My 26 Gallon Aquarium Lighting

Among other things, a planted aquarium needs good lighting to promote plant growth.

RCU01013 11 My 26 Gallon Aquarium LightingI have a dual strip light fixture on my 26 gallon aquarium, giving me 130 watts, which is about 7.5 watts per gallon. The fixture I have is a Satellite Compact Fluorescent Fixture Dual 24″ Dual Daylight 6,700°K/10,000°K and Dual Actinic 420nm/460nm.

This fixture has four electrical plugs. One for each dual bulb, one for the LED moonlight, and one for the cooling fan. I have my lights on a timer that also turns on the cooling fan (which is built in to the fixture). The lights are on for 8 hours a day. When the lights turn off, the LED moonlight turns on.

I need to replace both bulbs soon, but I’m wondering if I should replace the dual actinic with a second dual daylight. If I go with a second dual daylight, I can see if there’s any growth difference.  There’s a lot of talk on the forums I visit about the usefulness of actinic bulbs on a freshwater planted tank.  I’d say it’s about a 50/50 whether or not they are useful.  I think I’ll do my own tests.

My lights turn on one hour after my CO2 turns on, and turn off one hour after my CO2 turns off.

Cabomba furcataI use a total of three timer power strips for all of my equipment. I’m planning on building a “power center,” which will be made out of plywood with electric outlets built on. I’m going to have a couple outlets for non timer equipment, such as my cannister filter, power head (which I don’t have yet), and heater. I’ll also have and outlets for the timer strips. I’ll consolidate both light strips, cooling fan, and moon light onto one power strip. This will allow better use of the cabinet space under the aquarium.

That’s about it for my lighting setup. What kind of lighting do you use on your aquarium?

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My Planted Aquarium CO2 Setup

My 26 gallon aquarium is classed as a “high tech” aquarium. I run a large amount of light on this aquarium (about 7.5 watts per gallon), so the plants need a good source of CO2. The more light you have, the more CO2 (and nutrients) the plants need.

Equipment:

  1. 10 lbs CO2 tank
  2. Electronic regulator
  3. Glass diffuser

7700430 z800938756 225x300 My Planted Aquarium CO2 SetupThe electronic regulator let’s you adjust how many bubbles of CO2 you want in a certain time frame (4 bubbles per second (240 per minute) down to 1 bubble per 10 seconds). Right now I have it set to about 4 bubbles per second.

The glass difuser has a ceramic disk that turns the CO2 into tiny bubbles to help it disolve into the water better.

I have to refill my CO2 tank about once a year.

I need to get a drop checker so I know I’m getting the right amount of CO2 in the tank. I had a drop checker before I moved in to my house, but I still can’t find it.

I plan on getting a Hydor Koralia Nano power head to help evenly distribute the CO2.

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20 Gallon Aquarium Plans

I’m currently in the planning stage of my 20 gallon aquarium.  I already have the tank (it’s a tank that I’ve had for a while now), the lighting, the filter, heater, and some of the hard scape materials.  I still need to get the organic soil, sand, plants, and of course, shrimp and fish.

Equipment I Already Have:

  1. Single GLO Life-Glo T5 HO 24W 6700K
  2. 20 Gallon Tall Aquarium
  3. Eheim ECCO 2232
  4. Catalina Titanium Heater 100W
  5. Two Red/Brown Sand Banks

Stuff I Still Need:

  1. Organic Topsoil (un-fertilized)
  2. CaribSea Tahitian Moon Substrate

Planned Fauna:

  1. Neon Tetra x10
  2. Red Cherry Shrimp x5
  3. Amano Shrimp x5
  4. Otocinclus x5
  5. Zebra Nerite Snail x5

Planned Flora:

  1. E. tenellus, Marselia minuta, or dwarf sag
  2. Hygros, Bacopa, Rotala indica, Ludwigia repens, Hydrocoytle leucocephala for stem plants
  3. Mosses, ferns, anubias, and crypts

 20 Gallon Aquarium Plans

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Weekly Aquarium Maintenance Schedule

Every aquarium requires maintenance, whether it be saltwater, black water, freshwater, or planted aquariums. Maintenance can include water changes, top offs, cleaning the glass, trimming plants, or even adding fertilizers.

Here’s my weekly maintenance schedule:

Monday: 1/16 tsp Trace, 2 ml Fe, top off.

Tuesday: 1/16 tsp KH2PO4, 1/16 tsp K2SO4, 1/4 tsp KNO3.

Wednesday: 1/16 tsp Trace, 2 ml Fe, top off.

Thursday: 1/16 tsp KH2PO4, 1/16 tsp K2SO4, 1/4 tsp KNO3.

Friday: 1/16 tsp Trace, 2 ml Fe, top off.

Saturday: Clean aquarium glass with magnetic scrubber.

Sunday: 50% water change, prune plants, remove most of the duckweed, 1/16 tsp KH2PO4, 1/16 tsp K2SO4, 1/4 tsp KNO3.

8692655 cfd8c495ff m Weekly Aquarium Maintenance ScheduleMy fertilizer dosing is based on the EI (Estimative Index). You can find more info on it here or here.

Once a month I do a partial cleaning of my cannister filter. The reason I only do a partial cleaning is so I don’t kill all the beneficial bacteria.

That’s about it for my maintenance schedule. You might think it’s a lot of work, but it really isn’t.

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New Years Resolutions for 2010

Happy New Year!  It’s time to write down my resolutions for 2010.  There are so many things I need and want to do.  This will probably be a rehash of my 1 Year Plan series (here and here) that I wrote a while back.  Here they are, in no particular order:

1.  Sky Diving – I plan on going sky diving for the first time this upcoming year.  Probably in mid Spring, so it’s not too cold or too warm.

2.  Passport – I’m not sure when I’ll be crossing any borders, but to do that, I need to have a passport.  I have the application all filled out, but I haven’t made an appointment at the post office to file it and get my photo taken.

3.  Bonus Room – Finish designing a bonus room above my garage.  This includes a home theatre and a wet bar.

4.  Sprinkler System – Install sprinklers in the front and back yards, so the grass doesn’t die again.

5.  Fitness – Get into shape and loose 35 pounds.

6.  Aquaria – Set up my 20 gallon aquarium.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

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