# New 135g Setup Advice



## Green_Horn (Mar 1, 2006)

ok, i have spent the last 7 days reading almost every thread in these forums and I have come across some very helpful information for starting a planted aquarium. I would like to run my decisions by all of you for a "double check" to ensure that I'm headed in the right direction and to avoid leaving anything out. I am planning on an "easy" to "moderate" selection of plants, with just a few fish (tetras, rainbows, etc.). This is my first attempt at a planted aquarium, so I don't want to try discus or very difficult plants. So here is the equipment I would like to use so far:

135g Oceanic (72x18x24)
8 bags of 20lb Eco-Complete
Eheim 2128
Odyssea 72" 384w 6500K w/ mounting legs

There are two more issues I still need to resolve... 1) in reading other threads it appears that I might *have* to use Co2 if I have too much light - but everyone also states that the good rule of thumb is 2-3 watts per gallon. I need some more direction on this, as I would *rather* not use Co2, but I will if the need arises. 2) powerheads, some folks have said that it might be necessary to create even *more* movement in the tank - and I'm not sure how you use powerheads when you don't have downtubes connected to an undergravel filter?

Any advice will be most appreciated  

Thanks,
Green_Horn


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

1) With 2.84wpg you will need to inject C02 and being a 135G tank it will need to be pressurized. 

2) I would think that you should have enough water flow with the Ehiem 2128.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

A power head is essentially a pump installed inside the tank, usually attached to the glass via suction cup. Basically it sucks in the water from one end and shoots it out the other thereby creating more current and circulation.

As Trena said, with that much light and that size tank, you WILL need pressurized CO2.


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## azfishguy (Jul 1, 2005)

I concur with the previous posts regarding CO2. Addition of CO2 will make your plants grow a whole lot better without a major algae headache if you fertilize accordingly. Because of the size of your tank, you will need quite a bit of CO2 so do a research on some good reactors. 72" makes it a long tank so a powerhead (better yet 2) would distribute CO2 rich water throughout the tank and help to avoid areas of stagnation. You can get powerheads with strainers at the intake end so your fish doesn't get sucked in.


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