recommendation needed on setting up an 188 gallon tank

[coolbucks]

Hi All expertise bros here,

Would like to get advices from bros here on some recommendation on the above set up.. I am still deciding what types of brands should I use for fert, gravel and lighting set??

currently, I am using dennerle fert and lapis gravel for my 3ft planted tank. I found it it a good product to be use but the cost of this product ex.. To set up a 188 gallons of tank, would cost me a bomb..would like to try out other brands but dun know which one is gd. In the market, there are a lot of brands which make me confuse and looking for an middle range prices fert and gravel to use and quality must be there. must be able to use it as long run... also looking at the lighting set as well, thinking of T5 lighting sys.. any other lighting sys to recommend as well??

Looking forwards for the favourbly reply from this forum bros here... thank you...

[rosha]

hello bro
u can try bioplast german product it is very good much cheaper than
dennerle i used it for 3 years and i rescape my 5x2x2 tank about 5 time the
fert still going strong i think his is the cheaper german product


thks

[vinz]

Base fert: Get soil... cheap and good. There are several options. I use J. Arthur Bower's Aquatic Compost, available at Far East Nursery on Thomson Road and Queensway. Also Goodwood Nursery at Thomson Road. Two 25litre bags is sufficient. Other members use coco peat. Search for Soil, Aquatic Compost and Coco peat (cocopeat) in the forum for posts about them.

Gravel: Get Lapis Sand. Cheap at about $20 per 20kg. And very clean. you don't have to wash or rinse these... which is quite a task for such a large tank.

Lights wise: Either T5 or MH. Expensive at the outset, but cheaper in the long run. Alos for such a large tank, you do not need 3 watts per gallon. 2 WPG is good enough if you use PL. For T5 with the good M-shape reflectors, youc an probably get away with about 1.5 WPG. For MH, one 150watt bulb per 2 feet run (e.g. A 6 foot long tank will need 3)

Filters: Get 2 canister filters. One for each end of the tank. Make sure you set them up to provide good circulation in the tank.

[coolbucks]

Hi Bros rosha and Vinz,

Thank you very much for the informations provided. Very useful informations. what type of canister flow rate is sufficient for this type of size of tank? Which brands is better and can also provide me the selling price as well? Can use sump tank sys?

Kindly, advice me.

thank you..

[Phillipians]

you can get a mixture of eheim pro2 2026 or 2028 but if you have the cash, get 2 x 2028, definitely better in the long run. However if no cash, prob get jebao filters or atman filters which are also not too bad. Eheim will set you back 400 + to 600 bucks for 2 while for the other brands 130 - 180 depending on where you obtain them from

[coolbucks]

Hi Bro Phillipians.

Currently, I have this atman canister sys of 3337. Can i use it to replace this 2026 which u mentioned earlier and i get another ehiem 2028? will it be sufficient enough for flow rate??

hi Bro Vinz,

As u mentioned that it will be cheaper in the long run while using the T5 lighting sys. what is the long term benefit that u are refering to ???

[vinz]

HO (High Output) T5s are significantly brighter then PLs. Especially when combined with the M shaped reflectors. So less wattage is needed.... which translate cheaper electricity bills and lesser tubes to replace. Also less heat, which is good for chilled tanks. The problem is aquarium T5 light sets are tad bit expensive right now. There are a few people selling DIY sets which don't look as nice, but are effective and comparatively cheaper. Search for T5 in the forum. There are some good information around here.

[coolbucks]

Hi Vinz,

Thanks for sharing this great informations with me.. It seem like they are no informations to be found after doing the search of T5...

Which shops is selling the HO T5 lighting sets and how much??

[vinz]

You mean you are not getting any results from the forum's "Search" function? I just tried and got about 92 threads.

I need to rush off now, so I can't pick out the better threads for you to read. If you still have problems finding the threads, let me know. I'll try to link you to the more useful threads.

[ehlim]

Hi Bro Phillipians.

Currently, I have this atman canister sys of 3337. Can i use it to replace this 2026 which u mentioned earlier and i get another ehiem 2028? will it be sufficient enough for flow rate??

hi Bro Vinz,

As u mentioned that it will be cheaper in the long run while using the T5 lighting sys. what is the long term benefit that u are refering to ???

If you are looking for a 2028, perhaps you may want to check out NA. I am also looking for such a filter and my "market survey" shows tha NA is the cheapest (<$300). Cheers.

