Heaps of advice needed!

[jacquetlc]

For the past year, I've been having this fully automated 1.5x1.5 tank with lights, filter, pump etc inbuilt.

NOW *drum roll* I'm going to try setting up a 2ft - 3ft tank. The kind with only 4 walls and nothing else...

Please help me to come up with a list of items (with brands/model etc) that are the basic essentials. Eg. Light? Filter - what kind? Pump to aerate the water? etc etc...

I want to keep things as simple as possible... Thank you.

[|squee|]

Simple as possible will be Eheim Liberty 100 with 36W PL light.

Non-CO2; follow the Tom Barr non-Co2 method.

[jacquetlc]

wah... sounds zen...

whats *ahem* eheim Liberty 100? 36W PL light... can have 18Wx2 tubes then?

non-CO2 is what i want... but tom barr method? can gimme link? thanks.

[Fei Miao]

Eheim Liberty filters
http://www.eheimasiapacific.com/English/hangon.htm

[Justikanz]

Depends on the size of your eventual setup, the essentials will vary a little...

My suggestions:

2ft tank
Filter - Ehiem Liberty filters do fine. You can also choose small external filters like the EDEN501, depending on whether you have a lot of fish or plants or the type of plants. Some would think the EDEN is too weak for a 2ft and prefer Ehiem external filters. Personally, I would not want a hangon filter if I do CO2 injection.

Lights - You can choose FLs (T8s), PLs or T5s. Go through the info packed Equipment forum ( )... Basically, for 2ft, I would choose either PL (should be 55W), or T5HO, (2x24W). T5HO would be more expensive, but brighter (more lumens) and generate less heat. The colour temperature should be 6500K-10,000K (I personally prefer 10,000K tubes). Personally, I prefer T5HOs...

Pump - I don't use air pumps. So, I don't know what to suggest. I personally think they are unnecessary in planted tanks. Some people are afraid that the CO2 emmitted by the plants at night can kill their fish and so use an air pump, but no one can beat my tank populations (~200+ medium sized fish for my 4ft tank and ~200 small fish for my 2ft tank) and all my fish do well without airpumps.

But then again, you might be interested to run a decorative item using an airpump, so I shall not dwell on that. Read up to find a silent pump. Else, good luck...

3ft tank
Filter - Suggest you look for an external canister filter. A cheaper and reliable model would be the Fluval series.

Lights - Not sure of the wattages.

~~~~~
For a simple setup, you can consider the following though:

PL light set, cooling fan, an internal filter for filtration and water movement, and non-CO2 method for plants...

[kemp]

Here's the Tom Barr's link as requested -> http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=13623
You can definitely have a 1x36 watt or 2x18watt, it's your choice

wah... sounds zen...

whats *ahem* eheim Liberty 100? 36W PL light... can have 18Wx2 tubes then?

non-CO2 is what i want... but tom barr method? can gimme link? thanks.