm probably going to buy a mother plant because it's less work. I was thinking about using the hardscape to "box out" part of the back corner, I think I can get an area something like 8x8 and 6" deep substrate so it can really root in, but it'll look better than putting a pot in the tank.
Basically I'm open to input, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has done this before, so tell me what I'm about to screw up so I dont :help:
