L Shape tank's

kai

Im thinking of buying a large 48"x48" L shape tank and wont to plant the middle up and gravel the outer edge's (or maybe 50/50) 1 side planted and the other gravel ).
My biggest question is would a 304 fluval on the planted side and undergravel filter on 1 side be a fine way to filter the tank or would the 2types cause complications other wise i think id use 2 304's and very the water intake lvl's .
When i plant a tank i always buy crab's to help maintain the bottom and allowing me to draw water from mid lvls of the tank i find this causes less disturbance of the top layer of sand and less uprooting of the plants in the long run .

Varkolak

I wouldn't bother with an under gravel filter for a planted aquarium because you want the fish waste to settle in your substrate. You would be better off using sand with just the fluvals and depending on how heavily planted and stocked you may be fine with the single 304, Not sure on gallon size of your tank so can't be sure

LyzzaRyzz

Hey, an L shaped tank sounds awesome! And when you said planted, i immediatly thought of at the juncture the tallest plants, and gradually go smaller and smaller until its just substrate at the ends...
That would be an amazing effect...=]

kai

Ive thought of it that way also but the concern was about reducing water flow from 1 end of the tank to the other if it's highly planted at the juncture ,but otherwise the options are endless for how it can be done i.e gravel the juncture about 2ft square then plant up the rest if would look like a river bed and banking's .

Varkolak the tank size is 48x48"" long 15" wide 30"deep over all making a 6ft L shape my idea is for a beta community . ive not used under gravel filter's b4 so i dont no how bigger draw across the bottem it would have i was thinking of using a 2-3ft under tray attached to 1 of the 304's and returning to a spray bar 2" under the water above the plants i may spray bar the other 304 im not sure as yet . The mixture of planted to open space would be a nice break in the tank.

Varkolak

I'll let the beta people talk to you about beta communities...

What I was saying is with a planted tank the roots will go everywhere that they can and will eventually end up in any under gravel filter. If you were to do sand you would never have to gravel vac the tank because the waste will collect around the plants and be left at the top of the sand and easily pushed off it with a properly placed water current. This allows you the same options as before with less hassle.

The size from what you said if i understand it right would be less then 2 48x15x30 so around 140-180 gallons, a huge tank with limitless potential and if that's how big it is I would definitely use 2 fluval 304's if not a larger pair of canisters.

Best route in my opinion is put an intake at each side of your L and then put the spray bars on the inside spraying back towards the intake, or put intake as one end and spray bar at the other to create a continual current in one direction, good canisters wont have a problem going around your corner, this way you could have a high and low current and sweep all the debris into the planted area for a low maintenance tank or a low current and another spray bar at the corner to give an added push into plants

Edit- reread your idea - put spray bars on opposite ends pointing to planted center and have intakes around 18inches out of the exterior corner

kai

yes its a very large tank plus side of having a 18ft by16ft front room :) i worked it out with 304's as i already have 1 tho i could push to adding a eheim professional 3 as the second opting for the 304 in the planted area with it been the lower flow its less likely to disturb the plants (past experience in a 48"x24"x24" planted tank) .
Hum i didn't realise the roots would travel so far and yes i see ur point about drawing to much of the waste into the gravel and sand is the better option