Newbie with a "cube" tank needs a lot of help

[Jill]

Hi all.

Where to start? I have a tank that measures 20" w x 21" h x 18" d. I bought it off of craigslist because I thought it would look nice in my living room. It came with no bulb, so I bought a 15 watt flourescent for aquariums to use. Now....with the height of the aquarium, that's not going to be enough wattage for plants....is it? Ugh. I don't want the plastic stuff.

I also bought a beautiful piece of driftwood which I intend to boil before placing into the tank. AND I have pool filter sand ready to be rinsed.

Another question....before purchasing this aquarium, I purchased a typical long 29 gallon tank from craigslist. Tank was set up nicely, but I don't like it in my living room, and it doesn't fit into the space that I have. I do have the over the back pouring filter that came with it with a somewhat used filter cartridge in there....should I use that on this tank? The other tank also came with a 8-10 inch pleco that I have no idea whether or not to keep now that I have the new tank. Is he too big for my cube tank? Will he disturb the pfs?

As you can see.....I'm lost. Any help would be much appreciated. I'm SO excited to get started.

 

[tyspot1000]

Welcome to AA!

The wattage will be sufficient for low-light plants, but nothing more. Even though it is low-light, there are some great looking plants that will do great.

I would go ahead and use the filter that was given with the tank, unless its GPH (Gallons per hour) is lower than 280-300. Clean out the filter and get a new cartridge, the old one is no use.

I would go ahead and get rid of it, it is possibly a common pleco. Commons get around 12-24 inches in length and need at least a 100+ gallon tank. There are some dwarf varieties that could fit in your tanks though.

 

[Jill]

Thank you for the quick response. So...the wattage will be sufficient even for the height of my tank for low-light plants? That's a relief.

One more question....how much pfs will I need? I read somewhere that I need 1" to 1.5" in the tank....is that correct?

Thank you again.

 

[Jill]

Any more help available?

One more thing......I keep reading on here to use "filter media" from a friend's tank so why would the filter cartridge (which is in use in another healthy tank) be of no use to me?

 

[Jason7894561230]

As much sand as you want but be sure not to put too much down an inch will be quite suffcient
As fior the filter catridge using that will almost complete your cycle which we call "seeding" the good bacteria will grow on all the yummy ammonia and become big and strong like when we eat our veges. And go onto your filter and make that filter infested with the beautiful bacteria that does wonders for the tank!

 

[Jill]

Thank you, Jason.

I'm going to use this filter for now. It's an aquatech for a 20-40 gallon (read that it's a 160 gph). I think I'm going to purchase the Penguin 350 gph. My husband (who can build or repair ANYTHING...lol) has a water pump that he wants to convert to a filter. Has anyone here ever successfully done that? I can post pics of his pump if that would help.

Sorry....I know I have a million questions. I'm adding the sand and water today so I'm sure there will be MANY more to come. Thank you all so much.

 

[BigJim]

My comments below in blue:

I bought a 15 watt flourescent for aquariums to use. Now....with the height of the aquarium, that's not going to be enough wattage for plants....is it? - It might be enough for low-light plants, it might not. If it's a CFL bulb, you can always upgrade to a larger bulb. If it's a tube, you'll have to retrofit the fixture or upgrade. If your husband is handy, retrofitting the light should be no problem. If you're looking for another option, I recently posted a thread on building an LED fixture in the DIY section.

I do have a somewhat used filter cartridge in there....should I use that on this tank? - If you're breaking down the 29g, that used filter cartridge is perfect. You may not see any cycle with it.

The other tank also came with a 8-10 inch pleco that I have no idea whether or not to keep now that I have the new tank. Is he too big for my cube tank? Will he disturb the pfs? - I would rehome the pleco. He's already too big for either tank and will just keep getting bigger.

One more question....how much pfs will I need? I read somewhere that I need 1" to 1.5" in the tank....is that correct? - 2"-3" would be better. You need some room for the roots to take hold.

One more thing......I keep reading on here to use "filter media" from a friend's tank so why would the filter cartridge (which is in use in another healthy tank) be of no use to me? - Use your filter cartridge. The recommendation you saw is for people starting their first tank. I've seeded several of my tanks from one another.

I'm going to use this filter for now. It's an aquatech for a 20-40 gallon (read that it's a 160 gph). I think I'm going to purchase the Penguin 350 gph. My husband (who can build or repair ANYTHING...lol) has a water pump that he wants to convert to a filter. Has anyone here ever successfully done that? - It really depends on what kind of water pump it is. I've seen people build canister filters using a 5g bucket with a lid, filter media, and a pump. If you're creative, the sky is the limit.

 

[Jill]

Thank you so much!

Actually, just discovered that my husband's "pump" actually has a place for a cylindrical filter! YAY! Now......will any water fiilter work or do I need to look for something specific? Also, it moves 2000 lph....will that be overkill? lol

 

[Jill]

Discovered this....
Dimmable PAR38 W+B LED Aquarium Reef Corals Grow Light - eBay (item 200575264987 end time Feb-17-11 19:26:11 PST)
If I use it in conjunction with my 15w fluorescent, will that be sufficient lighting for at least low light plants?

Also, I'm going to the LFS today to pick out plants. Can I choose ANY low light plant for my tank or are some easier to care for than others?

Thank you all again.

