# New guy on block with questions



## ElectricHead (Sep 11, 2005)

New guy here from Miamisburg. I am switching over from a reef tank to freshwater planted aquarium and have a few questions about light and CO2.
Tank is a 58 gal. Oceanic. Have T5 lights (ATI SunPro lamps). Will three tubes be enough or would four tubes be better? I can do either by re-wiring my ice cap ballast. Also where do most of you get your CO2 tanks filled at in Dayton?


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

Welcome to the forum. I am also in Miamisburg and there are a cpl others that are not far away. I hope you find the site as helpful as I have. Feel free to drop me a line. I'm always willing to help out.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Since you can rewire your ballast, why not start with 3 lamps. I would think that would be plenty. You can always add another one later if needed.

Out of curiosity, what Kelvin temp are your lamps? You've probably done the reading already but the Actinics used on reefs aren't much good on a planted tank. 

I get my CO2 from Weiler Welding on Main Street in Moraine. It is a very short distance from 741 (Springboro Pike).


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

White Zombie...rock on! I should bust out that CD. It's been many many years since I listened to them.

Welcome to the forum!

If you're not busy this Saturday, we're having a meeting at Matt's house. Maybe you could stop by and talk about the conversion?


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## ElectricHead (Sep 11, 2005)

Thanks for welcome.
Lights are 6000K full spectrum. I did have four tubes,three full spectrum,one actinic. These T5 have not been in use very long only have about a month on them when they were on reef tank. Before that I had four URI VHO's. I thought three would be fine for now and I just happend to have three.....


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

You are more than welcome to attend the meeting! Tom Barr is going to be at the meeting also. He does some salt water stuff too so he may have some suggestions for you also. I'm not sure if any other members have done the salt thing but maybe someone will post about it...

If you need directions or info about the meeting, give me a PM!

Don't forget about the rest of this site either!!! There is a lot of good info out there for you...


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## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

On both of my 75 gallon planted tanks I have 2 x 54W 6500K T5 bulbs and get great results. Here is a pic from 2 months ago.










Boy does it look different now! The Amazon Sword on the right has bushed out half way across the tank and the Java Moss clump is bigger than a basketball. I'll try to take a new pic soon.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Here's a thread that may be of help to you also: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=9505


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

So Robert, how is the tank coming along? 

Keep us updated as to the progress and post some pics once you get it set up. With the exception of Erik, none of us are very good at aquascaping so we won't critique the layout very hard


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

Is there an "Aquascaping for Dummies" out there? I need a book like that.


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

Simpte 27 said:


> Is there an "Aquascaping for Dummies" out there? I need a book like that.


I second that.


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

Like any other art form, there's some basic principles and techniques to go by, but the rest is up to the individual. It's something that's can't really be taught but you can get better through experience, trial and error, emulation, etc.


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## EcleckticGirl (Jul 26, 2005)

Simpte 27 said:


> Is there an "Aquascaping for Dummies" out there? I need a book like that.


Not a book, but a great bunch of info pooled at the Aquascaping forums here:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=1330

I would recommend starting with the *3 basic layouts* article and don't worry too much about the Golden Mean article. There are good tips with the rocks and moss and driftwoods.


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## ElectricHead (Sep 11, 2005)

Going slow. Ordered an XP3 filter and inline heater that should be here Monday. My lights are done but all I had to do to them is change over to three tubes instead of the four I had. I have designed and manufactured a "Remote Cooling System" to force air into my hood to keep T5's cool. Really just a 4" DC muffin fan,box,funnel, and spa tube with a few PVC fittings. I made this RCS to keep noise down to a minimum. Fan unit goes in base cabinet that has been lined with 1/2" blue styrofoam. This worked well on my reef setup so I will stick to it. I still need to get my Co2 equipment. Going to get a "Top Gun" regulator from AquariumPlants .com with a Milwaukee SMS122 controller. Yes,Matt,Tygon tubing R - 3603 seems to be the tubing to use. I just happen to have a US Plastics catalog myself I have made myself a Co2 inline reactor also. Ferts seem understandable. I am going to use EI method. My problem areas are "what substrate to use". Confusing. Eco,ADA,kitty litter....and so on. I like the black color. I have joined the Bar Report and have read about Tom working on some "poor mans ADA" so that is another to add to list. What to do...... As far as aquascaping,I can build stuff but I aint' got no talent when it comes to designing aquascapes[-( I try to enlist my wifes help but she thinks a plastic ship hull she seen at Jack's would look "cool"#-o I just got to figure it out on my own. I may be slow but when I have everything together it will be the cats ass, at least I hope so.....


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

ElectricHead said:


> Going slow. Ordered an XP3 filter and inline heater that should be here Monday. My lights are done but all I had to do to them is change over to three tubes instead of the four I had. I have designed and manufactured a "Remote Cooling System" to force air into my hood to keep T5's cool. Really just a 4" DC muffin fan,box,funnel, and spa tube with a few PVC fittings. I made this RCS to keep noise down to a minimum. Fan unit goes in base cabinet that has been lined with 1/2" blue styrofoam. This worked well on my reef setup so I will stick to it. I still need to get my Co2 equipment. Going to get a "Top Gun" regulator from AquariumPlants .com with a Milwaukee SMS122 controller. Yes,Matt,Tygon tubing R - 3603 seems to be the tubing to use. I just happen to have a US Plastics catalog myself I have made myself a Co2 inline reactor also. Ferts seem understandable. I am going to use EI method. My problem areas are "what substrate to use". Confusing. Eco,ADA,kitty litter....and so on. I like the black color. I have joined the Bar Report and have read about Tom working on some "poor mans ADA" so that is another to add to list. What to do...... As far as aquascaping,I can build stuff but I aint' got no talent when it comes to designing aquascapes[-( I try to enlist my wifes help but she thinks a plastic ship hull she seen at Jack's would look "cool"#-o I just got to figure it out on my own. I may be slow but when I have everything together it will be the cats ass, at least I hope so.....


Sounds like you are pretty much set with the tank. I would be interested in seeing how the cooling system is designed. Maybe you can post some pics one of these days.

Coming from a reef background, you shouldn't have much problem with fertilizing. I can help you with that, but not with the aquascaping. I have fumbled along for two years now and still can't come up with something I really like. It keeps getting better but I'm not sure I will ever get it right.

As far as substrate, we are looking into using Turface grey and some black sand. Rob and some of the others may not have you in their e-mail list quite yet so you may not have gotten the e-mails we frantically sent today! I will forward them to you. You can do a search on this site for Turface. I can also send you a few links to some turface posts if you are interested.

Make sure you psot some pics once you get everything set up!


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