Hi,

I'm a newbie who's been bitten by the aquatic plant bug. I've read and learnt a lot from all of the sifu's from this site. Now I've decided to take the plunge and start a 3 foot aquarium.

I intend to start with some low maintenance plants but in the future if I should wish to graduate to 'higher' maintenance plants - what kind of lighting do I need? It seems to me that the commercial kind has always 'too few watts'. Is it necessary to DIY?

The 2nd thing I need advice on is the Co2 tank and regulator. Where would be a good (reasonably priced) place to get one? Is my tank too big to use the DIY Co2 reactors? How about if I use two?

Looking forward to your answers.
Thanks

seems your getting no respond from the sifus here huh, well, if dont mind getting answers from a small timer...here are a few suggestions.

its okay to get the commercial kind of lightings as long as you get enough of it and the right colour spectrum. i assume your have the normal 1.5feet height 3 footer..then i suggest get one Hagen 20w powerglow, two hagen 20w lifeglow, one nec or hitachi normal aquarium light(pink). if you cant find hagen then try Aim 20w sunlight..get 3 of them plus the nec or hitchi or any other normal aquarium light(pink).

Co2 and regulators are very expensive. so if your not sure in investing on this, DIY co2 would be fine. better dont buy those DIY reactors sold at FS, they are expensive and doesnt really work. best to make you own ..its very simple , all you need is some yeast, sugar, baking powder , a small holding bottle, and for the reactor a pvc tube with endcaps...its easy and it cost you less then rm10. for a 3 footer its ok to use just one diy co2....a 1.5liter minerial water bottle size...thats all,no need to over do things.

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Agree with Ari. This is what I do with my 2.5 feet tanks, also low cost type.

I used river sand mix with holland sand. I have it bout 2 inch height. Then once a while I will add in some fert into the sand.

For Co2, I also DIY using plastic coke bottle, 1.5 liter one. U need to drill some hole and glue it to a pipe. My formula, 1 tea spoon of yis and 6 tea spoon of sugar, last me for around a week.

Lighting, I just use normal house FL light x 4.

Then I use those old video player fan to blow the water, it keep my temp around 28'c.

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Regards,
Flashout
snail.flashout.net

Thanks Ari & Flashout for your replies. They are much appreciated.

Ari, thanks for the info about the lighting. You suggested 4X20W=80W. What about the watts per gallon rule? 80W give me slighty less than 2wpg. Is this ok?

Also I was looking through the DIY section and I noticed they were using Phillips PL-L tubes. Is this an option and what's the difference between these and the specialist tubes?

Lastly, I just fixed my 2 DIY fans and as of 12.30am (with one running) the temp of my tank is 27deg. I'm sure this is an achievable temp at night but on a hot day, I doubt even with both fans running, it can be achieved. Will this have any effect on my plants?

Chris,
Sorry for the late reply.

3 footer low maintenance tank. I would like to suggest you to make sure what type of plants you are keeping first then only decide what tube or how many Watt to use. If there is not enough tube/Watt. Then you can just add on.

Example: You are keeping ferns, mosses, nana and etc. 2 x 36W PLL tubes, or 3 x 18W FL tubes are good enough. Running the DIY fans 24 hours. You gonna top up the water daily.

Actually the CO2 cylinder and regulator is not that expensive like what ari said. Ari own a fish shop...and of coz fish shop will selling slightly higher price. (lfs owners going to kill me now.) Goto the fire distinguisher or cylinder shop n ask. For sure you will get a cheaper price. I got mine...15kg which is 3feet tall cylinder with CO2 refilled for RM150 only. Manual regulator is just RM40-60. Depends on what brand you are getting. If you got a bit extra of $$$. Get the regulator with solenoid which cost around RM240-280. Then you can let the timer do the on/off.

I am using both manual regulator and automatic regulator (with solenoid). I am turning the manual regulator 24 hours for my 2ft tank. Lazy to turn it off and on daily. But with 1bps (bps = bubble per second). If your 3ft, you can adjust like 2bps for 24 hours. But then you need to get an air pump to increase the aeration while the photoperiod is off at nite. This is because of the fauna and flora and bacteria do need more Oxygen to grow at nite time. And it can prevent CO2 overdose when there is no photosynthesis at nite time.

For low lighting and co2 depends plants, 1.5wpg is good enough. What type of tube to get... it is depends on you. Personally I am preferred PLL. coz it is shorter and it last longer than FL. But then the heat is higher than FL. Suggest you to make few rounds to lfs or member house to check on their equipments and advices. Before you dump all your money in.

