sup42 Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Today I stripped down one of the smaller tanks ten Gallon 60cm x 30 x 30 to allow for replacing inert gravel and silica sand with Daltons Aquamix. The Tank has had plants and some bladder snails in it for a month or so.....the aim with stripping it down was to lighten the Bio load on my 60g established tank and to remove a Bullying Dwarf Gourami from the community. An Aqua one 30g per hour Filter ( which i'm not entirely happy with due to trouble with priming it ) Cycled Sponge media from my big tank Filter. Two Clip on lamps from Bunnings with Phillips eco Compact Flourescent 12 Watt ( 40wt output Bulbs after reading a post by SamH ) I went for a four inch deep layer of Daltons with the intention that it will last longer than a thinner Layer ( Bunnings in MT Wellington didn't have any so i picked it up from Stone and water world ). DIY Co2 with Chop stick diffuser I used a 2 inch layer of Silica sand over the top of the Daltons. After reading about up rooting plants with Daltons i went for stem plants that can just be trimmed. The tank is set up with Hygrophila Polysperma Xmas Moss Some kind of Grassy plant Cabomba ( the orange / brown Variety ) Small Java ferns Red Rotala x 1 Amazon Sword And a couple of plants I haven't been able to Identify through online searches yet. Live stock : 6 Zebra Danios 2 Ottos 1 x Dwarf Gourami. I am not sure about the lighting in terms of whether these 12 Watt 6500k rated 40 watt out put bulbs are enough ? Water Parameters before introducing fish were 0 Amonia 0 Nitrites 0.25ppm Nitrates Here's the pics Before the makeover After the makeover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li@m Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 That grassy plant is called "Hair Grass" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Two Clip on lamps from Bunnings with Phillips eco Compact Flourescent 12 Watt do you have a photo of lamps???, my bunnings had stuff all range of suitable lamps the other day and the clip on one I got at the Warehouse had a broken clip when I got it home :an!gry so gotta wait another day to start on algae growing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 So your saying you have 6inch's (15cm) of substrate??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup42 Posted September 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 So your saying you have 6inch's (15cm) of substrate??? Better Adjust those figures to Centermeters :slfg: that would be half a tank of clay and sand otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup42 Posted September 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 That grassy plant is called "Hair Grass" Cheers Li@m. There is a Tussock like plant in one of my tanks i bought from Animates , I think it's maybe another Bog plant money waster , time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup42 Posted September 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 do you have a photo of lamps???, my bunnings had stuff all range of suitable lamps the other day and the clip on one I got at the Warehouse had a broken clip when I got it home :an!gry so gotta wait another day to start on algae growing I'll put some Picks up this weekend when I have access to A camera. I threw out the boxes of the Lamps , I think they were called Orbit Lamps , anyway I taped them to an old steel U frame from the end of a coffee table to get the right distance etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 11, 2012 Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 good Idea, went with a regular desk lamp, kinda annoying how al the clip on ones have a solid metal bar at the base which makes them unsuitable to clip onto the tank. i'm planning on unbolting it and bending it so it can camp on properly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup42 Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 good Idea, went with a regular desk lamp, kinda annoying how al the clip on ones have a solid metal bar at the base which makes them unsuitable to clip onto the tank. i'm planning on unbolting it and bending it so it can camp on properly Good plan. I'm not too DIY inclined ( if I take something apart that's the death of it ) So I like what you're going to do with yours, I will be interested to hear what Bulbs you chose F15guy and see the end result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 just went for a warm white, it has a bit more red spectrum to show off the red in the shrimp (and the yellow dot on the tail, looks awesome!!) plus im only after a bit of algae growth so red spectrum should boost it well, it also has a good range of blue if the spots on the gobies are anything to go by. atm its just clipped onto the desk next to it to test it out but would prefer to have it on the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup42 Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 just went for a warm white, it has a bit more red spectrum to show off the red in the shrimp (and the yellow dot on the tail, looks awesome!!) plus im only after a bit of algae growth so red spectrum should boost it well, it also has a good range of blue if the spots on the gobies are anything to go by. atm its just clipped onto the desk next to it to test it out but would prefer to have it on the tank. Shrimp ! cool. My kids are keen on finding some Shrimp for the next tank, We live in Auckland So Finding cleanish water sources with a good population will be the mission. The Shrimp tank at the moment has substrate and some plants that are meant to go ok in cold water in it ( Java Moss / Fern .....Cabomba etc ) and no Shrimp :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup42 Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Might have to add a third Lamp to the set up. Seems that the Reflectors for incandescent bedside lamps like this have no overlap. Therefore Par values need to be taken into account on the periphery of the Substrate directly beneath the Lamp. Also read the Vertically hung Compact Flourescents (CFL) give significantly more Par above an aquarium than Horizontal set ups ( So that's a Bonus with the cheapy lamps from Bunnings) For the High Light that I am after I will need the lights to be 3 - 6 inches from the Water Surface. Heat and Electrical safety issues will have to be factored in since I want it to be an open tank ( heat is less of an issue there....so far the temp of the water is a stable 25c ) Watts in an Aquarium situation : The more I read the less relevant this measure is ( after getting my head around LED Watts / Par eqivalents in crude terms) converting to CFL's was beyond me. For example Phillips 12watt eco Bulbs claim a 40 watt output......this may be so....but that's in a Household application, from what I have read so far......what I really have is 12watts in an Aquarium scenario x 2 lamps ( 2.4 Watts per Gallon in the old School ) Par readings with the Right Reflectors and distance from the Water Surface / substrate may or may not mean I will need Higher Wattage......But with the Current set up another Lamp is essential. The Advantage of Three Lamps Is Running separate on times to get the Sunrise / set effect. In Conclusion : Probably a Superior way to Go if you want Top end lighting funtionality on the relative cheap and asthetics are not important.....Is a Workshop Style CFL clip on / Hanging type reflector ( I Will cost this up at Bunnings On Payday ) for better light spread... Lastly , Apparently going over 27 Watts on CFL bulbs in this type set up is not recommended for Aquarium use ( probably heat related ? ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 found this while researching a presentation http://rexgrigg.com/mlt.html good little article on lighting smaller tanks My dad is a electronics engineer and showed me the other day that the Electronics from an energy saver light bulb can be used as a Low heat ballast for regular fluro tubes if you connect the wires correctly to regular fittings, you can even locate the ballast away from the tank to reduce heating issues, but remember don't play round with that sort of thing unless you are 100% confident or even better qualified Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 but remember don't play round with that sort of thing unless you are 100% confident or even better qualified Just stick with qualified, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup42 Posted September 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 found this while researching a presentation http://rexgrigg.com/mlt.html good little article on lighting smaller tanks My dad is a electronics engineer and showed me the other day that the Electronics from an energy saver light bulb can be used as a Low heat ballast for regular fluro tubes if you connect the wires correctly to regular fittings, you can even locate the ballast away from the tank to reduce heating issues, but remember don't play round with that sort of thing unless you are 100% confident or even better qualified Interesting read. I like the way it is broken down in Rexs Article. Wow that's pretty Cool Your Dad is the perfect guy to Put this stuff together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 he prefers it if I design and build it and he tests it before putting it into use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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