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What to do, with my options? Planted Vs Arowana


camtang

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  • 4 weeks later...

Rite so I am thinking of going with the planted aro tank, looking at loosley doing a Dutch style planted set up. What is the requirments for a high tech planted set up? MH, injected Co2, timers...... what else is needed? is dry fert better then liquid? The tank I am using is the longer of the two but I am worried that doing maintance in it will be hard as it is 1700 high including stand and 700 deep so may make getting to the back an issue.

As far as filtration goes, why are sump filters not recomended with Co2? Would a sump and canister set up work okay, or is a sump just plain jane pointless?

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1700 High! :o Have fun planting :sml1:

You'll have to physically get into the tank to do any maintenance You also will have trouble reaching the back of the tank from out side the tank

You also will have trouble getting enough light to the bottom of the tank i would think??? Can anyone correct me on this?

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Thanks for the info, is there a reason it does this, or is it just the nature of the beast? Sorry my brain isnt working so trying to work this out in a basic theory. how would it leave the sump but not tank or cannister filter? is that purely because of the small lack of contact between inlet into sump and what ever the first media is?

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The amount of surface water movement created by a sump is greater than that by a cannister or internal filter. Surface movement allows gas exchange meaning that there will be more CO2 escaping when a sump is used.

In saying this I have seen some very lovely planted tanks filtered by a sump that also run CO2 and the plants are healthy and have good growth.

You could try using an inline CO2 diffuser in conjunction with a canister.

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it is 1700 high including stand and 700 deep

If the stand is 1000 tall and the tank is 700 high (correct me if I'm wrong) planting should be okay provided you have long arms. Most of it will have to be done from inside the tank before it's filled.

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tank is 600 high 700 width total of 1700 high. I currently just a step stool to get things from the back of the tank. I can still cut down or remake a stand as well so stand height at the moement isnt definite. is pre planting the best option for most tanks? i have always planted after i fill

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ahhh I see, so surface movement is not as desired in planted co2 tanks?

Would then altering the outlet to be pointing down and under the water be a better option if running a sump as it would disturbed the surface less?

Correct. The movement across the surface of tanks with sumps is far greater than with the cannister filters as the drops into the tower or overflow. Cannisters pull water from the bottom of the tank.

However depending on the fish you get you may have to run an airline at night as CO2 also reduces the amount of oxygen in the water.

This is why most people have timers so that the CO2 comes on about an hour before lights in the morning and turns off about an hour before the lights do in the evening. This gives the plants the maximum use of CO2 during and allows them to use most of the CO2 before lights out. I used to run an airline on a timer so that it came on when the lights were off.

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  • 1 month later...

Okay, so final decision has been made. I am going to use the longer one for the aro and the shorter as the planted tank.

1st question, what filtration should I be going with for the Arowana tank sump, fx5, Aquaone 2700 or a combination of them? The canister I dont use on this will be used for the planted tank.I know my stock wil get big and I will need a bigger tank so if I use a sump I will transfer it over when I go with a bigger tank.

2nd question, What stocking is possible? My thoughts are Black Arowana, Jack Dempsey x1, Jaguar x1, Albino Tiger Oscar x1, Tiger Oscar x1, Clown Loach x10 (maybe), fire eel x1, Bichir x1(of some type), Urau x1 and some plecos ( I would like some advice/help on selection of these as I am currently undecided.

I would love a midas in there and there is another but the name has left me for now( will try remember and add it into it), but am unsure if these two would be ok.

I will be getting the fish, young and small to grow up together and not be making much if any changes to stock if I can help it.

Ideas, advice, criticism.... fire away please.

(for a change I am pre planning a tank its kinda weird)

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1. I'd go for a sump, especially if you're willing to do a little research into the various aspects of how/why they work and design something that is going to best suit your space an application. With your planned stock you'll need good mechanical and plenty of bio filtration, so a sump seems ideal. If you're going to future-proof it even better, big is good...

2. Stocking sounds ok, I've kept black aros with peaceful SA cichlids and aggressive CA cichlids, and as long as the aro is big enough it will work fine as the cichlids are usually far more concerned about each other than the arowana. If you go for the CA cichlids, I'd suggest waiting until the aro is at least a foot long then add the cichlids when they're big enough to not be aggressive but small enough to not be a threat. I'm not sure if I'd mix an uaru with the other cichlids you suggested, they can possibly hold their own but if one of the other brutes takes a dislike to it things could get nasty. The uaru has a mouth made for eating plants and wood, where as the likes of a big jag has a mouth made for lip locking and eating fish, not to mention clearly visible teeth. Midas/red devil [and in reality most likely a hybrid of both] are around at the moment, a single one would work well with the jag/oscar/JD combo, but again might end up being a bit strong/nasty for the uaru.

Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I saw this thread a couple of times while browsing on my phone and decided to wait til I got home to write a decent reply, then forgot....

:facepalm:

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