I can tell you that, this hobby is not a cheap hobby. Easily cost you few hundred to few thousand ringgit.

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Hi Dom,

glad to hear from you.

I think it's best for me to start with some 'easy' plants. I've got some Java Moss & Java Fern for now. Will add more, once I get my lighting & Co2 sorted out.

I know that you and quite a few others use DIY PLL lighting. I already have a commercial lights that hold 2X18W China made FL. Woudn't it be cheaper for me to follow Ari's advice to "get one Hagen 20w powerglow, two hagen 20w lifeglow, one nec or hitachi normal aquarium light(pink)"?

If I do this then I can just plug and play (hehe...). Do the specialist lights make any difference as compared to the PLL?

regards
Chris

about the watt per gallon rule....stuff it! dont lose any sleep over this, im sure the dude who wrote that rule did it on presumption....without considering the height and width of individual tanks. 80W would be enough to give you plenty of opiton on what plant to have in a normal 1.5feet height tank. dont worry about the watts , just pay attention to the colour spectrum and thats the key to the whole lot.
PLL tubes is not something you should mess around without the proper knowledge ,they bring more trouble than its worth. to start off your tank height should be at least 24inches and they must be place 12 inches above water level for a good result. i only use them for high light demanding plants.
its best you try the normal flo tubes first, move on to PLL once you have more experience.

about your fans...remember this...your plants are farm cultivated from asia. they are used to high tempt. fans are noisy and they doesnt really help much, this is one equipment i would skip..your plants wont die without them. if you had started off with plants in emerge form , then they will get used to your higher water tempt once they transformed to submerge.

dont waste your money on co2 tank and regulators....you dont really know yet how far you will progress at this stage, once you are sure you want to stay in this hobby..only then you decide on the co2 tank and regulators.
at the mean time a yeast diy type should work fine.

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Yes...co2 tanks and regulators are expensive. even if you got them from the fire distinguisher shop, with regular regulator as Dom recomended it would come to rm200, and with a magnectic control valve(solenoid) it would come to rm420. now tell me folks it this or is this not expensive? forget to mention the tubings, the reactor, the bubble counter.
now wouldnt a rm10 diy co2 be a more sensible choice?
Solenoid valve are actually cheap at rm15 each at the air condition spare part shop, with the male and female valve check in place , the whole thing cost less than rm30...and if you have the knowhow on how they works, you wouldnt be spending rm240-280 on one . they are easy to diy...if you have the know how.

of course fish shops are selling co2 tanks and regulators at a higher price, they are not churches and they got billings to pay, but they are not selling at gunpoint and they would not kill anyone for making comments.
im not here to sell anything apart from being a regular member...infact i would prefer that members would buy else where, why on earth am i preaching DIY, wouldnt it be better if i were to say ...Come to my shop and i sell you this or that equipment instead of telling how to save money and DIY?

there are members here who knows a bit and doesnt know a bit but assume he knows it all, im sure he is pleased that he could save alots of money for getting a co2 tank from the fire distinguisher shop to the extend to critise FS for selling them at a higher price...but now that he knows a solenoid could be had for rm30, i was wondering how he is feeling for paying rm240 -280 for one....critise the shop that sold him that solenoid?..well, only one has the know how on DIY.

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Different ppl what their different way of work, idea and concept. There its nothing wrong or right, as long as you are happy with it.

Well, compare to other ppl tank, my planted tank could be normal and nothing special, but I m happy with it. Low maintenance, and everytime come back from work, I will sit down for few minute to enjoy it.

Sometime its also about the satisfaction of it. To me, its like creating a small underworld; plants, fish, shrimp and snail.

IMO, 10 cent opinion, for started, try something simple and nice. Its always a good journey to learn from the beginning rather then goto the high tech one. Once you get hang to up, then u might want to think to spend more into this hobbies.

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Regards,
Flashout
snail.flashout.net

yup...thats the point...aim small miss small. i have seen people who spends tons of money on a planted tank without knowing why they spend it. with diy you will know how things works, from there you would understand what equipments are essential and what are gimmicks.
HIGH tech equipments doesnt always guarantee a sucessfull tank...it depends on you, with the proper basics alot could be achieve.
the reason why im determine to promote diy is ..im tired of people telling me how good their high tech equipments and ADA product are.
planting can be done without all these expensive product...ie start from the basic...but then many would rather have instant sucess...so they invest on this and that expensive stuff...yes...they might have a nice looking tank intially..and six months later that expensive investment turns ugly...why?
.....the basics are missing.

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Everyone Has a Photographic Memory..........some just dont have film!