Broke EF
Aquarium Advice Activist
So I am still trying to decide a couple of things.
1. Should I go with RO, or maybe partial RO water?
I live in a smaller apartment and I don't have any room for water storage. If I do 50% water changes, rounded up I would need 25 gallons of water. On a 75 GPD unit that would take 8 hours to produce. So filling directly into the tank is not really a feasible idea IMO. I was thinking of maybe mixing in 5 gallons of RO water with my tap water during my weekly water changes. I could make 5 gallons in a little more than an hour and a half which isn't bad at all. Is mixing only 5 gallons a week in really going to be beneficial to my tank?
2. What does everyone think about the Marineland Double bright LED fixture?
I am thinking of going partly planted, and I was interested in upgrading my light anyway. Just looking for some opinion on this one.
3. What substraight should I use in the planted area?
Also just to verify, I would be able to use about 1" of plant substraight, and then say 1/2" of my sand on top to keep it all looking the same?
4. What are some low light, low maintenance plants I should get?
What I mean by low maintenance is I do not want to be trimming them all of the time. I am not into gardening, and I don't want to start I know that the plants are very beneficial to my tank, and that the fish will really appreciate them (especially the Panda's), and that is why I am considering them.
5. Thoughts on inline heaters?
I am looking at the Hydor 200 (or 300) watt inline heater since I have a canister filter now. Reviews seem generally positive, but more input is better!
Thanks again everyone, I look forward to some answers so I can start getting everything together.
Sean
1. Should I go with RO, or maybe partial RO water?
I live in a smaller apartment and I don't have any room for water storage. If I do 50% water changes, rounded up I would need 25 gallons of water. On a 75 GPD unit that would take 8 hours to produce. So filling directly into the tank is not really a feasible idea IMO. I was thinking of maybe mixing in 5 gallons of RO water with my tap water during my weekly water changes. I could make 5 gallons in a little more than an hour and a half which isn't bad at all. Is mixing only 5 gallons a week in really going to be beneficial to my tank?
2. What does everyone think about the Marineland Double bright LED fixture?
I am thinking of going partly planted, and I was interested in upgrading my light anyway. Just looking for some opinion on this one.
3. What substraight should I use in the planted area?
Also just to verify, I would be able to use about 1" of plant substraight, and then say 1/2" of my sand on top to keep it all looking the same?
4. What are some low light, low maintenance plants I should get?
What I mean by low maintenance is I do not want to be trimming them all of the time. I am not into gardening, and I don't want to start I know that the plants are very beneficial to my tank, and that the fish will really appreciate them (especially the Panda's), and that is why I am considering them.
5. Thoughts on inline heaters?
I am looking at the Hydor 200 (or 300) watt inline heater since I have a canister filter now. Reviews seem generally positive, but more input is better!
Thanks again everyone, I look forward to some answers so I can start getting everything together.
Sean