filtration with planted tanks

[Annakhil]

i am starting up a 29g heavily planted tank and i was going to filter it with ehiem 2213. but i found a deal on the 2215. i didnt plan on doing any bubbler since the filtration will oxigenate the water plenty. is there a possibility to OVER filter a tank.

 

[aqua_chem]

You will only be overfiltering a tank if you are literally blowing your fish around or they are hiding from the flow. I doubt you will have either of these problems with a 2215 on a 29g. In fact, you could go up to the 2217 and still not have an issue. Many planted tank folks shoot for 10x tank volume/hour filtration or more.

 

[Annakhil]

THANK YOU! the guy at my LFS who i would say knows more than most that work there about fish, he has 4-5 tanks of his own, told me it would be too much but i never heard of over filtering until he told me.

 

[Annakhil]

i have some other questions and was just wondering if i can ask them here or should i start up a new thread?

 

[jacpr233]

He probably meant that the 2215 wasn't necessary in a 29 gal. The 2213 would do the job

 

[aqua_chem]

In my personal opinion, go with the 2215. If you find that it is too much, you can very easily reduce the flow thanks to Eheim's quick connects without damage to filter. That way, if you did find yourself wanting more filtration (or wanting to upgrade to a bigger tank), you would already have an appropriately sized, fully cycled filter.

 

[Annakhil]

i figured it would work but why not have the extra filtration? i plan on having a community tank
my stocking ideas so far are
RCS(20-30)
5 ottos(my fav fish)
10 tetras(not sure which one yet)


the substrate is still up in the air, i know im going with eco complete just not sure what would be better to cap it with, either black moon sand or i found a black gravel that is from the ocean floor(a little worried it will raise the PH since its for SW) or just do plain black gravel.
im questioning the substrate since i want to do a carpet. that was my other question
my friend has his tank with dwarf hair grass as his carpet but i have found a couple other plants that i think might look beter and a little shorter.

 

[aqua_chem]

CO2 and light will have a much greater impact on your ability to grow a carpet than substrate choice ever will. Assuming good CO2, light, and fertilization, Eco Complete won't prevent you from growing any carpeting planys.

 

[Annakhil]

already searching for lighting, i know i want T5HOs since thats what i have on my 10, i figured CO2 was a must i saw a small setup at petco for about $50 i figured i would need two one on each side.
too much?
any lighting suggestions? not wanting to go over$150

 

[aqua_chem]

The $50 setups are almost universally a rip off in one capacity or another. The small pressurized setups make you buy specific refills for them, and will very soon end up cost as much or more than a $150 dollar setup. On the other hand, the yeast powered ones can be made at home for $5 in spare parts. If you're not wanting to do pressurized CO2, you can look into making a DIY CO2 setup with two 2L reactors. More information on making them can be found online.

As far as cheap lighting, 29g tanks are horribly awkward to light because they are only 30", and most fixtures are either 24" or 36". As far as budget friendly T5HO, it's hard to go wrong odyssea lights for their sheer budget friendliness. They put out decent light, but less than any equivalent fixture on the market (with the possible exception of Fishneedit fixtures).

 

[Annakhil]

I understand everyone is going to say the $300 one but for what I want what would work?

AquaticLife T5 HO Dual Lamp Light Fixtures
Or
Aquatic Life
T5-HO Light Fixture - 4 x 24 W - 30"

 

[aqua_chem]

Dual bulb. You definitely don't want four bulbs.

 

[Annakhil]

Quick question aqua_chem do you think those lights will grow dwarf baby tears?

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Quick question aqua_chem do you think those lights will grow dwarf baby tears?

I run CoraLife dual T5-HO bulbs on my 29g. I wouldn't suggest Baby Tears although I wouldn't say they are out of the question. Since 29gs are taller tanks, it may be a little tricky.

I don't keep up on routine pruning of my fast growing stem plants, so carpeting Crypts work best for my 29g. I'd say you need to do a little more maintenance with the Baby Tears than any Crypt out there. Since it is a taller tank, I always went with a kind of taller carpeting plant.

Hope this helps, and feel free to chime in Aqua_Chem

 

[aqua_chem]

I'm not sure about the reflectors on that fixture, but you will probably ok. Once again, it will be more of a matter of CO2 than light.

 

[mohican]

I wouldn't really being concerned about 5x, 10x turnover rates. It's kind of old school and really only applies to hob filters. Plan for the larger one b/c the flow is rated with little-no media in them. Once pads and media are introduced, the flow becomes much less than what is actually stated. Which ever of the 2 u decide should be fine.

 

[Annakhil]

ugh! so now that i read more on them, i wish i would have went with the 2215 i already bought the 2213 but maybe i can call bigAls and send it back and just do an upgrade to the 2215 seriously it was only $20 more.