[XnSdVd]

Something to note, high output T5s actually produce more light than MHs. But the light is more spaced out which may or may not be a good thing.
That and search "experimental 6ft tank" Go read dannys' for a good example of what to do, and mine for an example of what NOT to do

[FC]

coolbucks (may I know your name, please?),

Filter: I think Eheim 2060 would do a great job. To ensure proper water circulation and filteration, do this:
- Place the inlet and outlet side-by-side at one back corner of the tank.
- The outlet should be at 2/3 high of the tank. Connect a right angle elbow to the outlet to allow water flow at horizontal plane.
- Point the elbow, away from inlet, towards the other back corner of the back wall.

The result is, the filtered water will travel the longest distance in the tank before it return back to filter (while mixed with tank's water). It will create a very mild swirl which encourage fine particles to settle, creating clear water. Another advantage is it minimise dead (water) spot in the tank.

Lighting: With 188 gallon, your tank is likely to be 8x2x2 footer. You do not wish to clutter your tank's top with massive housings of tubes, do you? They also make maintenance a chore. The only lighting type I would suggest is MH lamp which is neatly above the tank and create natural nice light ripples in the tank. Of course, they are hot.

[Phillipians]

hi coolbucks, if your tank is roughly 8 x 2 x 2 then i recommend that you get eheim proIII and one other jebao filter just for added circulation, im considering the fact that $$ is not an issue. But if you have atman 3337, then get another 2028 should be fine and also another power head around one corner of your tank to improve circulation, yuo need not necessarily need 3 filters, 2 filters coupled with another powerhead would.

I recommend 2 filters + 1x powerhead if your tank is above 6 ft long

[Phillipians]

and also, since you are talking about lights, my advice for such a huge setup, MH, effective and will not leave any darkspots and healthy plants, provided yours are not all slowgrowers

[coolbucks]

Hi all Bros,

First, express my greatly thank you to everyones here that replys. Peoples in this forum is very helpful and providing great information's.

Bro Fc,

My name is william here. My tank size is not as huge as you guess.. My size of the tank that planning to set up will be an 5ftx2.5ftx2ft. Do you have any pic to show about the filter set up in term of the angle that you mentioned? tot of asking tank maker to make the hood with top cover. Under the cover, i can diy to fix up those lighting and build in a few computer fans in it to ...

I am still consider what plants to plant in, high of low types? As an huge tank, if all plants are in an high demanding types i will end up spending most of my times, trimming, replant etc... then will not be enjoying myself watching my plants and fishes...I thought of setting up an low maintenance plants.. Any suggestions or drawing can provide?

how do you all guys think if this type of sizes of tank? will it look weird?? thought of 6ftx2ftx2ft in my mind as well... future thought of rearing arowana in the tank.. any suggestion?

As for the lighting...mmmm... got to decide first whether going for high or low plants...MH lighting consume more electricity?if using that then I must plant those high demending plants liao..

[XnSdVd]

I say this over and over, T5 lights, More light, less heat, lower price. As for slow growing plants I'm sure some of the other guys in the forum will tell you what to get =)

[coolbucks]

Noted with thank bro Xnsdvd for the T5 lighting informations..

[rosha]

hello bro

suggestion only

u want to plant what type of plant and than u can buy
the type of light that can make the plant grown nice.
some plant cant take light. like MH some plant can out of shape and
some red plant not that red it is up to individual people but some
like to use PL,T5 and FL etc.......u r rearing aro in plant tank i think better dont
cos i did before.

[vinz]

.......u r rearing aro in plant tank i think better dont
cos i did before.

I have to disagree with rosha. Ive not spoken to Rosha for a long time, so I don't know why he's think it's not a good idea.

Personally, I've had a positive experience with arowana in a planted tank, and I do hope to do it again. There are several other forum members who have arowana in planted tanks. Just search for the word arowana and you will get a quite a number of threads about it and pictures too.

As for tank size, minimum for a planted arowana tank, IMO, is 5'(L)x2.5'(W)x2'(H). A 6'x2'x2' (that's what I had) will do too.

[rosha]

Hello bro

Hi vinz,

Long time never spoken to you. How are you man?
Personally, arowana in plant tank is nice, but arowana have one kind of habit when his wire shock, all your plants will become haywire like him. And it may spoil the nice body of your arowana too. In my experience let the arowana be by itself and plant tank also by itself.

Vinz is only suggesting. Anyway, this is what happen to my arowana in my plant tank

thk