# [Wet Thumb Forum]-setting up a 40 gal



## 74ray (Jul 19, 2003)

I'm new into this and I was wondering what I need to get started with a planted tank. I have a 40 gal with dimensions 36*18*14. How much lighting do I need, what filtration, etc. is good for this size tank and where are good places to get it from. Thanks.


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## 74ray (Jul 19, 2003)

I'm new into this and I was wondering what I need to get started with a planted tank. I have a 40 gal with dimensions 36*18*14. How much lighting do I need, what filtration, etc. is good for this size tank and where are good places to get it from. Thanks.


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## Jon Mulzer (Mar 9, 2003)

My recommendations would be:

Lighting - 96 watts of PC light. Since you are just getting started it would give you about 2.5 watts per gallon which is a good place to start. Robert carries a JBJ light that is 192 watts. Perhaps get it and leave one bulb off? I don't know if I have ever seen a single 96 watt fixture.....

Filtration - A Rena Xp-2 or XP-3. You are kind of in between sizes here on what the people here on the forum would recommend. I would think the XP-2 would be plenty.

Substrate - Don't skimp. Flourite or Onyx Sand. I prefer the Onyx Sand. Good stuff. All of my plants root in it really well and it is pretty easy to plant delicate stem plants.

CO2 - A good pressurized system. Robert sells some excellent regulators and such. A pH controller is unecessary in most people's opinions. But if you like toys and gadgets and stuff to adjust, go for it.









As for where to get it, it pays to shop around. What Robert carries his prices can't be beat from what I have seen. Everything else you can order from some of the various mail order places. Most of your LFS's mark their items up 300%. I would suggest.....

www.bigalsonline.com

www.petsolutions.com

www.thatfishplace.com

www.drsfostersmith.com

Look around and see who has the best prices for what you want. Big Al's will for most everything though. I imagine that has something to do with the favorable exchange rates between the US and Canada.

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15XH, 36W PC, XP-1, Onyx Sand, DIY CO2

Crypts spiralis, ciliata and wendtii bronze and red, pennywort, wisteria and java fern and moss.


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

PC lighting stands for power compact lighting. i'm assuming you're new and may not know all the abbreviations yet. if you want to make your own top, head over to www.ahsupply.com if you want to buy a premade top, go to aquabotanic and see the JBJ lights that robert sells. you'll have to see what fits over your tank, but aim for roughly 2-3 watts per gallon.

i second the substrate recommendation, onyx sand is good, so is flourite. if it's too expensive for you, ask around for suitable alternatives

CO2... yes you'll want to add CO2 sometime to the tank, and DIY sugar yeast systems aren't the best on a 40 gallon... you should start aiming for a pressurized... you can dose flourish excel instead for a little while if you want to get the tank set up but add the CO2 later.

FERTILIZERS understand that keeping a plant tank requires regular fertilization. you can dose things like seachem's flourish LINE (not just flourish) or find specific base chemicals that also work. either way, don't overlook this.

canister filter... XP2 should be fine for you... XP3 might be a wee bit overkill... but overkill isn't bad







you might want the XP3 if you add CO2 later just because of the faster water flow, it would probably work better with a reactor

i'm sorry we just whipped out a bunch of terms that you may not be familiar with. if you have questions, please ask. better to ask than to buy the wrong stuff, right? ;-)

JP

other than ahsupply.com the previous list is full of good places, that should cover most of what you need.


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## Jon Mulzer (Mar 9, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by jpmtotoro:
> if you have questions, please ask. better to ask than to buy the wrong stuff, right? ;-)


I will definitely second that. Feel free to ask before you buy anything whatsoever. I wish I had, I could have saved a BUNCH of money by not having to buy the "right" stuff later on. Better to just buy what you need the first time.

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15XH, 36W PC, XP-1, Onyx Sand, DIY CO2

Crypts spiralis, ciliata and wendtii bronze and red, pennywort, wisteria and java fern and moss.


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## 74ray (Jul 19, 2003)

What about the Eheim 2026 model, would that be good? I was also looking at a light at bigalsonline that is 110 watts, 2 55 watt bulbs and says it the 9325 lighting. What is the difference between this light and the 6500K?


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## Jon Mulzer (Mar 9, 2003)

The 2026 may be a bit overkill, but overkill can be a good thing. Eheims are good filters, everyone who uses them loves them.

The problem with the 2x55w light would be its length. 55 watt lights are roughly 2 foot long, while your tank is *I believe* 3 foot long. So you would have 6 inches over each end without direct lighting. That in itself isn't a real problem, you just have to keep that in mind when you decide what to plant on the ends. In my humble opinion it is best to choose a light that closely matches the dimensions of your tank so you don't have to worry about such things.

As for 9325K vs. 6500K, this is how the lights appear to your eyes. It has little relevance to how well the light will grow plants. (as 2la will point out, lol) Pick whichever. I have 6700K lighting and I like the color. Others have 9325K and prefer that to anything else. But I believe the 9325's are only available in 55w bulbs. I could be wrong about that.

There isn't one set road to success. There are many paths you could take. And for every rule there is an exception or someone who has done it differently.

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15XH, 36W PC, XP-1, Onyx Sand, DIY CO2

Crypts spiralis, ciliata and wendtii bronze and red, pennywort, wisteria and java fern and moss.


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## 74ray (Jul 19, 2003)

the light fixture itself is 3' long, there is a bulb on each side of the fixture so I assume that would be okay since there would be a 55W light on each side of the tank. I was looking at fertilizers and have no idea what I need to begin with. Any suggestions on specific fertilizers would be appreciated.


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## Crocodylus (Jul 2, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by 74ray:
> the light fixture itself is 3' long, there is a bulb on each side of the fixture so I assume that would be okay since there would be a 55W light on each side of the tank. I was looking at fertilizers and have no idea what I need to begin with. Any suggestions on specific fertilizers would be appreciated.


By that reply i am led to believe that the hood has incandescent bulbs, if thats the case look into any of the retrofit compact fluorescent kits available


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## Jon Mulzer (Mar 9, 2003)

No, it is a type of compact fluorescent fixture that has two 2 foot bulbs overlapped in the middle. It may be a little brighter in the middle of the tank. It is not incandescent.

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15XH, 36W PC, XP-1, Onyx Sand, DIY CO2

Crypts spiralis, ciliata and wendtii bronze and red, pennywort, wisteria and java fern and moss.


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## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

The fixture is a All-Glass fixture. It comes with two 55 watt PC lights. One mounted at each end with a lot of overlap in the middle. They are good lights.

As far as fertilizers. Do you want something you can just go to the store and buy or do you want to save money and go with bulk chemicals?

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## 74ray (Jul 19, 2003)

well, I probably want to just go with fertilizer that I could just buy, there is already a lot of things to deal with since I haven't dealt with planted tanks at all. My other tank is just sand with FW stingrays in it so I can't do much with that, and I wanted to start out with a smaller tank anyways to learn with.

BTW- It is the all-glass fixture that I'm looking into.


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## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

Pick up the Seachem Flourish line. You will need Flourish, and Flourish Iron. You might need the Nitrogen and Phosphate products also. And if you are rich you can get the Potassium. But dosing the potassium is going to get expensive as your first dose is going to require 80 ml to get to the recommended 20 ppm.

Moderator










American by birth, Marine by the grace of God! This post spell checked with IESpell available at http://www.iespell.com

See my Profile for tank details.


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