New 29 Gallon Planted Tank - Advice?

[keithjfuller]

Good luck IMO your still better of with the versa top.

I'll probably do both. The canopy is just to hide all the equipment. I have always HATED seeing equipment - especially in a beautiful tank. I am going to try my hardest to hide my filter tubes and heater behind plants and rocks without blocking them.

 

[calfishguy]

I'll probably do both. The canopy is just to hide all the equipment. I have always HATED seeing equipment - especially in a beautiful tank. I am going to try my hardest to hide my filter tubes and heater behind plants and rocks without blocking them.

The fluval m series heaters work rather well and are glass so they reflect everything around them. They camouflage quite well IMO. Also having a background helps camouflage hobs and stuff.

 

[Billbug68]

Since you're going with a canister filter, you can also run an inline heater, to keep that out of the tank.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yeah inline heaters are nice for that particular purpose. Only negatives that have prevented me from getting one are the higher price and high amount of power it takes to heat a tank that a cheaper less power consuming regular heater can.

If you're going to have a black background, I'd go with an Aqueon Pro as they are all black and blend in well with a black background.

 

[keithjfuller]

UPDATE:

I got around to getting the tank - it's glass.

This weekend I'm going to build the stand and canopy. I talked to a guy at an awesome fish shop in MI (The Fish Doctor) and he told me that I have NOTHING to worry about with having a heavy canopy on top of the tank, so that frees up some options for me.

In terms of lighting, I think I'm going LED. I know they are more expensive, but the thought of replacing 4 T5 bulbs twice every three years makes LED look cheap. The guy at the fish shop said that I should get 3-4 watts per gallon with those T5, making me need around 120 watts. He told me that with LED you can pretty much divide it by 4, so I'm thinking about getting a 24" 6700k LED (the tank is 30"). Does that sound good to you guys/gals?

Also, he said CO2 isn't necessary at all, and that liquid fertilizers would do just fine. I know that this is a debatable subject, but I'm going to take his word for it.

Now, filters. Is the Fluval 306 too much for a 29g tank? It's 306 gph making it nearly 10 times an hour!!! I don't mind spending the extra $15 on it over the 206 (202 gph I think), but do I even need it?

About the heaters - I think for money's sake I'm going with a 100watt cheaper Aqueon one in the tank. I'm going to have a black background, and I think I'll be able to hide it behind things so I won't notice it. I'd love the inline one, but they sound expensive (I've never looked into them).

Thanks for the advice so far, it's been very valuable. I'll make sure to post some pics of the stand when I get a chance.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

So which LED light fixture are you looking at?
Take a look at this thread which can give you a better idea of the lighting you'll need based on whether you want low, medium, or high lighting. You'll want to calculate the PAR value based on the distance from light to sub to get an estimate.
LED Lighting Compendium

As for the 306... I have it on my 26g and there's no problem. It has a flow control which makes it manageable. I personally like to be overfiltered a bit because of the added capacity to throw in extra media. I think for $15, go for the 306 IMO.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Check out my thread on the 26g. I'm using LED lighting, co2, and the Fluval 306. It might help you with some ideas
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...irst-dutch-inspired-scape-journal-235192.html

 

[Billbug68]

The inline heater is $10 more than the in tank one you mentioned, I believe. Not extremely expensive.

 

[Billbug68]

Also, he said CO2 isn't necessary at all, and that liquid fertilizers would do just fine. I know that this is a debatable subject, but I'm going to take his word for it.

I'd be weary of doing so. You can't always trust LFS employees. Some are successful with high light and no co2 just excel, but the only one I can think of is rivercats, and she has YEARS of experience.

 

[calfishguy]

I'd be weary of doing so. You can't always trust LFS employees. Some are successful with high light and no co2 just excel, but the only one I can think of is rivercats, and she has YEARS of experience.

From my understanding the reason she is so successful is that she only has a 6 hour photoperiod. During the I'd hours the plants can grow. When the 6 hours is over she has other weaker lights that from my understanding keep the ants alive. From my understanding she has a beautiful tank but still doesn't have the extremely fast growth she could have with co2. However that that her tank is filled in she doesn't really need her plants to grow all that fast.

I could be wrong but that's how I understand River cats' setup.

 

[Billbug68]

From my understanding the reason she is so successful is that she only has a 6 hour photoperiod. During the I'd hours the plants can grow. When the 6 hours is over she has other weaker lights that from my understanding keep the ants alive. From my understanding she has a beautiful tank but still doesn't have the extremely fast growth she could have with co2. However that that her tank is filled in she doesn't really need her plants to grow all that fast.

