[rgascon]

Well I had aquariums for a long time now, mostly saltwater reef tanks, but now making the change to freshwater.

I have a few questions for anyone that would like to help on this transition.

1) I have 4 VHO lights (440w) from my previous set up along with 250W MH light. Will the 4 VHO be ok or is to much for freshwater?
2) How much flow. I have a 950 gph pump in my sump which I was going to use as a return to the main tank and possibly t-off to a UV filter. Will this be enough flow in the tank?
3) Filtration - I was planning on putting shelves in my sump for filter pads and carbon. Will this be sufficient.. sort of a wet/dry filter.
4) Substrate - I like the look of the Flourite Black Sand. Will this be heavy enough to plant in?

Thanks for any help and I am sure there will be many more questions to come.

-Ryan

 

[BJRuttenberg]

This is just from my personal experience, so others may slightly differ on opinion or disagree entirely. Let it be said that I have never kept a tank as large as 90 gallons but I dont believe there is too much of a difference once you get past 30gal.

Lighting: For planted tanks, the amount of light needed correlates with a number of other factors like the kinds of plants you want to grow, whether you inject co2 into your water, the amount injected and the amount of fertilizer you add to the water column if any.

Its a tough question but standard rules state 4wpg = very high light, so 440w of vho should be more than enough to grown ANYTHING.

Flow: In my experience, the only place where flow comes into play is 1) making sure nutrients are spread through the water column where plants can get them and 2) assisting in limitation of algae growth.

You dont want a stagnant tank but you dont want a stream of water which is going to uproot you plants. Simple.

Filtration: If it filtered your old tank well, it should filter your new tank just fine. Just make sure you've got the mechanical and biological covered - due to the added nutrients, I am not aware of many who use chemical filtration except during initial setup and cycling.

Substrate: I have never used black Flourite but I have used the regular red Flourite, Eco-Complete and Aquasoil. To answer your queston, I believe flourite black only differs in color from regular flourite and will therefore be heavy enough to plant in.

Personally, I would not recommend Flourite. It performed the least well of the substrates I have used. My recomendation would be to go with Eco or Aquasoil. Eco was a great beginner substrate because it is ph neural and contains established bacteria. All three (Flourite, Eco, Aquasoil) cost about the same when measured by volume.

Aquasoil is also a favorite of mine but for different reasons which I will not detail. Needless to say if you decide to use Aquasoil, do some research on it.

 

[rgascon]

Thanks for the information on everything. I believe I may be doing the Eco for substrate as the LFS has this available... as most people recomend this over flourite.

On the UV, should this be something I should invest in?

Also, what is that wood I see everyone using. I found the name once and now I cant remember what it was. I believe it is Man...something.

 

[rgascon]

also... how much eco should I get. I would like about 2" in front to about 3" in back. Any ideas? I was thinking start with 4 or 5 and see what that looks like.

 

[rgascon]

Well I found the wood and just placed my order to Manzanita.com. They said it should be in in about 4 days so I will have to see what it looks like. Hope it is enough for the 90. If not might have to supplement with some driftwood from the Miss. River.

 

[BJRuttenberg]

The wood is Manzanita as you have read - great stuff - Manzanita Burlworks are is great, they were very helpful

I wouldn't bring any wood from outside rivers like the Mississippi just because it may carry parasites, pollutants, disease etc.

I wouldn't worry about a UV just now - if you run into issues with green water look into it, but for now not a necessary investment.

Number of bags I could not tell you, depends on the dimensions of your tank. I would ask your LFS (local fish store) sales person. Additionally, I think it is always better if you have more than less...

 

[rgascon]

Yea I agree about the wood from the river.

I am trying to get everything together for the tank and installed before it is up and running. That is why I am asking about the UV. I guess it cant hurt to have one.

The dimensions of the tank are 48x18x24. I think it is 24" high