Proper Lighting setup

[Bass]

Hi everyone, I recently inherited some 150w metal halide fixtures from the ceiling of my companies old office.

I’ve rigged-up one of them here at home with a spare 120L tank.and some neglected equipment from my pre-Discus days..

So far I’m doing a “wet run” of this setup:

Tank:
39cm/15” deep.
86cm/34” wide.

Light:
New lamp is a HIT 150CW 10,000K.
28cm/11” from water surface.
reflector width: 18cm/7”.

The main question I have:

1. Is the lamp hight right?

But also, 2. What combination of plants to use at first?
3. Substrate heating would be nice, but it’s too expensive. Are there any cheap alternatives?

The substrate will be Laterite/gravel mix for the bottom 1/3. The top is gravel/riverbed sand.
There’s also Co2 injection by a dupla “cascade” and delta magnetic controller. I plan to keep pH at 6.8.

Have also cut up some packing foam to make wall for a terrace at the back, so tall plants have a lot of root space… still not sure if this is bad idea.

For the past couple of years I’ve only been keeping a BB Discus tank, so am VERY rusty on plant setup. I’d like to move a few of my adults into it in about 3 months. Any help would be great!

Thanks,
Chris

[Bass]

ok, never mind. I just found out that the light is wrong anyway. For freshwater it's supposed to be 5,400Kelvin.
Back to drawing board 'till I get a replacement light.

BTW, anyone with a green thumb, is there such as thing as potted dwarf climbing plants that do well climbing downwards? Or would they insist on only growing up in the direction of the light? There's enough light to have thriving plants on the bookshelf behind the tank... I'd be cool to have a climber that runs down the trunk of the mangrove root I'm using, and into the tank.
All my jasmines and such outside only shoot leafless vines when they have to grow downward.

[ChloroPhil]

Bass,

Welcome! To answer your first question, two halide pendants will be better than one on your tank. Best coverage is achieved with one pendant every two feet of tank length.

For your plant question...Anubias nana is the perfect plant for what you want. It'll grow up or down, depending on where you point the "raw" end of the rhizome. Java Fern and Bolbitis Fern are both good substitutes as well.

Do you have a pic of your foam wall, I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with.

Best,
Phil

[Bass]

Hi Phil! Thanks for the info :) I was afraid someone would suggest 2 MH fittings for the tank. I'm really dumb sometimes.. i go and rig everything up and THEN post as to whether I've done it right.
Luckily we pulled a total of 5 complete 150w ballast/reflectors and controllers from the old office, so plenty of spares!

But, you don't think 2 x 150w over 35gal would be too much?.. I think a single works out to be ~4.5w/gal if you follow that very unscientific "5w/gal" rule of thumb that plant keepers like, 2 lamps will bring it up to 8.5w/gal . I'm hoping to center-piece some red leaved plants, so maybe I do need more??

What I'll do is take some snaps on the digi over the next few days, then post them for feedback before I go any further. I'm worried that my setup might cause anaerobic areas in the tank.

[95jeepxj]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/

great place to start for a planted tank

[ChloroPhil]

Yeah, two pendants may be a bit extreme for a 35g. :)

[Bass]

Phil, I have the store ordering a 6.5K to replace the 10. I think it'll work out OK if I position the co2's reactor output in the rear-center of the tank, below the "2x2 area"... That way the high-light intensity plants there should cop the strongest doses of dissolved gas. On the "darksides" I'll probaby put some of those nice tall-stemmed crypts, which don't care about light so much.

Thanks for the forum link, 95... They don't show much mercy over there though! ;) Do you ever visit Aquaria Central forums? Nice people, but a lot are novices http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/

[ari_wh]

Hhmm... welcome back to the 'dark side', Bass..... There is nothing like planted tank, IMO.

Don't forget to post photos, when you are done with it... ;D ;D

Regards, Ari :)