Feedback on tank idea.

[Wolfgangs246]

Hi Bros,

Would like your opinion on what would make a better foreground plant for an iwagumi style plant setup? Here are the stats of the tank and my equipment.

Tank (3X1.5X1H)
Lighting 24X4 T5 lighting
Chiller: Teco
Filtration: Eheim 2213
CO2: Yes.

Here are some of my thoughts:
I have a series of mountainous looking rocks which I would like to use to achieve a ranged look of mountains. I'm not sure whether HC or Glosso would be better to achieve this? I currently have a 2ft tank which I am thinking of disassembling to help kick start this new 3ft tank. Are there any suggestions how I can achieve this or maybe some things I should keep in mind whilst trying to put this tnak together?

[Shadow]

I'm concern on your light and filter flow. Is 24W T5 3ft long? I'm using 2213 for my 2ft, so may not be enough for 3ft.

As for choice between HC or glosso, both can be use provided you have enough light. I personally will chose HC. Glosso in my opinion grow too fast for my liking.

[Wolfgangs246]

Hi shadow,

You're right that the 24W isn't long enough to run along the full length of the tank. I was thinking of mounting them deep so they ran perpendicular to the tank. An alternative would be to mount them at a diagonal so that the light is distributed. I'm hoping that the short height of the tank will make up for it.

I was told that the 2213 could manage that volume of water without a problem. Plus, I'm not having a high bio-load on the system. that should reduce the need for the high filter flow right? Please correct me if I am wrong but the filtration system is mostly for the benefit of removing waste from fish/plant/inverts through bacterial decomposition in the filter, right? Thats my understanding of the need for filtration.

Would HC provide enough hiding place for baby shrimp to avoid being eaten by larger animals like tetra's? Also would I need to gain a lot of understanding about using fertilizers if I want to use HC? Dunno if I am professional enough to try playing with fertilizers. I'm currently using the 'buy and bury' kind of ferts. Might be difficult if I'm going to need to start measuring and monitoring different fert levels.

[Shadow]

for fish only tank 2-3 times water volume is enough. However for planted tank is different. You need the flow to profide plant with nutrient as well as much needed CO2.

There is good water flow article/explanation on Aqua Journal online, look at the last paragraph "The necessity of water flow"
http://www.aquajournal.net/na/basics/basics_04.html

Moss probably better for shrimplet hiding place.

For fertilizer dosing you can read up about Estimate Index
http://www.barrreport.com/showthread...ss-techy-folks