RE: [AGA Member] Aquarium Planning

["Nathan Freedenberg" <gnatster@comcast.net>]

" Just a personal opinion but I don't buy into the Dupla heating cable
theory. It's never been demonstrated to me that cables produce any
benefit to plants above that provided by a good substrate and proper
nutrients."

I do buy into "warm feet" theory from my own cold feet experiences. My
home has a nice tiled floor. I can crank the heat in the house to 80F
and find that I am still cold when barefoot on the tile. After ripping
up the floor and sub-floor and installing a radiant heating system the
air temp can be significantly lower and I feel comfortable. I realize I
am placing human feeling towards a non-human system but I think I
understand why this may work. 

My fear is the "affordable" system from Aquarium Landscapes is 110v. I
have been shocked by tanks before by malfunctioning power heads and it
is not pretty. The Dupla system is 24v, in the event of a failure the
Dupla system would only knock back to the couch while the 110v system
would send me over the couch. A grounding rod in the tank will be some
help. 

Thanks

Nathan

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-aga-member@thekrib.com [mailto:owner-aga-member@thekrib.com]
On Behalf Of Dennis Sheridan
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004 4:50 PM
To: aga-member@thekrib.com
Subject: Re: [AGA Member] Aquarium Planning

Just a personal opinion but I don't buy into the Dupla heating cable
theory. It's never been demonstrated to me that cables produce any
benefit to plants above that provided by a good substrate and proper
nutrients.

CO2 diffusers are good. A lot of people like the Eheim which
includes a bubble counter. And you can hide a diffuser in the back
rather than have the CO2 fed through a powerhead. You should be able
to easily fit a 10# bottle in the stand. I like the Fabco needle
valve and don't use a solenoid. Unnecessary expense, like the
heating cables, imho.

I would have a few algae/detritus cleaners in the tank just to help
the cycling along. Don't feed them any additional food. Then when
you are ready, add just a few fish at a time to avoid spikes and
unbalances.  I know many people insist that Discus and others
require high temps, but I had Discus breeding just fine at 74
degrees. Several nannostromus sp., otos, etc. all flourished and
bred fine (except the pencil fish, they aren't breeding) without
high temps. That allows me to grow whatever plants I want as well as
even more savings on the electrical bill.  As you can tell, I'm very
big on keeping the electric bill manageable. As always, fwiw, imho,
ymmv, etc.  Good luck with your new tank!

-d

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nathan Freedenberg" <gnatster@comcast.net>

> Howdy,
>
> Just joined this list and I am planning a planted tank. This is my
first
> foray into the realm of planted aquaria. I've read tons, talked to
some
> folks at the lfs that are successful in keeping planted aquaria
and have
> come up with a basic idea and plan. My background is in reef and
African
> aquaria.
>
> The Plan:
> Tank: AGA 210 with overflows. 72x24x30. AGA Stand 28" tall
>
> Lighting: AB 72" AquaSpaceLight 3 w/ 3 6500k 250w MH  and 2 24w
Actinic
> Blue. Hang above open topped tank
>
> Sump: 40 Breeder 36x18x16 Provisions for two tank drains into 100
micron
> filter bag, channel for foam polishing sponge. Sump to include
> Heat 2x200 submersible
> CO2 Diffuser (I'm leaning toward the Aqua Medic Membrane type,
unsure of
> size needed)
> Return Pump: 2x 600gph @ 5' external
> All plumbing connections will have true unions w/ gate valves in
> schedule 40 pvc
>
> Substrate Heating: I'm leaning to the 100w from
aquariumlandscapes.net
> (Pros/Cons?) I've looked at the Dupla setup and it runs over $1000
for
> this size aquarium, that's a budget buster in a big way.
>
> CO2 System: 5 or 10lb bottle, depends what fits standing up in the
> stand. 2 Stage regulator w/solenoid controlled via CO2 controller
from
> aquariumlandscapes.net set on timer not come on when lights are
off. Do
> I need a bubble counter with that kind of setup? Recommended ones
if
> needed? I'm also not 100% on a diffuser, recommendations please.
>
> Substrate: 3"-3.5" in depth.  1" layer CaribSea Amazon, 1" layer
mixed
> 2/3 CaribSea Amazon, 1/3 Laterite , 1" layer CaribSea Amazon to
top off.
> Assorted rocks and driftwood to created a visually pleasing (to
me)
> display.
>
> What am I missing hardware wise besides the incidentals like a
> thermometer, timers etc?
>
> My plan is to cycle the tank with fast growing plants only, no
fish.
> Once cycled some of the fast growers will be removed and I will
> aquascape to a more visually appealing (to me) setup and start
adding
> swimming livestock. Ultimately leading to a nice shoal of discus
and
> other denizens to form an Amazon biotype.
>
> Thoughts, comments, concerns?
>
> Thanks
>
> Nathan

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