[Bounty]

Hi I just joined this great forum, Im slowly gathering information about establishing a new aquarium. I use to have a 3ft setup a few years back and Ive decided to get back into fish keeping and moreso into aquatic plants as I never was sucessful in haing many plants that lasted very long. I have read a few articles on substrates and fertilizers etc wich have been a good start for me to learn a few things. Basically Im seting up a 5x2x2 tank aprox 560L 150G, (Im from australia so im used to metric terms) Im not sure if there is any other members on here from australia itd be a great help if there was to give me some more information where I can get good equipment and suplies.
Im really after some more information on filtration and reef filters different types of media that will be suitable for my setup and a good starting substrate mixture. Any help would be apreciated and hope to learn more and
have a healthy well planted aquarium in the future to show.

Anthony

 

[MiamiAG]

Hi Anthony,

Welcome to APC!

It's great that you've decided to set up a natural aquarium with live plants. Please take the time to go through out articles section to learn about some of the basics. Also, run searches to learn the our members' experiences. Lastly, post plenty of questions.

For a basic substrate, you can either try the easy, commercially available ones like Flourite, Eco-Complete, or Florabase. As for filtration, most people use a good canister filter such as the ones by Eheim or Fluval.

Lighting will also be important. I would recommend flourescent, daylight tubes to you. Shoot for about 3 watts per gallon (err...per 3.77 liters).

I'm not sure how many Aussies we have here. Perhaps they will chime in.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how it goes.

 

[United21Soccer]

www.DiscusForums.com has many ppl. from australia that could possibly help you.

Thats about the only Australia based site i can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Bounty]

Thanks for the response and the warm welcome, Ill definatley do some searching and reading, Im thinking of getting a reef filter, not sure if thats what they are known world wide, or a overflow setup. I used to have a ehiem canister filter on my previous setup worked wonders. Itl be still a while before I get all my goodies and start to setup. I just want to get some info and start it all out right and not miss anything important, Im planing to head to some local aquarium shops to talk to some people on what would be best setup for me. Also Ive been seeing that you can build your own Co2 injection, I was thinking of getting a fully automated setup can anyone recomend a brand, I only know of eheim making them. Thanks

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

Doing as much reading and research online as you can before you get started is great! There is tons of information available on planted tanks. And of course you can always ask any questions you have here.


By fully automated, do you mean having a ph controller to run your co2 tank?

 

[Bounty]

Yeah I want it to controll the Ph.

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

I think Milwaukee makes one also