[All that is Fishy]

I have great news! I am getting a 30 gallon fish tank today or tomorrow and am planning out the aquarium with my fiance. :-D (This second tank idea began with a desire for a 10-20 gallon. :lol: )

Dimensions of the new tank:
30" long by 13" wide by 18" tall.

Filtration plans:
Aqueon Quietflow 30

Light plans:
Probably AquaticLife T5 HO Dual Lamp Light Fixture, 48 watts (though I may get two so that it is a total of 96 watts, but hopefully I will be fine with just one)


I want to have a heavily planted aquarium. I bought an under gravel heater to warm the plant roots, and I plan on supplementing with CO2. I want to use liquid CO2 to start and see how it goes.

I don't know which plants I am going to get yet, but I have a list of plants that I am considering. But, here are my ideals for fish:
- 2 honey/sunset gouramis
- 1 dwarf flag cichlid (laetacara curviceps)
- 6 rummynose tetras
- 3 dwarf suckermouth catfish (Otocinclus vestitus/vittatus)


What do you guys think? I want this to be a really great tank, as my other tank is.

 

[JDM]

I have great news! I am getting a 30 gallon fish tank today or tomorrow and am planning out the aquarium with my fiance. :-D (This second tank idea began with a desire for a 10-20 gallon. :lol: )

Dimensions of the new tank:
30" long by 13" wide by 18" tall.

Filtration plans:
Aqueon Quietflow 30

Light plans:
Probably AquaticLife T5 HO Dual Lamp Light Fixture, 48 watts (though I may get two so that it is a total of 96 watts, but hopefully I will be fine with just one)


I want to have a heavily planted aquarium. I bought an under gravel heater to warm the plant roots, and I plan on supplementing with CO2. I want to use liquid CO2 to start and see how it goes.

I don't know which plants I am going to get yet, but I have a list of plants that I am considering. But, here are my ideals for fish:
- 2 honey/sunset gouramis
- 1 dwarf flag cichlid (laetacara curviceps)
- 6 rummynose tetras
- 3 dwarf suckermouth catfish (Otocinclus vestitus/vittatus)


What do you guys think? I want this to be a really great tank, as my other tank is.

48 Watts sounds like a lot, but I honestly don't know about fluorescents to say... if you are going with CO2, maybe not. Although "heavily planted" doesn't automatically mean "CO2".

On a related but separate note: I'd suggest not using the liquid carbon supplements due to the nature of the preservatives that they employ... here's a link to a bit I figured out for Excel... others are going to be similar as carbon in solution requires a preservative.

Don't bother with the heater for the gravel unless it is going to heat the whole tank, the water being kept warm is more than enough for the plants' roots already.

As for fish, I don't know about compatibility offhand, they may be fine, but you need to up the oto's to about 6 or more (they're small, more is better) and the rummynose could use more. Higher numbers make the fish more "comfortable" and, if you happen to lose one or two along the way, you already have a decent sized group to not have to worry about replacing them. I actually like 8 as starting numbers for shoaling fish but usually aim to start around 12.

Jeff.

 

[All that is Fishy]

Thank you for the advice! I will talk to my fiance about increasing the number of suckermouths and tetras. I will also check out the article you sent me a link to.


The lady I talked to at the store told me I should get TWO light fixtures to have enough light! That was expensive, though, so I decided to start with one. It is good to know that seems like a lot, because I was worried that it wouldn't be enough to grow plants with high light requirements.

I will look into returning the under gravel heater.

Thank you again!

 

[JDM]

No problem.

You might want to get a plant list going to see if you even need "high light" or CO2, no sense in buying what you may not need. I went with LED and made out very well with an 8 Watt fixture (30" tank as well but 22" deep). I now have a 23 Watt LED which is very bright and would work well for higher light plants, I just toss a bunch of floaters in to provide shade for the rooted plants and fish though. Cheaper in the end as I don't have bulbs and starters to worry about replacing, sleek low profile, built in timer (the brighter model).

Jeff.

 

[All that is Fishy]

No problem.

You might want to get a plant list going to see if you even need "high light" or CO2, no sense in buying what you may not need. I went with LED and made out very well with an 8 Watt fixture (30" tank as well but 22" deep). I now have a 23 Watt LED which is very bright and would work well for higher light plants, I just toss a bunch of floaters in to provide shade for the rooted plants and fish though. Cheaper in the end as I don't have bulbs and starters to worry about replacing, sleek low profile, built in timer (the brighter model).

Jeff.

That sounds like a cool light! I didn't know that there aren't bulbs to change with LED lights.

I have started looking at plants, and a lot of ones that I like say they require "high" light. I was having trouble figuring out how much light was considered high, and I found like 3-5 watts per gallon as a number. BUT, then I read that watts per gallon isn't very accurate for HO lights. I have been very confused by the light selecting process. I hope the light that I ordered does well.

 

[JDM]

Oh, you already ordered. Here's hoping it's the right one, although you can change bulbs to a degree to alter what you get.

LEDs have hour ratings, my fixture is 50,000 hours which is somewhere around 12 years at 12 hours a day.

Jeff.

 

[All that is Fishy]

Oh, you already ordered. Here's hoping it's the right one, although you can change bulbs to a degree to alter what you get.

True, I could put in lower wattage bulbs. I don't think I can put in higher wattage bulbs though. Is that true, do you know?

 

[JDM]

Right, the restriction is based on the ballast as it can only drive up to what it is rated for.

With LEDs you either have to be right the first time, period, or go higher than you think you will need and use surface plants or a physical shade setup if needed.

Jeff.

 

[All that is Fishy]

I was wondering if anyone had any more feedback on the fish I am thinking of putting in the tank?