First Planted Aquarium Help

[imafloormatt]

So I have had a 54g bow-front corner tank up and running for the last few months and I have decided I want to make it a planted aquarium. But before I throw a bunch of plants into my tank, I have a few questions.
First off, I have 4 different live plants in my tank now along with a Java Moss wall covering one of the sides of my tank. All the plants seem so be doing ok but my moss wall is suffering and I think it is caused from lack of light. So I have talked to my wood shop teacher (I will be taking wood shop when next semester starts) and he said he would be able to help me make a nice hood to fit my tank which I will put some custom lights on the inside of (it is very hard to find lights and hoods that fit such an odd shaped tank). I plan to put a metal halide light in the center of it (in the inside) and put some bright HO florescent lights around the edge of the inside. My questions are:

1. Are all of these lights going to jack up the price of my electric bill?

2. Will heat be a big issue? Will I need to install some fans to the hood to get some air circulation?
3. What can I do to the inside of the hood to maximize light reflection into
my tank?

4. Are there any kind of lights that I can put on the inside that will keep everything visible to me, but acts like night time to the fish?

5. Are there any other things I need to worry about that could be harmful to my house or my fish?

Apart from the hood, I have other questions:

6. I have plain aquarium gravel in my tank now. Will I need to switch it out? If so, is there a way to do it without stressing my fish out too bad?

7. Do those DIY Co2 diffusers work very well?

8. what else do I need to worry about with a planted aquarium?

I am sure I will have other questions later but I will post them as I think of them.

 

[Linda S]

You need 81-108 watts of light in the Kelvin rating of around 6700K for plant growth. Depending on your plants you may want to add root fertilizer to the gravel, but gravel should be fine. I need to defer to the others for co2 questions. The lights I mention should not greatly affect your electric bill.

 

[MySpace Mike]

6700k lighting is great for planted tank preferably t5 HO lighting such as Nova Extreme systems, co2 differs from person to person on if they care to use it or not, and if the have a DIY set up or an actual co2 system running into the filters.

Gravel is fine and I agree to use root tabs for the plants, maybe using a flourish liquid additive to the tank once a week can't hurt as well.

As for lighting to mimic night lighting alot of people prefer to set up a DIY "moon" lighting to the tank as well and coloring the lenses blue, avoid actinic lighting in the tank as it promotes algae growth. I've seen people buy led lights with around 10-15 led lights on a circular little fixture.

Heating differs to each person and their tanks, I prefer to keep my tanks around 80* to avoid Ich break outs.

Most lighting on the market today shouldn't jack up the electric bill, be sure to use power cord outlets this way they can steady the electrical current and keep it at a steady pace and avoid spikes in the electrical systems.

 

[schaadrak]

First off I would suggest that you get a good aquarium plants book. Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock is a good book describing the basics of planted aquariums. There are also great sites all over the web that will cover some more basic information.

Now let's address your questions:

1. Are all of these lights going to jack up the price of my electric bill?
Possibly. The amount of lighting that your proposing is going to put you into a high-tech tank category. Unless your ready to invest more time and money, I would cut back on the amount of light you plan on putting into the tank.

2. Will heat be a big issue? Will I need to install some fans to the hood to get some air circulation?
Definitely. MH lights are notorious heat generators and you will need some sort of active cooling to operate the lights safely.

3. What can I do to the inside of the hood to maximize light reflection into
my tank?
The MH should already come with a reflector. The fluorescent reflectors can be purchased at a few different aquarium supply shops; Dr. Fosters & Smith, hellolights.com, etc.

4. Are there any kind of lights that I can put on the inside that will keep everything visible to me, but acts like night time to the fish?
Look into moonlights. Most are LED's but you can also make them from cold cathode ray tubes, small compact fluorescent lights, or low watt incandescent bulbs. Most manufactured moonlights are tinted a blue to give an illusion of actual moonlight, but you can use any color you wish including plain white.

5. Are there any other things I need to worry about that could be harmful to my house or my fish?
For a DIY light fixture, make sure ALL electrical connections are sealed and water proof. Moisture will not only lead to failure of your lights, but can also cause fires. It does happen.

Apart from the hood, I have other questions:

6. I have plain aquarium gravel in my tank now. Will I need to switch it out? If so, is there a way to do it without stressing my fish out too bad?
This depends on how much light you are adding and what kinds of plants you wish to keep. For a low-light low-tech tank with mainly stem plants plain gravel should do just fine. If you go high-tech and have more rooted plants then you will probably want to go with a more nutrient rich substrate.

7. Do those DIY Co2 diffusers work very well?
If you plan on supplementing CO2 I would go pressurized. DIY CO2 will not work very effectively on this size of a tank. If you keep the tank low-light, you will not need CO2.

8. what else do I need to worry about with a planted aquarium?
HA! Trick question! This again depends on how high-tech you want to go. Each system has different problems, benefits, and outcomes.

I know that this probably gives you new questions, but I hope that it helps you get started in the right direction. Just know that it takes more than putting more light on your tank to grow plants successfully. Once you up the lighting, CO2 and fertilizers have to be supplied to keep up with the higher growth rates. Do you want a tank that just has plants in it and that doesn't require a lot of maintenance or a thick, lush tank that requires weekly pruning and daily fertilization?

By the way, what kind of lighting do you currently have in there?

 

[imafloormatt]

Thanks for all the input guys, you have all been a huge help.

Schaadrak, I currently have a no name brand 30inch fixture with two 20watt florescent bulbs in it.