Hello,
I'm new the forum and pretty new to the hobby. I recently set up my first planted tank (29 gallon), which got overrun with algae. I found out too late that the advice I was getting from my lfs was wrong, which caused the algae bloom that I could not recover from. Lots of money was lost thanks to that. I wanted larger fish anyways and was very frustrated, so I started over and have a 65 gallon tank. I have had it running for two months without issues, but with very low light so my plants aren't growing. I would like a low-tech planted tank and feel comfortable with moderate lighting (2wpg) and routine ferts/water changes. I have Eco Complete substrate. I can't trust my lfs for advice, so am feeling pretty lost
I read a few of the recommended articles on here regarding fertilizers, CO2 and lighting, but have a few questions.
1. Lighting: I saw that compact fluorescents come highly recommended, and my husband is willing to put together a compact fluorescent fixture for me (ahsupply.com). However, I looked for sites that sold compact fluorescent bulbs that would fit that type of fixture (straight pegs .... ) in the 6700/6500K range and found nothing. Do those types of bulbs exist? and if so, where can I get them? Is there any recommended companies to get these types of fixtures? Would I be better off sticking with t5ho lighting?
2. I can not afford a pressurized co2 tank, but read here that metricide 14 could be a good option. This may be a stupid question, but.... reviews on amazon say that it's only good for 14 days as a disinfectant. Is it still good as a C02 source after 14 days?
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.
Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice
I'm new the forum and pretty new to the hobby. I recently set up my first planted tank (29 gallon), which got overrun with algae. I found out too late that the advice I was getting from my lfs was wrong, which caused the algae bloom that I could not recover from. Lots of money was lost thanks to that. I wanted larger fish anyways and was very frustrated, so I started over and have a 65 gallon tank. I have had it running for two months without issues, but with very low light so my plants aren't growing. I would like a low-tech planted tank and feel comfortable with moderate lighting (2wpg) and routine ferts/water changes. I have Eco Complete substrate. I can't trust my lfs for advice, so am feeling pretty lost
I read a few of the recommended articles on here regarding fertilizers, CO2 and lighting, but have a few questions.
1. Lighting: I saw that compact fluorescents come highly recommended, and my husband is willing to put together a compact fluorescent fixture for me (ahsupply.com). However, I looked for sites that sold compact fluorescent bulbs that would fit that type of fixture (straight pegs .... ) in the 6700/6500K range and found nothing. Do those types of bulbs exist? and if so, where can I get them? Is there any recommended companies to get these types of fixtures? Would I be better off sticking with t5ho lighting?
2. I can not afford a pressurized co2 tank, but read here that metricide 14 could be a good option. This may be a stupid question, but.... reviews on amazon say that it's only good for 14 days as a disinfectant. Is it still good as a C02 source after 14 days?
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.
Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice
