Turning my 210g into a planted tank.

aquaholic

aquaholic

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Jan 4, 2004
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Hi, guys my tank is kind of a mess now and I dont know where to start. I dont want to go big right away because its gonna be spendy and time consuming and verry difficult I know. So I just wan'to start with: Valls, Java fern, and anubias plants. I have 3" sand will that be ok?? also will I have to throw out my 4 gold severums that are about 5"???

and for those type of plants how much watts do I need???

Thanks in advance
 
Those type are low light, so I'm gonna suggest 120-160watts.
 
Yeah that should work fine, I couldnt edit my original post, those 1s should be 2s, hehe. But be warned those Odessea fixtures are extremely cheap, quality wise. If your trying to save some money I would suggest T8 shoplights from home depot or walmart w/ 6700k cool whites before Odessea products. Depending on the width of your tank you can put atleast 2, maybe 3 strips and get the right amount of light for java ferns, anubias and even val.
 
You really think that home depo t8 is better?? I can fit 3 my tank is 24" wide. so that would put me at 180watts
 
and I read that their new o8 model is better and shouldnt catch fire???? I dont know how true. its like 125$ on ebay
 
aquaholic said:
You really think that home depo t8 is better?? I can fit 3 my tank is 24" wide. so that would put me at 180watts
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Yeah, cause those Odessea units are questionable especially the bulbs, and replacing their bulbs will kill any savings. 6 T8s should put you at 192 watts which should be good enough for low light plants and even some medium ones as well. Also remember that the bulbs should changed every 6months for optimum output, but at 6.99 a pair for 6700k bulbs, $42 worth of bulbs in a year is a bargain.
 
aquaholic said:
and I read that their new o8 model is better and shouldnt catch fire???? I dont know how true. its like 125$ on ebay
Click to expand...

Any product that has a problem with catching fire, means they didnt care or put enough time into designing it in the first place, hehe.
 
With such a big tank lighting a FULLY planted tank is going to be expensive (I am just thinking of my 100gal X2).

IMO---Just plant in the middle with eought lights over the plants only. Leave the ends either with just sand or with lots of drift wood (kind of the a safe place for fish).
 
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