New Planted Tank - Couple of Questions

[dinokath]

Hi all,

I am new to planted tanks after having done fish only tanks for about 20 years. I had a bacterial bloom last month (never had one before, it freaked me out) and started doing a lot of reading. It piqued my interest in the hobby again and raised my interest in doing a planted tank. I have done A LOT of reading over the last month and have read a lot of contradicting information, talked to my LFS and joined a couple forums and asked questions (this one is the best, so here I am). I think I have read almost everything there is on water quality, water chemistry and other related information. Needless to say, I am informed but confused.

I have purchased pressurized CO2 with a pH monitor, Eco-complete and have a T5HO 2x54 on the way. My tank is a standard 55 gallon. I am using a Magnum 350 for full time mechanical and biological filtration (I removed the carbon and am using ceramic media for the bio-filter and removed the bio-wheels to minimize surface agitation and CO2 loss) and a Magnum HOT for water polishing and crushed coral distribution. My KH is about 3 from the tap, GH is about 4 and all my reading leads me to believe my GH is good and KH needs boosting in order to have good quality for the plants and proper buffering for the pH and CO2.

Based on my research, I will have right at 2 watts per gallon of light. Also, based on my research, T5HO light is more efficient light than standard T12 lighting and the 'watt per gallon' rule doesn't really apply to T5HO lighting.

My questions are:

- will my T5HO lighting be enough to keep my plants alive and thriving?
- do I need to worry about KH of 3? pH is sitting around 7.4 right now. I need to drop pH down to 6.8, with CO2, in order to get proper CO2 levels.
- is the GH good?
- UV sterilizers - are they worth it to control algae? I can put my hands on a 9 watt model for less than $40.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Dean Smith

 

[CTD]

This page has a tank lighting calculator that you may find useful: New Lights?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Your lighting will depend on the reflectors mainly. If you have no reflector then you will be fine. If you have great reflectors you will have to keep on top ferts.

I dont see you mentioning ferts but you will deff need some with pressurized CO2 and 2x54w T5's no matter what reflector you have.

I have been running 2x ODNO T8's(estimated at under 100w) on my 55G for over 6months and soon will step it up to hopefully 1x 54W T5HO with a good reflector(saving energy). From what I have learned 54w should be "enough" with a good reflector to grow things sufficient.

 

[dinokath]

Thanks Speed and CTD.

Getting 1lb each of macro and PlantexCSM+B for micros for fert and going to mix them up myself and try to save a couple bucks and get what I need instead of dosing what I do not need.

 

[fort384]

dino, what macro are you getting? With this setup, I would start with dosing micro, and maybe some N and K, and consider getting a test kit to see where your P level ends up at.

I don't think your soft water will be a huge issue. What is your GH at?

Pressurized with a pH controller is the way to go - set it and forget it is always a good thing.

Good luck!

 

[dinokath]

Hi fort,

I am getting KNO3, K2SO4 and KH2PO4 along with the Plantex CSM+B. GH is 4 right now. Was thinking about getting Poor Man's GH Booster but didn't want to start throwing chemicals in there like a wild man.

Nice tanks in your pics BTW. That's the look I am going for there... Gonna do a shrimp tank too. Those red cherry shrimp are good eats! Just kidding...

 

[fort384]

oh ok, cool. You should be set then. You are right around the light threshold where ferts may or may not be a requirement, so just be careful - especially dosing N and P -- could lead to an algae bloom if you have too much excess nutrients.

I would try without the GH booster for awhile and see how it goes. A lot of nice fine leaf plants prefer softer water.

 

[dinokath]

Yeah, I read that! I checked my P levels with my kit and it showed 5ppm. Chuck's Planted Aquarium Calculator says I need no more the 1ppm, which is what has led me to the 'skip the Flourish' route and dose based on test results. The K test is expensive though! I will wing that one based on what I see. Any advice on how to judge K levels?

I do not have my plants in there yet, still waiting on the CO2 regulator to show up (someone shipped out the kit and failed to include the regulator with the pH meter... Oh well, gives me more time to read and learn) which should be here Thursday, along with the light. I have plants in the 'shopping cart' at aquariumplants.com ready to pull the trigger on as soon as I have my system all ready to go.

 

[fort384]

No need for a K test, just target dose to 15-20ppm, and watch for K deficiencies. K is pretty difficult to overdose.

What P test are you using? Some of them are not very sensitive in the lower ranges of the scale. 5ppm without adding P to the tank seems really high. Do you live on or near a farm? My guess would be with P that high your tap water has a lot of P in it.

 

[dinokath]

Funny, I JUST read about how you really cannot overdose K! Amazing what a little more reading can do.

Using API's P test, but think I am going to the LFS to get SeaChem's test from what I have read it is the best next to Lamotte. Use city water here, no near by farms. Did a P test and it came out to zero. Beats me where the P is coming from! Maybe the Eco-Complete?? Maybe a crappy test kit? I never tested for it before a few days ago though. Never had algae either, but the light wasn't very bright either. To be honest, I don't trust the test kits I have very much... I seem to get variable results all the time.

 

[Purrbox]

I will echo what others have said about your KH being fine as is. One less thing to adjust/fix, so I'd just leave it alone.