Bass
04-26-2003, 04:40 AM
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
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