Ribber Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 (edited) Just a quick update... Santa (also known as The Wife) was wonderful to me this year and has filled quite a few holes in my build. Fluval FX6 - check! 48" Fluval Plant and Marine LED - check! another 48" Fluval Plant and Marine LED - check! 2 Hydor Koralia powerheads - check! There was also a 300w heater in there but reviews on it weren't the greatest. It was a free bonus, so no $ wasted. Will be looking at a couple 200w rather than a single 300w. Parts piled up a lot faster than I was expecting, so I'm really getting excited about this now! Flourite and Flourite Sand as substrate will allow me to play a little more and not make a mess like I would with soil, so that's the final word for substrate I think. LIES I tell you... LIES!! Dirt looks intimidating but I'm warming to it. Will be listening to the advice offered here and starting a little low-tech (no co2 or ferts right off the bat) with some good starter plants then stepping it up to high-tech in a few months. Powerheads are small, but will work for co2 dispersal later and fixing dead zones, though I'm not expecting any with that FX6 blasting away! So yeah, that's about it for now. Edited December 27, 2013 by Ribber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted December 28, 2013 Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 Hard to find ( harder to read ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ribber Posted December 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 I've seen that PAR chart for the Fluval led. I can't help but think it's a little useless with readings only taken at a 6" depth. Or is there some math that allows you to translate it to a 20" depth? After searching in vain for numbers to crunch, I wound up basing my decision on user reviews and long term expenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted December 28, 2013 Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 ,,,,, it's a little useless with readings only taken at a 6" depth. Or is there some math that allows you to translate it to,,,,,? Any formula would contain more magic than math. Every aquarium is different. Start with as many stems as you can muster. A day (photo-period) consisting of 6-8 hours with one strip, with a two hour "bump" from the other strip. In my experience time (overduration) grows more algae than intensity (overbright). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrimpChick Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Ribber I have just the one diffuser for my CO2 near my intake. I have found that the one is enough for a high light, hight CO2 and meets the demands well. Just ensure you get a CO2 level checker (these are cheep) and then you can ensure you do not have to much going in and killing off your fish especially at first until things are established. I also believe in two canisters vs. one large one as I have found over the years if one goes down for some reason you have a back up to keep things going. You also get better flow through out and less dead spots which will help with the collection of detritus in these areas. Your flow will still be great but not turbulant this way as you won't have a single jet stream as with the FX6 (even though this one has a flow control I would recommend that should you go with this filter use the spray bar and just keep the bar in the water to prevent high loss of CO2). This also alows the plants to not get pushed around heavily as well. These are just the things I have found helpful with my planted tank. I have some easy plants as well that when I do some trimming would be happy to pass your way when I do my some trimming. Just let me know when your set up some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Thx Jewels for the pic. I blew it up and gave it a couple sweeps to sharpen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candi Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 I just recently purchased a Hydor ETH 300W inline heater. I love it! It heats my 90 at a constant 76.3 and doesn't run continuously as if its working too hard. What I liked about it was that it's hidden behind the tank on the return line, and you don't have to worry about hiding it behind things IN the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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