55 Gallon Help

[water_wako]

Last year I tried to keep a planted aquarium (55 gallons that measures 48"X12"X20") with the guidance of my Local Fish Shop. I had a miserable time. I wasn't told what I needed and not given proper advice. So I took down my aquarium. BUT I really want to get back into planted aquariums. I was thinking of having:


the 5 gallon bucket of AquariumPlants.com's own: Freshwater Planted Aquarium Substrate
DIY yeast CO2 generator with the Aqua Medic Aqualine CO2 reactor

I was bit unsure for what filter I should go for though. I was thinking of a canister because I heard that the power filter aren't that good for planted aquariums. Is this right? I was also think of going with a Aqualight power compact lighting ( 2X65W) or a Nova Extreme T-5 fixture (2X54W), but I didn't want a glass canopy because the light would penetrate in the water better. Is this enough light for most plants? Is one better than the other? One last question: what fertilizers should I use? I am most confused about fertilizers.

Thank you for the time and consideration.

[J double R]

power filters (otherwise referred to as HOB, or Hang On Back filters) are just fine for a planted tank, as long as youre not running co2. then, it becomes an issue, as the surface agitation will cause large amounts of the co2 to gas off into the atmosphere, before the plants can use it.

canisters are good in this regard because you can put the discharge in the water column, without creating excessive surface agitation. :)

[gmh]

I believe the Aqualight comes with a marine 50/50 bulb. Not good for planted freshwater aquarium unless you can order it with plant bulb instead. The Nova Extreme is good, gives you a couple watts per gallon. Could probably grow most medium light plants with the CO2 and should work OK for low tech planting as well.

[Riiz]

With the lighting options pick which ever is cheapest, they both get the job done, but with the aqualight and the nova, make sure its the freshwater version with 6700k or 10000k bulbs.

But with that size tank, its gonna take a couple DIY 2liter generator to be effective in that volume, but it can work, with a bit of effort and time. But if you stick with it, you'll probably want to go the pressurized route.

Canisters are ideal, because they can be used as CO2 reactor/diffuser and dont disturb the water's surface that badly, but if you do with a HOB, aquaclear's are a popular favorite since they do allow flow adjustments and can even be modified for even slower flow.