I read in an Amazon review for "Hydor ETH 300 In-Line External Aquarium Heater, 300w" that any inline product slows the flow of water through the filter. I love the idea of inline heater to keep the 2 heaters out of my tank, but will the Eheim 2217 then be sufficient for my 90G tank if I attach the inline heater to it?
Help Requested: Newbie setting up new 90G Tank
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ZxC
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have a planted 90 gallon with a 2217 AND a marineland c220 canister and I still don't have enough flow....
But, the 2217 is certainly capable of doing the filtering of your tank (with a normal cleaning schedule of course) but you will need supplemental flow or you'll get a lot of dead spots and perhaps poor gas exchange depending on how you have the output oriented.
But, the 2217 is certainly capable of doing the filtering of your tank (with a normal cleaning schedule of course) but you will need supplemental flow or you'll get a lot of dead spots and perhaps poor gas exchange depending on how you have the output oriented.
agrasyuk
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hydor heaters have minimal ( if that) flow restriction. It is a glass pipe with heating element wound around it. The only posible point of restriction would be the hose connections. Inline 300watt should be plenty for a 90gal.
Now as far as longevity of those heaters I cannot attest - my 200w is running fine for two weeks so far. The important part as I understand is to keep flow going while it's plugged so it doesn't overheat and crack if it's suddenly turns on (as some users reported).
Now as far as longevity of those heaters I cannot attest - my 200w is running fine for two weeks so far. The important part as I understand is to keep flow going while it's plugged so it doesn't overheat and crack if it's suddenly turns on (as some users reported).
Fresh2o
Aquarium Advice Addict
My two cents since you already received great advice so far.
I’d say the EcoComplete is not necessary. I’ve used it successfully for several years with a planted tank but with proper substrate fertilizers, you could use sand. Colored or natural. If you go natural or a lighter shade, do not use play sand. Pain to clean. Pool filter sand is a better choice (I paid about $12 for 50 lbs).
A few of the plants mentioned in previous posts do not require substrate.
Driftwood and stones can be used to create an attractive tank (with or without plants).
As for lighting, I’ve been hearing a lot of positives about the Beamswork brand of LED fixtures. There are various models that may work for you.
I’d say the EcoComplete is not necessary. I’ve used it successfully for several years with a planted tank but with proper substrate fertilizers, you could use sand. Colored or natural. If you go natural or a lighter shade, do not use play sand. Pain to clean. Pool filter sand is a better choice (I paid about $12 for 50 lbs).
A few of the plants mentioned in previous posts do not require substrate.
Driftwood and stones can be used to create an attractive tank (with or without plants).
As for lighting, I’ve been hearing a lot of positives about the Beamswork brand of LED fixtures. There are various models that may work for you.
4thgradescience
Aquarium Advice Regular
I will just add my advice to do planted from the beginning if you think that might be what you want at some point. We made a big investment in fake plants and fake decorations. Regrettable error. I have had good luck with low tech plant choices. Anubias and java fern have done the best. I have super glued them to driftwood and rocks that I have boiled. Youtube was great for advice on how to "plant" different kinds of aquarium plants. Also we love our panda cory cats. They are so fun to watch and they stay pretty small. Good luck on your adventure!
Thank you everyone!
I am not graduating to thinking about how I'll design my tank. With the plants, I'll need driftwood. Any considerations between Malaysian driftwood, spiderwood and Manzanita? Also, any good sources to buy them?
I am not graduating to thinking about how I'll design my tank. With the plants, I'll need driftwood. Any considerations between Malaysian driftwood, spiderwood and Manzanita? Also, any good sources to buy them?
agrasyuk
Aquarium Advice Freak
you can use [edit] button to make those corrections.
cheapest DW I came across was at somewhat local fish swap meet / fish show. still I was in "you asking HOW much for that piece of wood?" sticker shock mode. thanks to wife we got 2 pieces that she really liked. Later browsing the DW selection in dedicated aquarium store I realized just how awesome of a deal we got.
you could try online, but then there is this thing with shipping and packaging of an odd shaped object that will add up quite a bit to the price.
as for the kind it will all depend on what look are you going for, what you like. I have a Malaysian root in my 55 (still not sinking), I have what looks like manzanita in the 125. can't really say which one I like better. I have several small ieces of bogwood that I accumulated on various occasions, don't care for them really to dark, but dressed with moss they don't look to bad. your choice and YMMV.
good luck!
cheapest DW I came across was at somewhat local fish swap meet / fish show. still I was in "you asking HOW much for that piece of wood?" sticker shock mode. thanks to wife we got 2 pieces that she really liked. Later browsing the DW selection in dedicated aquarium store I realized just how awesome of a deal we got.
you could try online, but then there is this thing with shipping and packaging of an odd shaped object that will add up quite a bit to the price.
as for the kind it will all depend on what look are you going for, what you like. I have a Malaysian root in my 55 (still not sinking), I have what looks like manzanita in the 125. can't really say which one I like better. I have several small ieces of bogwood that I accumulated on various occasions, don't care for them really to dark, but dressed with moss they don't look to bad. your choice and YMMV.
good luck!
