I recently purchased a 150 tall tank and am wanting to set it up with plants and a comunity tank. I have always been fond of ug filters with power heads on the lift tubes but don't get the impression that this setup will produce a great planted tank. I have been looking at the setups here and am very impressed with some of the creations that I have seen. I don't know anything about dirting and would like for some personal input from this forum. My tank picture is shown in the picture section. I have found some nice decorations for it. My plan is to use a 575gph canister for the main filtration and maybe a large hob as well. I have co2 that I plan to insert through the return on the filter and plan to get a ph controller for it as well. As for lighting I have a single 48 inch with 40 watt t-8 aqua glow bulb and a double fixture with t-8 6500k lamps. I would appreciate any advice on how to and what to use for the substrate and how much. The floor is 48x24 inches to cover . I also wonder about what plants since this is 30 inch tall, would like to have some in background that get close to the top. I have quite a few plants in the 55 that will make the move to this when ready. I'm pretty excited about this build, and would to hear from some of the pro's. Thanks in advance. Kent...
Setup for dirting a 150 tall
- Thread starter KentLange
- Start date
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aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
I don't get to say this much, but you probably don't have the light to take advantage of your CO2. If you've got pressurized CO2 and T8, then the light will probably be (for once) the limiting factor. Depending on the depth of the tank, you might not really have very much light to work with at all. On the topic of your CO2, injecting into the intake of a filter is a decent strategy for medium sized tanks, but I'm not sure that you would be able to get the results you're hoping for. I would definitely look into other methods of diffusion.
As far and substrate choice go, it's going to be largely limited by your budget. Soil capped with sand is the most common method, although you could use EC or another clay product to cap it just fine.
As far and substrate choice go, it's going to be largely limited by your budget. Soil capped with sand is the most common method, although you could use EC or another clay product to cap it just fine.
dwayne.aycock
Aquarium Advice Freak
Your plant selection will depend heavily on your fish selection and water temperature. I suggest selecting you fish and setting your tank parameters to support them.
Dwayne
Dwayne
I've got about 110 watts of light over the tank. With all of the lamps it looks pretty bright, but I don't have it filled yet. I may be moving and don't want to go thru all the motions untill I get set up. but I will still relish all of your input.
My plan was to start with my gold Angels and the community out of my 55 and later on move to Discus. My water parameters will change a little at that point, but my needs are to find out the best way to build the substrate to put plants in.
dwayne.aycock
Aquarium Advice Freak
It is best not to put Discus and Angels together. Discus will not be able to compete with Angels for food, and as a result the Discus will suffer from lack of food and eventually disease. Angels carry intestinal microbes and other things that will kill your discus. Don't take my word for it....look up keeping Discus with Angels on google or other sources and you will see the large amount of cautions. Start slowly...get your substrate in place, get your plants going and your tank completely cycled. Then make up your mind which fish you wish to keep...discus or angels but not both. If you have never reared discus before, I strongly suggest going with the Angels as your chances of success will be greater. Discus are an expensive fish and though not impossible, can be difficult to keep. Water quality and a vast understanding of water chemistry, biology as well as resources must be in place. R/O water is a must and large quantities of it must be readily available. A understanding of advanced water chemistry is essential to include micro siemens (conductivity) TDS, phosphate and nitrate sensitivity, nitrogen osmo-regulation, pressure induced shock..the list goes on and on. I am not saying that you will not be successful without this knowledge, but your chances will be much higher. If you go with Discus or Angels, but sure to pick plants that can tolerate the high water temps as well as lighting conditions....Good luck.....Dwayne
