20 gal extra high planting

muddskipper26

muddskipper26

Mudskipper Man
Jan 28, 2007
371
0
0
34
michigan
I got a 20 gal extra high for christmas this are the specs right now
Light-96 watt Coralife C.F fixture
Substrate- eco complete, 20 pounds
Co2- Turbo co2 bio system, Excel
Ferts- The whole flourish line
Filter- Rena filstar xp1
Heater- 100 w

The tanks is two tens put together vertically, so its very tall, two feet and then the normal ten gallon base. Will 96 watts reach the bottom, and will this give me high light plant options.
I will be ordering online so i need a good site for doing so. Also, what are some plants that would go well with the height of the tank. Also, they eco complete is really dusty, is this normal? There is a small film of dust on the whole top portion of the substrate.

Thanks
 
dust - I've never seen it before. Did you drain out the water before you put the eco complete in? Also With 96watt CF its ALOT!!!!! plants should grow like crazy! You may want to go with a dimmer fixture though. its a really wide fixture that is going to interfere with your opening the hood. Plus you will probably get Algae. Maybe a different coralife fixture or a current fixture that is a 20in you probably will have to change the bulb when you get it.
 
That wattage is very high, even for a tall tank. I would go lower on the wattage. Since you don't have a lot of horizontal space and lots of vertical space, some stem plants would be nice. I think one plant that would get a little bigger and grow tall too and should be easy enough is Wisteria.

http://plantgeek.net/plantguide.php
 
Looks like a good set-up.Put all the plants in from the start with stem plants at both ends and you may not see hardly any algae.Dust should finds its way to the bottom.
 
Update:

Just ordered from aquabotanic.com and got a bunch of plants:
Blyxa japonica 4
Ludwigia glandulosa 3
Cryptocoryne balansae LARGE 3
Ludwigia ovalis 2
Mermaid weed 2
Needle leaf Java fern and moss on wood 1
Amazon sword

Sound good? Probably too much but i have some room in my 40 gallon. About having too much light, i guess i will just see what happens when i put the plants in, if there is an algae problem i will figure something out but right now i will just leave it. I will post pics once the plants come in and I find the camera. As for the fish, do you guys have any suggestions that would go well with my plants?

The dust is still there? What should I do?
 
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ecocomplete has sediment in it, it's nothing to worry about, it will settle under the gravel. some stirring from time to time may help. you shouldn't rinse ecocomplete, and I believe it's intended that you use the liquid it comes with

the setup sounds a little dangerous to me, all that tall weight... how thick is the glass on that 10 gallon? my 10 has thinner glass than my 15, and it bows almost a quarter inch in the center... have you considered bracing and keeping it from tipping? also, how are you going to get your arms in there to work on the plants?

if I had a tank that shape, I'd probably do a big portion of twisted vals, and some driftood vertically... and that's it... like a section cut out of a shore.
 
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