IHaveAquariums
Aquarium Advice Freak
Yeah there isn't too much of a difference in what it does just how it looks. I have spiderwood, bog wood, and I believe some small Manzanita pieces and they all look good. The one thing I've found with online is I got a piece that still had bark and bark can really be a pain when it starts falling off and deteriorating. I would just go with pieces you like
So my tank is delayed by a week. The shop I got it from got the tank and the stand, but the stand's top front corners are damaged. So I've asked them to get it changed and that takes another week
However, in that time, I've bought some plants online and they arrive Tue or Wed this week. To home them, I started up an empty 20g tank I had lying around. I put some pool filter sand substrate and created an area with black diamond blasting sand in the middle. However, I have 2 problems:
(A) Lots of particles of the BDBS are floating around. Several are at the top of the water line, accumulating at the edges. Not sure why this is happening... Have you faced this? How do I make this not happen when I setup the big tank?
(B) the black sand and white sand seems to have already stated to mix. When I had added water, I started off quite cautiously with pouring water onto a plate, but as volume started to build, I got a little overconfident. Oh well, lesson learned! But question for any of you who have both black and white sand in the same tank: how do you keep these two separate?
Now back to my 90G tank (thats not here yet!): Thanks to advice on this forum, I am going to do a fishless cycle, even if it takes longer. I'll use the HOB filter from my 10G goldfish tank and add that to my 90 setup which will also have an eheim 2217. The 10g HOB will look puny and funny, but I'll plan on taking it off in a month or so, assuming that I'll still need another month to finish the cycling. I am willing to be patient! I've never cycled a tank before, and so I am also trying this out on the 20 g with black and white sand. Hope to learn something valuable from it for my 90g tank.
Thanks again for all the help and advice!
However, in that time, I've bought some plants online and they arrive Tue or Wed this week. To home them, I started up an empty 20g tank I had lying around. I put some pool filter sand substrate and created an area with black diamond blasting sand in the middle. However, I have 2 problems:
(A) Lots of particles of the BDBS are floating around. Several are at the top of the water line, accumulating at the edges. Not sure why this is happening... Have you faced this? How do I make this not happen when I setup the big tank?
(B) the black sand and white sand seems to have already stated to mix. When I had added water, I started off quite cautiously with pouring water onto a plate, but as volume started to build, I got a little overconfident. Oh well, lesson learned! But question for any of you who have both black and white sand in the same tank: how do you keep these two separate?
Now back to my 90G tank (thats not here yet!): Thanks to advice on this forum, I am going to do a fishless cycle, even if it takes longer. I'll use the HOB filter from my 10G goldfish tank and add that to my 90 setup which will also have an eheim 2217. The 10g HOB will look puny and funny, but I'll plan on taking it off in a month or so, assuming that I'll still need another month to finish the cycling. I am willing to be patient! I've never cycled a tank before, and so I am also trying this out on the 20 g with black and white sand. Hope to learn something valuable from it for my 90g tank.
Thanks again for all the help and advice!
IHaveAquariums
Aquarium Advice Freak
Well that's unfortunate about the stand but better to have it fixed now and not caused problems down the road
A) sounds like what happened with some of the particles from my dirt, they may just not be able to sink and will always line the edge, I would just remove them manually
B) They will always mix a little, but as long as there isn't a direct current like a hob or canister spray bar pointed down on them or bottom feeders like cory cats to disturb it, it should be decent but initially adding water will stir it up a bit
A) sounds like what happened with some of the particles from my dirt, they may just not be able to sink and will always line the edge, I would just remove them manually
B) They will always mix a little, but as long as there isn't a direct current like a hob or canister spray bar pointed down on them or bottom feeders like cory cats to disturb it, it should be decent but initially adding water will stir it up a bit
And... I am also back to thinking about fertilizers and CO2. Earlier in this thread, I've received recommendations on:
1. That I should get CO2 setup
2. That I could get Seachem Excel as a subsitute for CO2
3. That I should use fertilizers for substrate and water column
I am going with sand as my substrate. Whats a good cost-effective way to ensure my plants stay healthy? If its CO2, I don't really know where to get that - couldn't really find the right product on Amazon and haven't spoken with my LFS guys about this yet either. The Excel and fertilizers: I don't want to overdo stuff either, so just looking for suggestions on how to get started.
