hello seal
welcome to the forum and congrats to you with your new tank...I am so jealous of the tank size you have
anyway just to bore you with the details, here goes
One thing i must say is that for a successful planted tank, the initial setup cost will tend to be high so you need to make a commitment (which you have already gone half the way) if you are in it for the long haul. Even with the right stuff, it does not guarantee that you will be successful....as experience comes into play.....so here goes.....
The Tank
The tank you have bought is a very good dimension for any planted tank at 8x3x2ft. However careful planing is still the key to a beautiful tank and perhaps you may want to ask Jacian about it.
Base Fert
Substrate base fert is the key or rather the foundation for any successful long term fertilisation. with this base, your planted tank has the ability to last from 5 to 10yrs. Since you have already bought a soil based fert, I would not elaborate on it. This level should be of 1in in height all round the tank...wich may equate to 50 to 60kg worth of fert(estimated).
Substrate Heater (Optional)
The primary function of a substrate heater are:
1. To create water circulation in the substrate level so that nutrients can be transported to the rooting system.
2. It turns the whole substrate section and becomes a huge biological filter. This is important as O2 oxides readily with most nutrients rendering them useless to the plant life. With the biologial system at work, the O2 will be absorbed by the bacterial colony and the oxidised nutrients is reversed back to usable nutrients to plant life.
3. If the substrate section is not sufficiently warm enough, the plants may be stunted.
4. Preventing the substrate base from becoming anaerobic
Do note that there are specific wattage to the given amount of water volume.
4 Watts - 40 - 70l
8 Watts - 60 - 120l
25 Watts - 80 - 250l
50 Watts - 150 - 500l
75 Watts - 200 - 750l
100 Watts - 300 - 1000l
Do consider this very carefully as this has to be placed in a zig-zag manner on the base of your tank before the base fert. If you choice not to have it, there is no way to place this equipment there after.
The Gravel
Again you have choosen a good gravel for your tank and the thickness(excluding base fert height) should be 2in front and 5in back. the slope will give your tank a better pespective. Foreground plants usually have a shorter rooting system hence the shorter front.....bigger plants require more depth.
CO2 injection
If you want to have planted tanks that you see in aquatic magazines, then this is a good investment. you will need to have:
1. A CO2 cylinder (between 3 to 5kg)
2. A regulator with solonoid and needle valve
3. A One Way Valve
4. A Bubble counter
5. A Diffusor or reactor
6. A CO2 indicator
6. CO2 tubing
With CO2 injection, your choices of plants opens up. However with CO2 injection, you need to understand KH, PH, and how CO2 changes the value of PH. When injecting CO2, the dissolved gas alters the PH value of the water from alkaline to acidic. This means the more CO2 is injected the more acidic the water gets. KH or Carbonate Hardness, acts as a buffer that determines how much dissolved CO2 can be held with a PH crash. In a planted tank, a good KH value should be holding between 4 to 5. In order to have CO2 rich water, the correct PH should be:
KH3 = PH6.3
KH4 = PH6.5
KH5 = PH6.7
With a CO2 indicator, it will help you determine your dissolved CO2 level through PH.
Lighting
When considering light, the general guideline is estimated at 2.5 to 3 watts to 1 gallon of water. on this part, bulb choice from Flouresent, Compact, and Metal Hylide is critical to acheive the right wattage.
Flouresent
Or FL is the most commonly used bulb in the planted aquaria due to the price as well as versatility in Kelvin choices...Kelvin is the laymans way of determining light spectrum or CRI(color rendering index). For a planted tank it is best be daylight at 6500 to 8500 kelvin. The on
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