20g planted - advice plz

[ta2ya]

i want to convert my 20 gallon to a heavily planted.

what i currently have:
- tank, stock light, stock HOB filter
- big bag of ADA aquasoil
- paintball tank with aquatek regulator, diffuser, drop checker, solution
- just ordered the api freshwater master test kit online (cheaper)

what i'm looking to get/ upgrade:
- t5 ho lights
- canister filter (fluval)
- green leaf aquarium ferts (pps pro fert pack? $33?)

okay so i have a couple questions. i know i have to definitely upgrade the lights, i'm leaning towards t5ho's. for a heavily planted tank, should i just get a 4 bulb fixture and just adjust using how many bulbs i use? or is a two bulb fixture adequate for this size of a tank? of course, around the 6500k spectrum..

next question is a filter question.. should the hob filter be fine for a heavily planted tank? i was looking into a fluval 106 or 206. the main reason why i wanted a canister filter was so i can order a inline diffuser for the canister filter. which method is better for this tank? glass/ ceramic diffuser in the tank under the HOB intake, or canister filter + inline diffuser?

last question for now is the green leaf aquarium fertilizers. get the $20 or the $33 one? i live in hawaii, do they ship to hawaii? i've heard plenty good reviews about this fertilizer. i'm looking through their fertilizer instructions, it seems a little complicated.

thanks again, this place is great to learn for my tanks.

-t

 

[Billbug68]

i want to convert my 20 gallon to a heavily planted.

what i currently have:
- tank, stock light, stock HOB filter
- big bag of ADA aquasoil
- paintball tank with aquatek regulator, diffuser, drop checker, solution
- just ordered the api freshwater master test kit online (cheaper)

what i'm looking to get/ upgrade:
- t5 ho lights
- canister filter (fluval)
- green leaf aquarium ferts (pps pro fert pack? $33?)

okay so i have a couple questions. i know i have to definitely upgrade the lights, i'm leaning towards t5ho's. for a heavily planted tank, should i just get a 4 bulb fixture and just adjust using how many bulbs i use? or is a two bulb fixture adequate for this size of a tank? of course, around the 6500k spectrum..

next question is a filter question.. should the hob filter be fine for a heavily planted tank? i was looking into a fluval 106 or 206. the main reason why i wanted a canister filter was so i can order a inline diffuser for the canister filter. which method is better for this tank? glass/ ceramic diffuser in the tank under the HOB intake, or canister filter + inline diffuser?

last question for now is the green leaf aquarium fertilizers. get the $20 or the $33 one? i live in hawaii, do they ship to hawaii? i've heard plenty good reviews about this fertilizer. i'm looking through their fertilizer instructions, it seems a little complicated.

thanks again, this place is great to learn for my tanks.

-t

I'd say a two bulb would be plenty. Or go with LEDs.

As far as the filter, I think the 206 would be great. More room to customize filter media. I'm not sure about the inline diffusers, but I'm looking to switch to inline to keep as much out of the tank as possible.

As far as the fert pack goes. I'd go with the $33 one. Comes with dosing bottles, so that seems like a better deal. I don't believe they had that option when I ordered mine. Mixing the ferts isn't all that complicated. You'll need to order a little digital scale that weighs in grams. You might also want to order an extra dosing bottle. I wish I would have. So you can customize how much nitrates you dose compared to phosphate. Let me know if you need more details on that.

 

[ta2ya]

yea i've been hearing a lot of LED's recently, i don't have any experience with them though... can anyone point me to a good LED fixture that'll do well for a planted tank?

anything else i need immediately to get this going>?

 

[Billbug68]

The Finnex fixtures are all the craz lately. The finnex ray 2 is what I use for high light, the fugeray would be low medium light. Depending on your dimensions, of course.

 

[ta2ya]

I'm going to place an order on the GLA pps pro fert pack later today.

I'm also looking into those LED lights. They look nice. My tank is 24x18x12? I think.. I'd obviously go with the 24 inch fixture, 7000k - 7000k correct?

 

[Billbug68]

I'm going to place an order on the GLA pps pro fert pack later today.

I'm also looking into those LED lights. They look nice. My tank is 24x18x12? I think.. I'd obviously go with the 24 inch fixture, 7000k - 7000k correct?

Correct!

 

[phishfriend]

Check this out! I was just looking at getting two for a 75

View item: US Seller+Free Shipping+...only 56 bucks. When I get my CPU ill link it.

 

[ta2ya]

im searching for the finnex ray 2 7000k-7000k 24"...

it looks like every site is out of stock besides amazon, which is trying to charge me $100 with shipping. debating if i should wait it out or just pay the extra.

 

[ta2ya]

eh i just put in the order for my gla pps pro ferts. it cost me 33 + 20 s&h.

i have a 55g, 20g, and a 5g... any ball park guess on how long it'll last..?

 

[Rivercats]

The Macro/micro mix amounts last my 220g approximately 1 year if dosed at 1ml per 10 gallons.

 

[ta2ya]

Cool. I'm sure this will be a good investment.