I could be wrong but that's how I understand River cats' setup.

Like I said, she has years of experience, and has found the right combination of things. She also doses fairly high with the glut.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Right. Considering everything that needs to be bought for starting this tank, getting glute from Amazon is the cheapest option and it actually does work out well. I use it without co2 on both of my small LED lit planted tanks. If algae becomes a real problem, or growth isn't where you want it, a co2 system can always be added later. It never hurts to stagger costs and glute will still be useful even with a co2 system.

I recommend either the 30" Finnex Ray 2 or FugeRay with the Fluval 304 and an inline heater. A normal in-tank heater would be fine but if the price is close the inline is the better choice. I've never had a more stable water temp than I have with my inline heater. Still, any functioning heater will do the job. The Finnex LED lights always have a few inches on the sides that don't have LEDs so using a 24" light could leave the tank ends and corners darker than you want them.

 

[keithjfuller]

Right. Considering everything that needs to be bought for starting this tank, getting glute from Amazon is the cheapest option and it actually does work out well. I use it without co2 on both of my small LED lit planted tanks. If algae becomes a real problem, or growth isn't where you want it, a co2 system can always be added later. It never hurts to stagger costs and glute will still be useful even with a co2 system.

I recommend either the 30" Finnex Ray 2 or FugeRay with the Fluval 304 and an inline heater. A normal in-tank heater would be fine but if the price is close the inline is the better choice. I've never had a more stable water temp than I have with my inline heater. Still, any functioning heater will do the job. The Finnex LED lights always have a few inches on the sides that don't have LEDs so using a 24" light could leave the tank ends and corners darker than you want them.

Which of the two would you recommend without the use of CO2? I really really really don't want tons of algae, and it looks like the Ray 2 is more powerful.

Also, why the 304 and not the 306?

 

[MyanRan]

I personally think you'll have a little more fun with a Ray 2.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yes definitely more options to grow with the Ray 2. You'll just have to be on point with either using a liquid carbon or co2 to avoid algae. If you're totally against the extra work, go low light planted with the Fugeray...

BTW, did you get a filter yet? I think the Fluval 06 series is great. The 05 (older models) are okay too. There's some 205's being sold by someone as new on TPT. www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=256610

They're 70 bucks, might save you some money!

Disclaimer: Personally, I rather pony up the extra cash and buy new from like Amazon or something to make sure I get the warranty though. But that's me

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Which of the two would you recommend without the use of CO2? I really really really don't want tons of algae, and it looks like the Ray 2 is more powerful.

Also, why the 304 and not the 306?

Ah! I totally miss typed that. I meant the 306. Sorry about that. If you're cool with mostly low-medium light plants like I am then the FugeRay is fine. I'm not sure they make a 30". Let me recheck your tank height and width then I'll look up the models and get you a couple links. I've been researching stuff all day for my build anyway. lol

EDIT: The FugeRay would be great for low light plants but any red plants may start to green up.

The Ray 2 is a little cheaper for some reason but will give you more plant options, and possibly a little more algae. Still, for the price I'd jump on this one. You could always use shade cloth to make it a bit dimmer, but you can't make a weaker light stronger.

 

[keithjfuller]

Thanks for your advice everyone. I have everything set up (still no fish), and you can read about it (and see it!!!) on a different thread here.

 

[keithjfuller]

Right. Considering everything that needs to be bought for starting this tank, getting glute from Amazon is the cheapest option and it actually does work out well. I use it without co2 on both of my small LED lit planted tanks. If algae becomes a real problem, or growth isn't where you want it, a co2 system can always be added later. It never hurts to stagger costs and glute will still be useful even with a co2 system.

I recommend either the 30" Finnex Ray 2 or FugeRay with the Fluval 304 and an inline heater. A normal in-tank heater would be fine but if the price is close the inline is the better choice. I've never had a more stable water temp than I have with my inline heater. Still, any functioning heater will do the job. The Finnex LED lights always have a few inches on the sides that don't have LEDs so using a 24" light could leave the tank ends and corners darker than you want them.

I don't think they make the dual 7K Ray 2's in 30" anymore, so I went with the 24"

It would have been nice to get the full 30", but the 24" works great. If it turns out that I need more light, I'll get a second one and stagger them. It's nice having the canopy so I can hide everything.