6x2.5x2.5 ft planted tank

[acidjazz]

Hi, i am not exactly new to planted. But afters stopping for 4-5 years, kinda forgot how everything works and systems have change so much.

Anyway i am planning to have a 6x2.5x2.5 ft planted tank, with 4ftx22inchx22inxh sump tank. I undersdtand tt co2 will deplete faster, but i seriously hate those canisters. Still prefer the sump tank concept.

Equipments i am planning to get:
1) 7 litre co2 cylinder with dymax solenoid
2) Arcadia series 3 slimline pendant MH lighting with iwasaki bulb x2,

I understand that ADA is highly respected in the planted community. So my question is:

1) Do i have any other alternative other than ADA soil n fertilizer? (Its super expensive to fill up a 6x2.5ft base with soil and fertilizer. Are there any other good brands to recommend?

2) What other equipments do i need?

3) Since i am using a sump tank, i ahve to inject co2 into the tank via another method right? what do u guys recon?

2)

[StanChung]

Congrats-Sump tanks IMO get very crystal clear water, the trade off is the CO2 loss.

Soil wise ADA is not the most expensive but cheaper versions of it works differently/not as well theoretically. [those with same size granules have lower ion/gas exchange theoretically] Maybe Roland[Lorba] can help you get a good deal! Ahem!

You can opt for sand + base fert setup. Base fert can be expensive but you only need to layer it as a percentage of the substrate. Typically 20 to 30% of the total height.

The sump you can put the CO2 reactor in here. Keep the sump covered to reduce CO2 loss.

If you haven't make your tank, it's good to make a Durso attachment to the overflow to reduce [amazingly] the toilet flush sound!

The others are standard. CO2 bubble counter, all the check valves for the airline to prevent reverse flow, timer for lights + CO2 solenoid.

[ADA's stuff are aspirational. I'll get one piece every year as a self birthday present!]

[acidjazz]

In fact the tank is already made.

Can someone enlighten me what's the level of commitment and cost needed for a planted tank, in my a case a 6x2.5x2.5 feet one? i do not intend to save on the equipments, but neither will i invest $200 for one bubble counter sorta thing.

[ahkarboy]

Erm whats a sump tank?

[hirowen]

Erm whats a sump tank?

it's another tank which used for filter media, normally below the tank. Water from main tank will passes thru sump tank, then filter thru the media, then pump back to main tank.

[Goondoo]

In fact the tank is already made.

Can someone enlighten me what's the level of commitment and cost needed for a planted tank, in my a case a 6x2.5x2.5 feet one? i do not intend to save on the equipments, but neither will i invest $200 for one bubble counter sorta thing.

errrr.... are you the same acidjazz from SGReefclub? Or are you the Acidjazz from FK? So many acidjazz these days....

[StanChung]

Since you already have the pump and lights and CO2, you only need to spend on substrate, fertilizer, decoration-rocks+wood, plants and fish. These can vary as well but you should be able to do this well within below 500 SGD if you read more about cost effective setups here that still looks great.

[Bubble counters are cheap]

[eddyq]

Level of commitment, this you need to ask yourself really. How commited are you? If you are very hand-on type then maintaining a big tank can be a breeze. Provided you are experienced knowing what to do and to expect.

Once everthing is in place there the need to dose fertisler via water column and top-up water if neccessary. Change water once a week 15-30% and glass cleaning. Feed the fishes everyday and planting trimming if needed. And attend to equipments failure and once a long while change bulbs or replace low CO2.

We need passion and patience for this hobby.

[blim]

Quite a challenge to maintain a tank of 2.5ft width and 2.5ft height. Imaging siphoning the faeces at the bottom or trimming the plants.

Make the sump tank 5ft if you can.

[mordrake]

you can use back some of the equipment from your reef like your eheim compacts, tunze... maybe too
this will ensure that water circulation will not be a problem for a big tank like yours. having dead spots in big tanks are quite a common headache and usually results in algae growth.

you should be familiar with durso pipes to reduce overflow splashing. adding more wool in the sump will also reduce splashing. with a 7L co2 tank, waste abit co2 never mind la.
you should be concerned with getting the co2 enriched water to all corners of the tank instead. using multiple diffusors (via co2 splitter), rainbars etc will help.

equipments you have liao.
only need to get base fert, gravel, plants, hardscape (rocks, wood etc).
base fert - 6 bags of JBL aquabasis
liquid fert - many to choose from. I'd recommend Dr Mallick ferts
gravel - 6 bags of Lapis (22kg+ each)
plants - as much as possible (cover 75% of tank footprint)
hardscape - depends on the scape you want

all the above can be obtained from quite a few lfs.
visit Teo's farm at Lim Chu Kang for the wide variety of plants.

level of commitment? much easier than having a 6ft reef

[planted86]

errrr.... are you the same acidjazz from SGReefclub? Or are you the Acidjazz from FK? So many acidjazz these days....

think he's the 1 in SRC....

tank dimension and sump dimension all the same...