 

[noob2saltH20]

Welcome to AA you can never have enough filtration...I mean if you have a 10g and u have a filter that does 1000 gph thatmaybe a little much bust still lol. Well the coral light is more fitted for well...coral I'm not expert when it comes to plants but as far as plants and lighting are concerned usually a low watt bulb should be ok for low light plants. Some lfs sell light strips specifically for plant life however that will set you back about 80 bucks. Hope this helps...somewhat

 

[BigJim]

Those LEDs aren't ideal for a planted tank. The color spectrum is too blue. If you could find a similar setup that uses maybe 6-10 1W LEDS in the 6700K-10000K range, you'd be much better off and probably into the medium light range.

I haven't found any good comparison of LED wattage to fluorescent wattage or any rules of thumb for LED Wpg, so it's hard to say what LED will do what with plants. LED light output varies a lot between different models, even when they're the same wattage. I did a lot of reading before I picked the LEDs for my fixture. If I crank my fixture all the way up (Ten 3W LEDs), I'm confident I can grow anything I want if I have the CO2 and ferts. Two days at 2/3 power started a nice algae bloom on my aquarium walls, but I don't have CO2 or good fertilizers yet.

Most low-light plants are pretty tough. Crypts will often melt when they're moved, but they'll usually come back. Some low-light plants don't like SeaChem Excel. Really, you can take your pick. Java moss is especially tenacious. I've thrown some trimmings in a bucket of water in a dark corner and forgotten about them, only to find a big wad of moss a few weeks later.

 

[Jill]

One thing I liked about that light was that it has a dimmer on both the blues and the whites (with a remote control) and you can turn off the blues and only have the whites on or vice versa. I thought I could use the white during the day and the blues at night. Is the spectrum still too blue that way? I spent all day searching for a light solution online yesterday that wouldn't break the bank. Maybe I should have checked with the lfs first though. I'm going there today, and it's a HUGE store.

Since I do have the filter media from another tank, can I add my plants right away when I fill it up or should I wait? (Geez, I think I'm more excited about the plants than the FISH...lol).

Thanks for the help....good to know that my current lights will suffice for SOME plants.

 

[BigJim]

Blue light isn't harmful to the plants, they just can't use it very efficiently. The description says the white LEDs are 15000K, which is actually a very blue white, if that makes sense. It is pretty cool light. If you're really handy with electronics, you might be able to replace the white LEDs with white LEDs more suited for plants.

Plants don't really care if the tank is cycled. They actually use the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate as food. My plants were growing really well when I fishless cycled my 40B. They liked all that ammonia.

 

[Jill]

My husband is an electrician/engineer/do EVERYTHING yourselfer....lol. He's already been on Mouser's website looking at led bulbs. Crees are good, right? Do we want warm white, cool white, or neutral?

Thank you....had no idea that those "whites" had too much blue in the spectrum. There's so much to learn about EVERYTHING involved in this tank. I'm loving it.

 

[BigJim]

Sounds like my kind of guy.

If you click on the "DIY LED Light Fixture" link in my signature, there's a link early on in the thread to a page with a great deal of information on the minute details of aquarium lighting.

I went with the cool white Cree XR-Es because I like the cool white color on my tank, I'd seen other tanks use them successfully, and the spectrum analysis showed the red and blue peaks I was looking for. They're 3W LEDs though.

I discussed the virtues of the cool white vs. warm white spectrum analysis with people before and didn't really come to a conclusion that one is better than the other. The warm white puts out more red while still putting out a lot of blue. For me, it really just came down to the fact that I like a bluer light on my tanks.

 

[Jill]

Been doing a LOT of reading this morning on building LED fixtures. Husband can do it, but it's def not his area of expertise....he's never worked with the HO LEDS before. We might just drive you crazy with questions, BigJim. Thank you for putting up with us. One question we have....when you dim an LED light, are you affecting the spectrum?

I found this which I'm intrigued by (merely because I have a 30g Oceanic cube too so it's cool to see a diy on MY tank). Granted, he has a SW tank so I'm sure our lighting needs will be different, but we can get some ideas from it.
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=230262&hl=

My husband is obsessed with our driftwood at the moment. I'm beginning to wonder if it is EVER going to stop releasing tannins.

I'll post pics of our homemade filter later today....I need to make sure it's going to be okay to use. Our main issue with that is figuring out what the intake and outtake tubes should be like.

I'm sure we could just go to the store and buy all of these things assembled, pre-packaged, and ready to go, but it's so much more fun to build it from scratch.

 

[BigJim]

The fixture I showed in the link is my first time working with LEDs too. It's not very pretty, but it sure does work. Do your research, take your time, and I'm sure you'll be fine. Also, DO NOT look directly at the LEDs when they're lit. I had the fixture pointed in my general direction the first time I switched it on and I had little dots in front of my eyes for a couple minutes. It's hard to believe so much light can come from such a small thing.

I don't believe you're affecting the spectrum with the dimming and I don't see anything in the datasheet to indicate that anything like that occurs. However, the LEDs I used were rated at 6500K-10000K, so I suppose dimming them might swing it within that range. I suspect that dimming doesn't change the spectrum analysis, just the overall output.

I'm not sure you realize how unbelievably bright the light fixture in your link is. You could light a room with it. I've got ten of those LEDs on my 20g and it's looking like it was overkill. I've got them running at 1/2-1/3 power and it's still brighter than the 36W of T5 lighting I had on the tank before. The light sensors on most cameras filter the dazzling brightness.

As an engineer, I have a hard time leaving something alone if I know I can improve it. Adding IC control to my LED fixture and building a heater controller are on my DIY list.

Ask away. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post the question. I relish these kinds of questions. It's a refreshing change from the usual "Help, my fish are dying!" threads.