pankelephant
Aquarium Advice Activist
I'm almost ready to start setting up my 55g planted tank and I have a few questions.
First, I bought the Odyssea T5HO 4x54 "plant version." I know the reviews are mixed, that the ballast is usually for NO and not HO and that the bulbs are crap. I'm going with it stock for now because I intend to upgrade to something high-end when I have more money. I've decided that figuring out how to determine wpg is impossible, so any help there would be appreciated. The big thing is determining which plants I can have based on my lighting. This is for a standard 55g (48" x 13" x 21"). Do I have high/med/low?
Second, do I need CO2? My understanding is that the answer depends on my lighting - the higher the lighting, the more need for CO2. Is that correct? My tank will get lots of indirect sunlight every day - 9' south-facing windows - can't do anything about that. Should I factor this in when I'm figuring out my light/nutrient/CO2 balance? If so, how? Does livestock need to be considered?
Assuming I do need CO2, I would definitely do a DIY system with soda bottles, etc.. My reading suggests that more and/or larger bottles increase the amount of time a given solution will last. Does it also increase the output? Why do I only see 2L bottles being used - why not a 5g bottle or something? My water is incredibly soft and I have almost no buffering - I'll be using crushed coral right from the beginning. So it's critical that I don't crash it with too much CO2. Is it possible to keep it in check with a DIY set up?
Lastly, how do I include ferts in all this? I would like to keep it as simple as possible.
Thanks in advance for your help.
First, I bought the Odyssea T5HO 4x54 "plant version." I know the reviews are mixed, that the ballast is usually for NO and not HO and that the bulbs are crap. I'm going with it stock for now because I intend to upgrade to something high-end when I have more money. I've decided that figuring out how to determine wpg is impossible, so any help there would be appreciated. The big thing is determining which plants I can have based on my lighting. This is for a standard 55g (48" x 13" x 21"). Do I have high/med/low?
Second, do I need CO2? My understanding is that the answer depends on my lighting - the higher the lighting, the more need for CO2. Is that correct? My tank will get lots of indirect sunlight every day - 9' south-facing windows - can't do anything about that. Should I factor this in when I'm figuring out my light/nutrient/CO2 balance? If so, how? Does livestock need to be considered?
Assuming I do need CO2, I would definitely do a DIY system with soda bottles, etc.. My reading suggests that more and/or larger bottles increase the amount of time a given solution will last. Does it also increase the output? Why do I only see 2L bottles being used - why not a 5g bottle or something? My water is incredibly soft and I have almost no buffering - I'll be using crushed coral right from the beginning. So it's critical that I don't crash it with too much CO2. Is it possible to keep it in check with a DIY set up?
Lastly, how do I include ferts in all this? I would like to keep it as simple as possible.
Thanks in advance for your help.