90 gallon newbie

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tksx001

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Apr 27, 2008
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hey all i have a 90 gallon with some java moss tied down to a piece of driftwood and 1 water sprite in a playsand substrate with some pebbles
my stock is

11 cardinals
6 zebra danios
1 rainbow shark
2 madagascar rainbows
1 betta
1 phantom tetra (hes been alive for 8 years!!)

i have a fluval 205 on it ,( im getting another filter soon)

my lighting is 2x40watt t12 6500k fluroescents

is that enough light for java moss and 1 water sprite?

also in the future i want to add more plants... what will i need?
3 times wpg?? i want to have a nice low tech planted tank
 

FreshyFresh

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Jan 11, 2013
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tks, welcome!

I'm assuming your 90g is the standard 48"x18", 75/90/110g footprint. That's a tall tank, so very little PAR is going to make it to the bottom from ~80w worth of T12. Floating water sprite should be OK though.
 

Byron Amazonas

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Jul 22, 2013
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You light fixture is probably OK, as those that take T12 will take the newer T8 tubes, and these are better. They produce more light for less energy (will be 32 watts instead of 40). I use this light over my three larger tanks, a 70g, 90g and 115g which is 5 feet in length. Tubes from the home improvement store will work fine; I happen to like a mix of one 6500K and one 5000K. At the moment I am using the Phillips Daylight 5000K and the Sylvania 6500K, but Phillips also make one called Daylight Deluxe 6500K.

Some additional plant species that will thrive in this include the common Amazon sword, the pygmy chain sword or the chain sword, many crypts (though these can be fussy), Anubias and Java Fern (both of these attach to wood or rock). I personally would float the Water Sprite if it is the species Ceratopteris cornuta, but if it is C. thalictroides it usually does better planted. The new tubes should help with this, as it is a fast growing plant and thus needs good light. One stem ploant that will do well in moderate lighting is Pennywort, and this also grows nicely if left floating.

Are you using any fertilizer? A complete liquid will probably be sufficient. Substrate tabs for the larger swords if you get them are good, but otherwise the liquid is it. Do you know the GH of your tap water? The "hard" minerals occur primartily from this, so worth knowing.

To illustrate, here are photos of my 70g, 90g and 115g using the suggested lighting, ferts and several of the plant species.

Byron.

70g June 30-14.JPG 90g Oct 17-13.JPG 115g Oct 17-13.JPG
 

FreshyFresh

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Interesting. I've never seen a T12 fixture able to light-off a T8 lamp and I've tried a bunch in the 48" size in my home.
 

Byron Amazonas

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Interesting. I've never seen a T12 fixture able to light-off a T8 lamp and I've tried a bunch in the 48" size in my home.
I'm not an electrician, but I have heard that some will and some won't. My original fixtures were all bought in the early 1990's when T12 tubes were used. As I began using T8 later, they worked fine in all but one fixture. This one does work, but it takes longer to initially light the tube. I believe it has to do with the starter, which today are electronic.

If the OP experiences problems, it is simple and inexpensive to replace the workings with a shop light. I recently did this to repair my 5-foot fixture which takes two 48-inch tubes, and the ballasts went. For less than $30 I fitted a dual-tube T8 shop light from Home Depot into the old housing and it is like new.

Byron.
 

wesleydnunder

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Dec 11, 2005
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I'm not an electrician, but I have heard that some will and some won't. My original fixtures were all bought in the early 1990's when T12 tubes were used. As I began using T8 later, they worked fine in all but one fixture. This one does work, but it takes longer to initially light the tube. I believe it has to do with the starter, which today are electronic.

If the OP experiences problems, it is simple and inexpensive to replace the workings with a shop light. I recently did this to repair my 5-foot fixture which takes two 48-inch tubes, and the ballasts went. For less than $30 I fitted a dual-tube T8 shop light from Home Depot into the old housing and it is like new.

Byron.
T 12 were designed to work from a magnetic ballast. T 8 were made to work on an electronic ballast. Most T 8 lamps won't light on a magnetic ballast. The pins are the same so they'll fit in the same tombstones but one ballast is an autotransformer, the other is, I believe, a wave shaper.

A T 12 ballast can be replaced with a T 8 ballast with just a couple wiring modifications...needs to be done by a professional electrician, IMO.

Mark
 
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