Greetings;
I found this forum quite by accident, but I'm really excited by what I've found. I've been out of the aquaria hobby for a few years, but the philosophy of aquarium management discussed here was just the incentive I needed to jump back in. I've spent the last week devouring the forum, so now I'm almost ready to put my studies into practice.
I've acquired a 30 gallon breeder tank that measures 36 in x 18 in with a 12 in water depth. This broad shallow tank is proportioned very differently from the display tanks I've owned previously, so it should give me a lot of space in which to plant.
It's an all glass tank with a plastic rim. I plan on adding an enclosed Plexiglas extension that will sit inside the top rim of the tank to make room for emergent plants to grow above the water surface under suspended lighting. I have a nice window with a southern exposure picked out to place the tank, so it will get filtered direct sunlight through the tree in the front yard.
Actual set up of the tank will have to wait until I finish remodeling my office, though. I'm converting two small bedrooms into a nice sized office by removing the wall that separates them, so chopping through drywall and the resulting dust would not be good, so I'll have to be patient. This will give me time to order Diana Walstad's book, construct the Plexiglas extension, set up the lighting, and order one of the little nano hydro Koralia water pumps for gentle circulation http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=HD19101&child=HD19501&utm_source=mdcsegooglebase&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=HD19501&utm_content=HydorKoraliaNanoMiniPumpPowerhead240gph&utm_campaign=mdcse&site=google_base, plus all the other assorted goodies I'll be needing.
Since this is such a shallow tank, what would be a good submerged plant selection that wouldn't get too tall, and what emergent plants should I consider? I'm thinking of making the Plexiglas extension about 6 inches tall, but I don't have much experience growing emergent plants, so is that too tall, or not tall enough.
Once I get things going, I'll post some pics, and I'm sure I'll be back with plenty of questions as time goes by.
I found this forum quite by accident, but I'm really excited by what I've found. I've been out of the aquaria hobby for a few years, but the philosophy of aquarium management discussed here was just the incentive I needed to jump back in. I've spent the last week devouring the forum, so now I'm almost ready to put my studies into practice.
I've acquired a 30 gallon breeder tank that measures 36 in x 18 in with a 12 in water depth. This broad shallow tank is proportioned very differently from the display tanks I've owned previously, so it should give me a lot of space in which to plant.
It's an all glass tank with a plastic rim. I plan on adding an enclosed Plexiglas extension that will sit inside the top rim of the tank to make room for emergent plants to grow above the water surface under suspended lighting. I have a nice window with a southern exposure picked out to place the tank, so it will get filtered direct sunlight through the tree in the front yard.
Actual set up of the tank will have to wait until I finish remodeling my office, though. I'm converting two small bedrooms into a nice sized office by removing the wall that separates them, so chopping through drywall and the resulting dust would not be good, so I'll have to be patient. This will give me time to order Diana Walstad's book, construct the Plexiglas extension, set up the lighting, and order one of the little nano hydro Koralia water pumps for gentle circulation http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=HD19101&child=HD19501&utm_source=mdcsegooglebase&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=HD19501&utm_content=HydorKoraliaNanoMiniPumpPowerhead240gph&utm_campaign=mdcse&site=google_base, plus all the other assorted goodies I'll be needing.
Since this is such a shallow tank, what would be a good submerged plant selection that wouldn't get too tall, and what emergent plants should I consider? I'm thinking of making the Plexiglas extension about 6 inches tall, but I don't have much experience growing emergent plants, so is that too tall, or not tall enough.
Once I get things going, I'll post some pics, and I'm sure I'll be back with plenty of questions as time goes by.