Thanks for reading and replying - you are all really super!
1. That I should get CO2 setup
2. That I could get Seachem Excel as a subsitute for CO2
3. That I should use fertilizers for substrate and water column
I am going with sand as my substrate. Whats a good cost-effective way to ensure my plants stay healthy? If its CO2, I don't really know where to get that - couldn't really find the right product on Amazon and haven't spoken with my LFS guys about this yet either. The Excel and fertilizers: I don't want to overdo stuff either, so just looking for suggestions on how to get started.
Thanks for reading and replying - you are all really super!
ZxC
Aquarium Advice Addict
CO2 is probably the best investment in a planted tank. Low, medium or high tech CO2 helps with plant growth and helps suppress algae... great tool to have. I hear good things about GLA CO2 products, but I only have experience with crappy old single stage units, so that's all the help I can give there.
Excel I wouldn't call a CO2 substitute, think of each as a source of carbon, CO2 being the best, most readily plant usable form of carbon, and excel being a less readily available carbon source.
For fertilizers, pick up dry ferts. It's the cheapest and arguably the easiest way to dose the majority of plant macros and micros.
You'll be looking for:
KNO3
KH2P04
CSM+B
Research EI and PPS-Pro fertilizer regimes.
For root ferts, grab some size 00 gel capsules off Amazon and make some DIY tabs by filling them with Osmocote plus granule fertilizer. Place them under plants such as crypts, swords, val, sag and most "broad" leaved non-stem plants.
agrasyuk
Aquarium Advice Freak
plans require light, carbon, Macro and Micro nutrients. some plnats will require more, some less. something like Anubias will be perfectly fine with simpliest of the lights and nothing other then fish poop for fertilization and whatever ambient carbon is present in water and fish "breathe" out. Amazons and Vals will benefit from some sort of fertilizer buried in substrate. both will not mind if you give them some micros in form of something like seachem flourish once in a 1-2 weeks.
it gets more complicated from here as you dive into more demanding plants. They require more light which will also add element of controlling the unwanted algae that can come with the extra light. Excel or Metricide14 will provide additional carbon for moderately demanding plants, high tech plants could really use pressurized CO2. Fertilization dosing schedule will also be needed where you will be balancing NO3, K, P and various trace elements. dry fertilizers are mixed in various proportions depending on the system each hobbyist intends to follow (PPS or EI) dozed and adjusted over time in response to plant conditions (as plants can show deficiencies in specific mineral/element).
Can get quite overwhelming, so for now I would suggest to start with easy plants, not to worry about fertilization or carbon to much ( you can start with flourish or API leafzone) and let the aquarium mature. See that you can control unwanted algae growth. then as you look up and find plants that you like go from there, for example add some sort of "red" plant and see how you can balance adding iron supplement to keep it red.
good Luck!
EDIT
and yes, whatever ZxC said
it gets more complicated from here as you dive into more demanding plants. They require more light which will also add element of controlling the unwanted algae that can come with the extra light. Excel or Metricide14 will provide additional carbon for moderately demanding plants, high tech plants could really use pressurized CO2. Fertilization dosing schedule will also be needed where you will be balancing NO3, K, P and various trace elements. dry fertilizers are mixed in various proportions depending on the system each hobbyist intends to follow (PPS or EI) dozed and adjusted over time in response to plant conditions (as plants can show deficiencies in specific mineral/element).
Can get quite overwhelming, so for now I would suggest to start with easy plants, not to worry about fertilization or carbon to much ( you can start with flourish or API leafzone) and let the aquarium mature. See that you can control unwanted algae growth. then as you look up and find plants that you like go from there, for example add some sort of "red" plant and see how you can balance adding iron supplement to keep it red.
good Luck!
EDIT
and yes, whatever ZxC said
rlederer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I don’t know what you found on Amazon, but you can get a wet/dry filter for under $200 that will work for your tank, from Amazon.
Hi,
Thanks for all responses so far!
