Trying to plan my future tank.

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Brentellisd

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 10, 2013
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I have only kept one planted tank before. Not overly successful and short lived due to moving. I really want a nice planted tank and have a 125g that I plan on dirting. I am on a bit of a budget. I am going to get a t5ho 4 bulb light fixture that is the length of the tank. I plan on using 6500-6700k and daylight bulbs. I want to stay low tech. I will most likely me using organic potting soil with clay and fluorite mixed if that sounds good. Then a cap of some smaller gravel and maybe sand. I would like it to be fairly heavily planted, java fern, swords, Val, crypts, moss, probably a floater like frogbit or duckweed, etc. what are some thoughts on this plan working. I don't want to do co2 or heavy dosing if I can avoid it. The water in my area is pretty hard but I plan on getting a filtration/softening system. I currently have 2 canisters 1 fluval 304, and a marineland magnum 350 with biowheels. I want to use the magnum once its planted and have other plans for the fluval. Also I have a few power heads I can use.
 
This sounds like an ok plan to me. What is the overage wattage with the t5ho fixture that will cover the tank? You might have a bit too much light there to keep it low tech.
 
A 4 bulb T5HO fixture will be med high to high light so you won't be low tech. With higher lighting you need to at least dose a liquid carbon daily (Excel, API CO2 Booster, or Glutaraldehyde which is the most economical to use) along with dry ferts (cheaper for a large tank). You will also need more plants for the substrate IMO with that much light. As for the filters on a 125 I feel you need both. I run a heavily planted 220g and run 4- Fluval 406's and have 2 Nano power heads. You need small power heads as you don't want to blow your plants all over, just have a gentle sway to them.
 
This sounds like an ok plan to me. What is the overage wattage with the t5ho fixture that will cover the tank? You might have a bit too much light there to keep it low tech.

It's 320 watts total. If this is too much light then what would be adequate. I have 2 36" single bulb t8 hoods on it now. Would this work or what would be ideal to stay low tech and not have to dose daily. I was under the impression that the clay and iron combined with dirt made dosing frequently unnecessary. I have heard of people just using tabs from time to time. Please set me straight.
 
A dual t5ho fixture would be your best bet. The T8s are a bit under powered in my opinion.

Clay and Fe with dirt will help for a time, but almost all tanks, even low light, eventually require some level of dosing for long term success.
 
A dual t5ho fixture would be your best bet. The T8s are a bit under powered in my opinion.

Clay and Fe with dirt will help for a time, but almost all tanks, even low light, eventually require some level of dosing for long term success.

Yes I am sure that over time it will require some alternate supply of minerals. Would root tabs be sufficient if nutrients are lacking. The fixture I have been planning on using is 72" long and has 4 bulbs. But it's 2 on one side and 2 on the other. Would that not be the same as 2 dual ho fixtures. The one I'm looking at is the odyssea 72" t5ho with led. It comes with 10000k and actinic which I would change for plant bulbs. How's that?
 
Ok that sounds ok. Essentially that is 2 bulb coverage the length of the tank. What do you think rivercats?
 
The dual bulb T5HO sounds better if you want to stay more low tech. And IMO if you stick with the plants you have listed and not have a bunch of fast growing stem plants or ones like water sprite or wisteria you will still need to add a weekly liquid fert after WC's to be sure the few plants that draw nutrients from the water have them available. Personally I'd do Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive along with API Leaf Zone so you get adequate potassium and iron. And after 8-10 weeks I'd add root tabs to any swords and crypts. I add root tabs in my dirted 220g to my swords and crypts about every 3-4 months. I'm not the greatest at remembering to add them but also feel I have alittle extra wiggle room since I have nutrient rich dirt capped with Eco-complete.
 
The dual bulb T5HO sounds better if you want to stay more low tech. And IMO if you stick with the plants you have listed and not have a bunch of fast growing stem plants or ones like water sprite or wisteria you will still need to add a weekly liquid fert after WC's to be sure the few plants that draw nutrients from the water have them available. Personally I'd do Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive along with API Leaf Zone so you get adequate potassium and iron. And after 8-10 weeks I'd add root tabs to any swords and crypts. I add root tabs in my dirted 220g to my swords and crypts about every 3-4 months. I'm not the greatest at remembering to add them but also feel I have alittle extra wiggle room since I have nutrient rich dirt capped with Eco-complete.

Okay I understand. I like wisteria and rotella, I think that's what it's called. Are you saying that if I had a bunch of fast growing stem plants I wouldn't have to dose as much? Because that sounds backwards to me. I can see dosing weekly but that is about as often as I would like to. Preferably less often.
 
If you have alot of fast growing stem plants and plants like water sprite and wisteria you would have to dose ferts daily for the best results.

If you stick with the plants you listed you'd only need IMO to dose those two liquid ferts once weekly after WC's. You are going to have to dose something eventually you'll most likely start having nutrient deficiencies in your plants that aren't root feeders.
 
If you have alot of fast growing stem plants and plants like water sprite and wisteria you would have to dose ferts daily for the best results.

If you stick with the plants you listed you'd only need IMO to dose those two liquid ferts once weekly after WC's. You are going to have to dose something eventually you'll most likely start having nutrient deficiencies in your plants that aren't root feeders.

Ok we'll thanks for the info. When I get around to actually dirting it I will ask more questions. Thanks.
 
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