Hello! I'm currently in the process of revamping my 30gal into a high tech planted tank. I set up the tank about a year ago with 10 harlequin rasboras, one jerk territorial platinum gourami, and a couple plants. However, with the awful low-watt lighting that the hood could support, I never grew much more than algae. Here is what the tank used to look like before all of the plants died (the fish are still going strong):
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.37 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.37 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170084-fda74a2498a69291c528e89b6d1a4895.jpg)
After about a year of just fish and algae, I've decided to invest the money and try a high tech tank. I wanted to see if any of you have suggestions about common pitfalls, etc that weren't mentioned in the stickied threads.
I purchased cheapo odyssea T5 lights from aquatrader and will have 78W 6500K lights. I also purchased the suggested fertilizers (Plantex CSM+B, KNO3, KH2PO4, and K2SO4) and plan on dosing a few times a week.
I'm looking to try pressurized CO2 for the first time, and it looks like the Aquatek brand is the best reviewed within my price range. Plus, the refillable CO2 tank is a huge plus and will save money in the long run. Does anyone have experience with this model? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008TJCPSY...UTF8&colid=312RT42K9YSSG&coliid=IHTUIYU3VMDG2
I'm a little worried about setting up CO2 for the first time with fish already in the tank. Should I be worried about accidentally overdosing?
The tank gets direct sunlight from the window on the left side. I'm thinking of trying one of those algae scrubbers to prevent the insane growth I've been having in the last year. (My cat loves the window so I'd prefer to keep the blinds up.) I also bought some hornwort to float in the tank for now since it seemed to help me prevent algae blooms in the past.
The substrate is just gravel, as I didn't spring for the ecocomplete when I set the tank up originally. I've been using root tabs to supplement.
I decided to purchase a few plants at my lfs to start off. My knowledge of plant species is awful so I'm not even sure the names of what I have. Here's a current picture, before the new lights etc have arrived:
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.56 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.56 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170085-cc7b2acf17096f2dfa430f1696e4d55e.jpg)
Does anyone know what the plant on the left is? I'd never seen anything like it so I bought it but forgot to write down the name of the species. Here's a closeup:
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.54.11 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.54.11 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170086-b9d682d842dd1320d858150846b194b4.jpg)
Is there anything so far that I've overlooked? Thanks for the advice and I plan on updating as things get set up!
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.54.11 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.54.11 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170086-b9d682d842dd1320d858150846b194b4.jpg)
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.37 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.37 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170084-fda74a2498a69291c528e89b6d1a4895.jpg)
After about a year of just fish and algae, I've decided to invest the money and try a high tech tank. I wanted to see if any of you have suggestions about common pitfalls, etc that weren't mentioned in the stickied threads.
I purchased cheapo odyssea T5 lights from aquatrader and will have 78W 6500K lights. I also purchased the suggested fertilizers (Plantex CSM+B, KNO3, KH2PO4, and K2SO4) and plan on dosing a few times a week.
I'm looking to try pressurized CO2 for the first time, and it looks like the Aquatek brand is the best reviewed within my price range. Plus, the refillable CO2 tank is a huge plus and will save money in the long run. Does anyone have experience with this model? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008TJCPSY...UTF8&colid=312RT42K9YSSG&coliid=IHTUIYU3VMDG2
I'm a little worried about setting up CO2 for the first time with fish already in the tank. Should I be worried about accidentally overdosing?
The tank gets direct sunlight from the window on the left side. I'm thinking of trying one of those algae scrubbers to prevent the insane growth I've been having in the last year. (My cat loves the window so I'd prefer to keep the blinds up.) I also bought some hornwort to float in the tank for now since it seemed to help me prevent algae blooms in the past.
The substrate is just gravel, as I didn't spring for the ecocomplete when I set the tank up originally. I've been using root tabs to supplement.
I decided to purchase a few plants at my lfs to start off. My knowledge of plant species is awful so I'm not even sure the names of what I have. Here's a current picture, before the new lights etc have arrived:
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.56 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.56 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170085-cc7b2acf17096f2dfa430f1696e4d55e.jpg)
Does anyone know what the plant on the left is? I'd never seen anything like it so I bought it but forgot to write down the name of the species. Here's a closeup:
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.54.11 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.54.11 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170086-b9d682d842dd1320d858150846b194b4.jpg)
Is there anything so far that I've overlooked? Thanks for the advice and I plan on updating as things get set up!
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.37 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.37 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170084-fda74a2498a69291c528e89b6d1a4895.jpg)
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.56 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.53.56 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170085-cc7b2acf17096f2dfa430f1696e4d55e.jpg)
![Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.54.11 PM.png Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 6.54.11 PM.png](https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/data/attachments/170/170086-b9d682d842dd1320d858150846b194b4.jpg)