plantshrink

Hi everyone,

I have been lurking here and some other forums (discus) as I plan my 200 gallon open top starphire dream tank. I have done other smaller planted tanks, reefs and africans for the past 15 years or so. This tank and stand were custom built. I used a local aquarium outfitter/maintenence guy to help plan. He knows his stuff, but now looking back there are some things things I would have done differently (e.g. more storage space under the stand). I will attach pics soon. My plan is to have huge amazon swords, dwarf sag and driftwood and 6 to 8 discus peacefully co-existing in an algae free tank. I am going to use aquasoil for a substrate and CO2. Lighting is 3 150 Watt MH.
My filtration will be an Eheim Pro 3 accompanied with a powerhead or 2 for circulation. I could add another Pro 3. How does this plan sound so far?


Andy

orlando

I would go with 2 filters for less maintenance factor and safety reasons.
If one filter fails you have #2. When you clean one filter the other is still going. Redundancy is good. Oh and Welcome!

David Hui

I would go lower with light if all you want to do is low light plants.

goalcreas

Some will argue you should go for that much light, but for the plants you are talking about, they are not that light demanding. Unless you already have them, cut at least one out or go with T5 HO

What dims are the tank also, that will help us suggest better light options if you are open to them.

And really, you could almost grow those in a well lit room

Also if you are only going with low tech plants, you won't need to dose much and won't need that high of Co2 levels, and since you are going with discus, on that sized tank, you may consider doing something like this for water change ease.
If you are going with soft water, you could plumb inline some sort of RO storage tank to refill with.

http://www.aquascapingworld.com/foru...-aquarium.html

wiste

I agree with the recommendation of using two filters. One on each side of the tank for better flow. Powerheads can be used with a planted tank but this is just more equipment in the tank which will have to be periodically serviced. An external pump for more circulation is also another option.
The amount of light required for the tank depends significantly on the depth of the aquarium.

plantshrink

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses -- very helpful. First off the dimensions of the tank are 72" by 28" high by 24" deep. Open top. The depth was the reason for the mh lighting. Is Co2 needed? 2 filters seems to be the verdict. I am in an apartment so I did not want to do much fancy plumbing with ro and what not. Thanks again.

Andy

AaronT

All very good responese so far. I agree that two filters would be better and even then you might still want a powerhead or two for extra flow.

You can use the MH lighting, but consider only using it for about 2-3 hours in the middle of the day and having T5s of a much lower total wattage for viewing the rest of the photoperiod. 2-3 hours of intense light is all you will need to grow the plants you want to grow.

goalcreas

Do you already have the MH lighting?
You can use it in the manner that Aaron said, but if you have not gotten it yet, the T5 HO with good reflectors will grow what you want at that depth.
You would probably want to get two TEK 36" x 6 lamp fixtures.
Not cheap, about $400 each, but 3 MH with T5's as stated above will not be cheap either.
But with this project, you don't sound like you are worried too much about $$ as long as it is within reason.

Here is the Tek, I think we can point you to a way to get it WITH the bulbs for about the price offered here or about $400 each shipped. This is just to show you what I am talking about.
http://www.aquacave.com/tek-light-t-...upply-690.html


Or there is this one fixture of 72". I have never used this brand but have heard very good things.
http://www.aquacave.com/72-constella...nics-1584.html

David Hui

Have you seen the pro3 filters and do you plan to keep it inside the stand? Two filters are better than one but two Pro3 is a lot.

plantshrink

Dave- thanks. I have two pro III right now in the box. They are huge and you have two outlets. I am going to go for 1 right now and see how it goes.