My situation:
- I've just set up a new 20G tank (1 week old now) and have planted several plants there. The tank is currently cycling and I've added Ammonia from Ace Hardware to get the cycling moving. At the same time, the plants are getting acclimatized after the 3 days they spent in USPS shipping.
- I also have a new 90G tank that’s currently sitting empty
- The 20G is only temporary housing for these plants. They will eventually move to the 90G
- My focus is the 90G tank. The 20G will get cycled and will be used as a quarantine tank
- I bought some large driftwood pieces from an LFS to aquascape the 90G. I've put them in a large plastic container that I fill with hot water every day (not boiling, but he max hotness that my faucet will produce and I add a half gallon or so of boiling water to it). These driftwood pieces are still leaching tannis, but it isn't bad anymore. However, these driftwood pieces still float and are not completely water logged yet. They have been soaking for 2 weeks now
- My view has been to wait till the wood is water logged and then start hardscaping the 90G tank.
- My view has been to wait for the plants to be healthy again after their recent transplant before moving them into 90G
- My view has been to only start on the 90G tank after the driftwood has sunk and plants are ready, but I'd like to challenge this view … that’s where my proposed approach comes in.
My proposed approach:
- I'd like to get started on cycling the 90G without having to wait longer
- I am thinking of moving the driftwood to the 90G, weighing it down by some rocks, and filling the tank up with ONLY the driftwood in it, and starting to cycle the tank
- I will use fishless cycling on the 90G as well
- My assumption is that I need to give the plants at least 1 month to recover in the current 20 G tank and be ready for transplanting again to the 90G. My assumption is that the driftwood will sink in that time
- In about a month, once the plants are ready, I plan on emptying the tank (assumption: the cycling won't be impacted because I won't do anything to the canister filter), adding the PFS substrate, adding back the driftwood, transplanting the plants, and refilling the tank and continuing the cycling process. I assume the time to empty the tank and doing the hardscaping will be about 2-4 hours.
My questions:
1. Do you think this approach will work?
2. Are my assumptions above correct?
a. That the plants need about a month to recover and be ready for transplanting
b. That the emptying to the tank and then taking 2-4 hours to hardscape before refilling again will not cause the cycling process to restart
3. What other things should I be cautious about?
Thank you!
Thanks for all responses so far!
My situation:
- I've just set up a new 20G tank (1 week old now) and have planted several plants there. The tank is currently cycling and I've added Ammonia from Ace Hardware to get the cycling moving. At the same time, the plants are getting acclimatized after the 3 days they spent in USPS shipping.
- I also have a new 90G tank that’s currently sitting empty
- The 20G is only temporary housing for these plants. They will eventually move to the 90G
- My focus is the 90G tank. The 20G will get cycled and will be used as a quarantine tank
- I bought some large driftwood pieces from an LFS to aquascape the 90G. I've put them in a large plastic container that I fill with hot water every day (not boiling, but he max hotness that my faucet will produce and I add a half gallon or so of boiling water to it). These driftwood pieces are still leaching tannis, but it isn't bad anymore. However, these driftwood pieces still float and are not completely water logged yet. They have been soaking for 2 weeks now
- My view has been to wait till the wood is water logged and then start hardscaping the 90G tank.
- My view has been to wait for the plants to be healthy again after their recent transplant before moving them into 90G
- My view has been to only start on the 90G tank after the driftwood has sunk and plants are ready, but I'd like to challenge this view … that’s where my proposed approach comes in.
My proposed approach:
- I'd like to get started on cycling the 90G without having to wait longer
- I am thinking of moving the driftwood to the 90G, weighing it down by some rocks, and filling the tank up with ONLY the driftwood in it, and starting to cycle the tank
- I will use fishless cycling on the 90G as well
- My assumption is that I need to give the plants at least 1 month to recover in the current 20 G tank and be ready for transplanting again to the 90G. My assumption is that the driftwood will sink in that time
- In about a month, once the plants are ready, I plan on emptying the tank (assumption: the cycling won't be impacted because I won't do anything to the canister filter), adding the PFS substrate, adding back the driftwood, transplanting the plants, and refilling the tank and continuing the cycling process. I assume the time to empty the tank and doing the hardscaping will be about 2-4 hours.
My questions:
1. Do you think this approach will work?
2. Are my assumptions above correct?
a. That the plants need about a month to recover and be ready for transplanting
b. That the emptying to the tank and then taking 2-4 hours to hardscape before refilling again will not cause the cycling process to restart
3. What other things should I be cautious about?
Thank you!
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