Planning stages of 29 gallon planted tank

[tnunderwater]

Hello all!

I'm in the planning stages of a 29g tank. I can't post the specs of this tank yet, as I haven't actually purchased it. I will be purchasing it on Friday, and hope to have this set-up going by my target date which is the first week of October. I'm on a bit (ok, a LOTTA bit) of a budget so I have to space out buying my supplies weekly... like stand, filter, etc.

I already have two filter media from a cycled tank that I'll be transferring to the new tank once I break down my current tank.

Current inhabitants of this future tank will be: 5 neon tetra, 1 albino cory. Yes, I'm aware that they do well in groups but he is aggressive to other cory....long story that I'll cover in my introduction post on the other category.

Planned inhabitants of this tank once I get it where I want it to be will be: 5 neon tetra, 5 harleqin rasbora, 1 albino cory.

I've read so much about lights and stuff that I'm hoping to get a customized answer because I feel kind of hopeless.

I've decided to abandon the idea of CO2 because I don't have the money to go pressurized nor do I have the lighting, so that's going to have to be a future upgrade.

My substrate is going to be Eco-Complete.

I've decided that I want this tank to be LOW-TECH and not even mess with CO2, even DIY. So, I'll need low light plants and low-light lights.

I'm going natural, so the focal point of my tank, besides the plants, will be a piece of driftwood. I'm also wanting the backwall of my tank to be black.. any ideas on how to paint it?

Now, here are my questions coming in:

---- What kind of lighting do I use? Is there a way to set up a "night time" light so I can see my fish without disrupting their sleep cycle? I already have a built in aquarium timer in my power surge style apparatus.
---- I'm making a list of low lighting plants that I'll be bringing into my LFS that I'll be purchasing. Ideas, please? I'm really interested in a "carpeting" kind of plant.. I think my best bet may be java moss?
---- Is it impossible to grow plants in this big of a tank without CO2?

I've already got "mild" experience with planted tanks. I'm currently running a 5 gal planted with six very overcrowded residents just itching to get into their new home ASAP. In this tank I have three amazon swords who I'm struggling to keep alive and I'm sick of it. They were half dead coming home from PetSmart (manager's special, plus my employee discount), and it's been a constant struggle of ferts and pruning just to keep them from dying. I'm ready to throw them away.

 

[BigJim]

Welcome to AA!

I grow plants in my 29g without CO2. I ran DIY CO2 for a little while, but I don't think it made any difference.

Here's what I've got on my tank:

Lighting: Two 18W daylight CFLs shining through mineral-etched glass. I'd like to replace the hood, but a standard Versatop won't fit because it's an old tank with slightly weird dimensions.

Substrate: 50lb of play sand. It was cheap.

Fertilizers: Seachem Flourish. I dose liberally every week or two.

Plants: 2 amazon swords - I started them from those gel tubes from Petsmart about a year ago. They've each got several stalks growing out through various opening in the hood (24" or so)

Java fern - I've got a mother plant and maybe six or seven babies attached to driftwood.

Anacharis - Grows like a weed in my guppy tank, so I planted some in my 29g just because I had extras.

Pennywort - It grows slowly, but it keeps growing.

Anubias Nana - Relatively new (On sale at Petsmart), but it's growing well.

No help on the carpet. Java moss won't stay down unless it's attached to something. Some people use plastic mesh to create a carpet of sorts. I don't know of any other low-light plants that carpet well.

You could do some small blue LEDS for a nightlight.

 

[tnunderwater]

Thanks for your helpful reply

I was thinking about ordering this: 30" Freshwater T-5 Aqualight 2x18W Double

And then this: http://www.marinedepot.com/R2_Solut...quariums-R2_Solutions-RM1111-FILTFIML-vi.html for a moonlight.

Since my tank will have jumpers (tetras and rasbora), I was planning on DIY a top. I've decided against glass and acrylic for various reasons (including maintenance) and was thinking about making a top with bird screen and just cutting out spaces for my various fictures.

The only thing is, I've heard the Coralife's run REALLY hot and can easily malfunction of the unit due to the temperature. Also worried about it possibly melting my birdscreen? This will be sitting up on legs, so not directly mounted on the aquarium.

Thoughts?

 

[BigJim]

I'd recommend getting a different light. 30" T5 bulbs are very difficult to find. I have a 30" T5 fixture that I got on clearance. I got lucky to find one bulb in a store. I'm going to have to order more online when I need them. I think there's only one manufacturer that uses a 30" bulb. Most use 24" bulbs in their 30" fixtures.

My 30" T5 is a ReptiSun (?) fixture, but I'm pretty sure it's made by Coralife. It really doesn't run hot. I have it sitting directly on a 24" wide tank right now and it doesn't affect the plastic frame.

I will say I'm partial to VersaTop-style glass tops. They're neat and clean and really easy to remove when I need to do some trimming. They also cut back on evaporation.

 

[tnunderwater]

I went ahead and ordered the lighting I mentioned because it went on sale. I'll have to deal with replacements later LOL. It's supposed to get here Wednesday. I also went with the R2 moonlight.

I researched the Versa-top and will go with one of those. Thanks!!

Another question, sorry.. filtration! I've heard really horrible things about Fluval canisters... mainly, they're prone to breaking down and leaking the entire contents of the tank out... OUCH!!! That's enough to turn me away from Fluval, period.

I'm really looking hard at the Eheim 2213. I've heard the worst "con" was cleaning problems... but I don't really care how hard it is to clean if it gets the job done. I'm looking at various ways to transform it into a mainly bio filtration, and am thinking about installing a course sponge over the intake to facilitate this. Thoughts bout Eheim Classics? It's cheaper than the Fluval, too.

 

[DragonFish71]

I run Fluvals on all my big tanks and have no problems at all. I have two 405s, a 404, and a 305. The 404 was used when I got it. All I had to do was buy new sponges for it. Still works like new.

 

[MarkA123]

Do you prefer canisters or powerfilters? I guessing canisters because you mentioned all canisters. Marineland makes 3 different canisters Magnum, multistage, and HOT magnum. I've never had any experience with eheim or fluval. Another good canister is the Rena/aquarium pharmaceuticals filestar xp filters.