Upgrading planted tank

[nikipike]

Around the 1st or 15th of August i'm moving into my own place & as decided a while back, will be upgrading. Will be using bio-spira so I can move everything into the larger tank during my move.
The move is a couple of months off, but I need to know what I need to start buying so I can spread out the costs over several paychecks.

Currently have a 10gal tank housing female bettas & a couple of flags plus the plants. Have made several changes & now only have my petite nana, a. nana, narrow leaf sag, dwarf sag, dwarf onion, & pennywort.

I'd really like to break out my 30gal high thats in storage, but i'm worried that i'd be looking at more $$$ equippment.

Would like it to house my current plants w/ some additions (not sure what yet. Would like to put my sags where they belong in the front & get taller plant or two to put in the backdrop.)

1. Would a 2 strip (30w each?) NO fluorescent suffice, or would I need a PC for light to be able to get to any smaller plants?
Although smaller plants might not be a major problem, am i'm considering tying my anubias to some rockwork when I redecorate so they would have a better chance at light.
PS, I should mention I have to buy a new hood for this setup as I lost the old one so i'm not limited currently on what bulb I use.

2. Would this setup require co2? I know it would if I was aiming for high light.

Am debating my choice of filter as well. Might cut down my tarantula order & spit out the $ for a canister as i'd like to do away with much surface agitation. Big Al's has Rena Filstar XP1 for a good price & is rated up to 45gal.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, the Rena Filstar XP1 would work well. As for the CO2, if you get the 2 30W fixtures, you shouldn't need it, but it would help some if you did get it. But it's not necessary. You could even suppliment with Flourish Excel instead, which is another carbon source.

Now if you go PC bulbs, like a single 65W fixture, you might need CO2 if using a regular bulb, but won't need it with a 50/50 bulb. But so you know, you'll get better lighting from the 2 30W fixtures than you would from a 65W 50/50 bulb. As for getting to the smaller plants, I take it's the anubias or sags? They should do just fine with the 2 fixtures.

As for hood, don't need one. What I would do is get glass tops that would fit, then you could place the 3 fixtures on the top. Or if there's a single fixture with 2 bulbs, you could do that too. Here's a link for the glass tops. You would just need to get the one with the right dimensions.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13818&N=2004+113765

or

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3781&N=2004+113765

 

[sherry]

run your new filter now and get it nice and full of bacteria. bio spira never worked for me and I've tried it twice.

 

[nikipike]

Cool. So what i'm looking at right now is a canister filter, glass hood, light fixture, larger heater & bulbs. Will see what all I can get used, cut down on my costs.

I'll look into the fluorish as an option.

sherry, wouldn't a filter rated for up to 45gal be wayyy to much for a 10gal?